Signing on for new opportunity

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/11/2016 (3231 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Sam Mulaw isn’t new to the local business scene. As a graduate of the auto technician program from Red River College, Mulaw opened his own repair shop, ABC Auto Service, in 2011 on Pacific Avenue. Although he really enjoys his chosen career of working on cars and other vehicles, a back injury kept him away from work and left him recovering for months.

During his time off, Mulaw started researching other business opportunities that weren’t as physically demanding. That’s when he stumbled across the Fast Signs franchise.

Mulaw opened Fast Signs at 30 11th St. in downtown Brandon in the middle of September. He had looked into other companies, but felt that Fast Signs was a better fit as the company allows owners to be more independent.

He said that with more than 600 locations across the United States and Canada, there’s a great affiliation and network with these other stores. As such, this allows him to provide his customers with a wide range of products to help them with their businesses, events or projects.

“I go by the philosophy ‘if you win, then I win.’ Whether I’m working with a small business or a large company, I want to help them make their business visible and make people aware of what they do. If it generates business for them, then in a way I’m helping them to be successful,” Mulaw said.

Fast Signs provides all types of signs in a variety of material, vehicle graphics, interior decor, exhibits and displays, plus interactive and digital signage. They have an in-house graphic designer who will work with customers to create the exact look that they are seeking.

Mulaw says he still works on cars from time to time, but relies mostly on his three employees to look after the shop. He is however, thoroughly enjoying learning all the aspects of his new business. Fast Signs has a full training program that he has found invaluable in setting up shop.

For more information, visit fastsigns.com or call 204-717-7446.

LOCATION, LOCATION

For The Brick franchise owners, Jason Brad and Dale DeSmet, making the decision to close the downtown Brandon after 27 years was not an easy one.

“It’s unfortunate, because I like downtown. It’s simply a decision based on traffic patterns and moving to a business area where people seem to be migrating to,” Brad said. “When we started, the mall had Eaton’s and The Bay and it was really robust, but over the years we’ve certainly seen a lot of traffic changes.”

Brad and DeSmet took over Brandon’s United Furniture Warehouse location a few years ago and had been considering for the last couple of years to close it and move The Brick to that location in order to take advantage of the higher traffic and greater visibility.

While The Brick’s location at 127 Seventh St. will still remain open for a while yet, the transition of moving to 18th Street North is underway. For the time being Brandon will have two locations of The Brick.

Brad said now that they are opened on the North Hill, they are pleased with how the layout of the new store has taken shape, but as with any change a few adjustments needed to be made.

“We’re really excited about it, but one minor drawback is that we no longer have the luxury of a massive warehouse. We’ve given up a little bit of space, but in working with the store designers from The Brick head office, they’ve managed to map out an excellent floor plan that I’m sure will please our customers,” Brad said.

In the meantime, great savings can be found at the downtown location as floor models and in-stock items are sold.

An exact date hasn’t been set for closing the Seventh Street location, but going into the holiday shopping season The Brick at 1858 18th St. North will be in full operation.

For more information, visit either location or go online to thebrick.com.