Electro-Matic Visual Blog

Gordon Food Service has delivered the excellence, expertise, and quality products customers need to design successful food operations and experiences for over 120 years. They have grown to become the largest family-operated broadline food distribution company in North America.

Westown at Wilson Apartment Homes is an apartment complex close to Grand Valley State University campus that prides itself on the experience of a community that tenants will be proud to call home. There are a lot of students in the area so they are always looking for ways to attract that demographic and differentiate themselves from other complexes.

Woodland Mall is a premier shopping and family destination in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Convenience is prioritized with services including children’s play area and free cell phone charging stations. They offer shopping for day-to-day needs like affordable and high-end clothing, home decor, jewelry, and children's clothing as well as a quick bite in the food court or full-service dining. Woodland Mall hosts many free events and programs for the community and families to enjoy year-round.

Since 1976, W.E. Wall, the catering company that inspired Billy Bones and the “fire breathing hog”, is now considered in many circles, to be the most respected outdoor caterer in the midwest and has formed a cult-like following consisting of those who just love to live life and eat great food! In 2019, Billy Bones BBQ was purchased by the long-time customer, Silver Lake Chicken Shack of the Silver Lake Sand Dunes in Michigan. A tourist hot spot boasting the BEST EVER wings made famous by using Billy’s rub.

Ascension Providence Hospital in Rochester delivers advanced emergency stroke care using advanced brain imaging and stroke assessments to rapidly diagnose and treat patients who are experiencing stroke symptoms. They are a team of doctors working together to deliver medication therapies, surgical care options, and neurophysiology care that’s right for the patient.

Electro-Matic has a longstanding relationship with OCC—working on their led signage packages dating back the last 15 years.

GSI is one of the longstanding premier sign companies in Metro Detroit servicing all of Michigan, as well as the Ohio market. We have been partnered with them selling our LED displays dating back to the mid-2000s. We primarily work with them with their Genisys Credit Union account all over Michigan as well as other projects in Detroit. We've been with them a long time and have a great partnership.

This particular project was to assist them with their own signage. It was an honor to do their signage, as their headquarters are positioned right off of in Troy, Michigan, so this Electro-Matic display has received a ton of traffic. It has benefited both of our companies in promoting or products and services to tens of thousands of cars each day. 

"It has been a pleasure working with Electro-Matic on this display for our corporate signage project. The LED display looks fantastic and we are excited about all the branding opportunities. It really presents beautifully." - Scott Gardner, CEO

"With our long and positive history working with GSI, EM Visual jumped at the chance to work with them on this project." - James Baker

Since the sign was put up in October 2020, it's been a great branding tool for GSI. They are receiving leads off of the display as well as new project opportunities from all of the exposure that this display provides.

List products and services EM used:
10 mm 3x15 EM Display

St. Blasé Catholic Church in Sterling Heights, MI utilizes LED displays to announce church and community events

St. Blasé Catholic Church is a welcoming Catholic community, located in Sterling Heights, MI.

The Situation
Located at the high-traffic, high-visibility location at the intersection of 15 Mile Road and Maple Lane Drive in Sterling Heights, MI, St. Blasé Catholic Church wanted to maximize its ability to reach out to the community via new LED signage. The existing sign, a simple brick wall with white plastic formed lettering, didn’t afford them this capability. 

The original brick wall with plastic-formed lettering offered no ability to advertise or announce events to the local community.

Objective
St. Blasé wished to have a simple, user-friendly LED signage solution that offered durability, longevity, and flexibility in the type of content media they wished to display.

Solution
Two full-color LED displays were installed into the new v-shape monument sign just two weeks after the project broke ground.

St. Blasé saw immediate results in the days following the installation of the parish’s new LED displays. On average, the church received 3-4 calls per day from people within the community interested in taking part in church events and services.

"Many of our parishioners are proud to say we are the Church with the big new sign, we are definitely getting noticed."

— Tim Doppel, Business Manager, St. Blasé Catholic Church

Products Electro-Matic used:

• 2 Full Color LED Displays: 16mm 4'x8'

Pro Care Auto is an Automotive Services small business. The owner, Greg Jarossy, contacted Electro-Matic in January of 2018. They were moving to a new property and had an old, mono electronic message center that had failed. He wanted to replace and upgrade to full color, then take his sign along with him and make the upgrade once the property closed.

Technical Situation/Analysis
Electro-Matic was able to find the sign on Google Maps to get a feel for the structure and overall design of the sign. We were able to easily recommend 2’ x 8’ m/s both at 11 mm & 16 mm for Greg’s review. We also recommended he trade places with the EMC going to the ID cabinet space, and the ID to the EMC space. This would provide him with a bigger EMC allowing him more space for his variable messages and graphic options. 

We were able to position ourselves as an asset for Greg as he reviewed both EMV and our Fusion product against some other options. He relayed that we were at the head of the pack. The project took just over a year from the first contact to close, which is a very consistent time period for a retail opportunity.

“We love it. Easy to program as well. Plus...your customer service is top-notch!”

– Greg Jarossy, Owner of Pro Auto Care

Located in Minooka, Illinois, Chapin's Banquets and Catering is a beautiful banquet hall perfect for hosting a variety of events including weddings, receptions, fundraisers, birthdays, bridal and baby showers, rehearsal dinners, business meetings, holiday parties, graduation parties, sport banquets, off-site caterings and much more. On top of the banquet hall they have an exquisite full-service restaurant called Twin Rail Pub.

Chapin's Banquets found themselves in a predicament when water began to leak into their electronic message center which caused all sorts of troubleshoot problems. The overseas vendor they purchased the sign from years ago was not delivering adequate customer service in regards to providing new parts to replace those with water damage, or any other assistance for that matter. Chapin's wanted a new EMC from a company they could depend on. It was then they reached out to Electro-Matic Visual for some help. With Twin Rail Pub being on the back side of the building many people don’t know that it is.

When presented with the project, EM Visual knew the first step was to find a size to fit, and type of resolution that would best fit the needs of this application. The Electro-Matic demo trailer made it easy to present the owner with both an 11mm and 16mm option. 

Solution: After the demo the customer had decided that he only needed a 16mm full color based on his location. With the customer up on a hill and the cars below the 16mm was the best option while keeping price in mind. Once that was decided Visions Signs took care of all installation and permitting.

Benefits: With the new 16mm fusion message center Chapin’s and Twin Rail Pub with now have full exposure to promote their events. Chapin’s will use the message center as a way to advertise their services, but also advertise what event is going on. As far as Twin Rail Pub they now will gain street exposure and use this to promote food and beverage specials.

List products and services EM used:
16mm 60x144 LED Display.

External companies that helped on the project or solution and their services provided:
Visions Signs was the sign company that sold and installed the project.