Beautiful day for the owner of Signcrafters Outdoor, Gary Johnson, did a little maintenance on the famous Grain Belt Beer sign on Nicollet Island in Minneapolis. Built in 1941, it stands roughly 50 feet wide and 40 feet tall. The sign contains a number of incandescent light bulbs that spell out the beer’s name as well as more than 800 feet of exposed neon. In 1989, there was a rehabilitation project done on this sign. This project involved replacing all of the 1,400 incandescent lights, 800 feet of exposed neon as well as redoing 3,000 feet of wiring were all done at that time to get this majestic sign up and running again. Signcrafters Outdoor was the sign contractor chosen to complete the rehabilitation job, and oh what an honor it is for us! 

If you would like to read more about this signs history check out this great article!
https://historicminneapolissigns.wordpress.com/signs/grain-belt-beer/


Also, be sure to check out the photo's of our latest maintenance job on this beloved sign, in the slideshow below!

Nordstrom in the Ridgedale Shopping Center opened last fall 2015. It is one of the most popular places for customers to shop for clothing, shoes, jewelry, and many more accessories to add to their wardrobe.
This was the second location for Nordstrom stores to open in the twin cities, however there are Five locations throughout Minnesota.

http://www.startribune.com/nordstrom-s-second-twin-cities-store-expected-to-help-ridgedale/329587381/#1

http://www.startribune.com/nordstrom-to-open-in-ridgedale/185659522/

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2015/09/28/nordstrom-new-ridgedale-store-minnetonka.html


Here are a few pictures of one of our crews servicing the signage on the outside of the Nordstrom store location in Ridgedale.

Efforts have been quietly underway to literally flip the switch on history by relighting several of the cities’ most-recognized neon signs, using recent state-of-the-art LED lighting technology that makes it cheaper to restore and maintain them. (Jim Buchta Star Tribune)

“These signs are iconic, and really help to tell the story of this place,” said Laura Salveson, director of Mill City Museum, which is housed in the ruins of old stone mills along the Mississippi River. “These signs, and what they represent, live in people’s memories.” (Jim Buchta Star Tribune)

When the museum was established in 2003, pains were taken to preserve the nearby “Gold Medal Flour” signs that sit atop historic concrete grain silos overlooking the river. The effort wasn’t cheap. At the time, LED lighting wasn’t advanced enough to replicate the look of neon, so the neon tubes had to be restored and the structure rebuilt and stabilized. (Jim Buchta Star Tribune)

http://www.startribune.com/landmark-neon-signs-glow-again-in-twin-cities/289606701/


Today, "Gold Medal Flour" is the only one of the signs in the area that have not yet switched over to L.E.D Lighting. They are still using the traditional Neon lighting due to extra money left over from the $150,000 in which General Mills committed to using for maintaining the signs for a 10 year period. Signcrafters Outdoor does all of the maintenance and servicing of the Neon Signage on top of the historic "Gold Medal Flour".

Home-improvement chain Menards, which has been razing-and-rebuilding its way around its Twin Cities, will replace its Brooklyn Park site starting this spring.
Finance & Commerce reports that the company will tear down a 132,000-square-foot store in Brooklyn Park, which was built in the 1980s, by early April.
Eau Claire, Wis.-based Menard Inc. will then rebuild a two-story, 211,000-square-foot store on the same site. The project, estimated at $12.5 million, is scheduled to be complete by spring 2016. (Mark Reilly Managing Editor)

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/morning_roundup/2015/02/menards-will-replace-brooklyn-park-store-with.html

Signcrafters Outdoor had the opportunity so install the signage of the new and improved Menards building in Brooklyn Park.

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/blog/banking/2016/02/bank-of-america-downtown-minneapolis-ids-branch.html?ana=e_twin_rdup&s=newsletter&ed=2016-02-17&u=qcynXVl5p2%2B3Tcrx%2BLSC3w0ae1a52a&t=1455717032