The employees of Signcraft Signs & Things, a Naples-based business that is part of the Hoffmann Family of Companies, was told midday Friday that the sign company is closing after nearly 45 years of operation.
Naples resident Michael Boyd founded Signs & Things in 1978 and merged it in 2011 with Signcraft, another local sign company he acquired that was founded in 1977. Boyd stayed on as president after selling his local company to Hoffmann in early 2018, but Boyd recently announced that he will retire this fall .
“We bought the company four years ago and what we tried to do was integrate it with other businesses that we had. That was the game plan when we bought it and it didn’t work out,” said David Hoffmann, CEO of the Hoffmann Family of Companies who recently retired. Second, the founder of the company recently announced his retirement. He left and we just have no way to move forward with the company, so we are not shutting down; we stop.”
Hoffmann, known for his ubiquitous sign with our family name atop many local buildings and businesses, will no longer be in the sign business. Hoffmann bought Signcraft at the same time the company made the huge Hertz Arena sign above the Estero venue shortly after Hoffmann bought it with the Florida Everblades hockey team. Signcraft also installed Hoffmann’s signature metallic silver in the family-owned building.
The initial idea was to have Sunmasters, a local Hoffmann company that specializes in awnings, also fabricate and install the signs but that plan didn’t work out, Hoffmann said. Instead, Sunmasters will work to complete Signcraft’s work so that customers are not affected by the change. “We’re going to try to have a skeleton crew through Sunmasters that’s going to finish the [Signcraft] project that’s in the house right now,” he said. “After those projects were terminated, there were no plans to continue the business.”
Alternative job prospects are available to all sign company employees, Hoffmann said. “I know everyone is going to be asked to apply for a job somewhere else with us and I know everyone is getting severance pay, so I think we’re trying to do it right,” he said. “We have other opportunities for them at other companies. Last I heard, a dozen or so were interviewing for jobs at our other companies. They are welcome to do that. We hope they do that.”
Employees contacted did not want to comment on the record about Signcraft’s fate, but someone made a public post late Friday afternoon on their personal Facebook page. “A bad day in the life of about 18 pretty nice people today. The front sign should read ‘Now Firing,'” posted Gary Boyd, brother of former owner Mike Boyd, noting the irony that the pole sign in front of Signcraft reads “Now Hiring.” “The Hoffmann company gathered us today at lunch for some unhappy food. Everyone is fired. Chew it for a while. Personally, I have only been there for a month 34 years. It’s a hard pill to swallow. I hope you have a better day. “
Hoffmann said the company’s demise shouldn’t come as a surprise. “There are clear signs that we are not going forward,” he said. “We sold the building a few months ago. That should be an indication.”
Hoffmann’s company is selling the Signcraft warehouse and its 1.13-acre industrial park property at 3649 Progress Ave in East Naples for $2.5 million in late 2021 to Naples-based Classiche LLC, which also owns the property directly behind it on Mercantile Avenue, property records show. Collier County showed.
“It’s the first shutdown we’ve ever had in the history of the company, anywhere in the world, for that matter,” Hoffmann said. “We’ve never done that before. It’s disappointing but it is what it is.”
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