Electro-Matic Visual Blog

Crystal Gardens is a premier banquet center that has offered elegant and spacious banquet rooms, custom table settings, and the perfect menus for more than 40 years. However, their Southgate, Michigan location had an Optec unit so out-of-date that replacement parts were no longer available.

Mike Richardson, at Mr. LED had sold them their old unit so Electro-Matic knew a replacement project with them was on the horizon for years. Through Mr. LED, EM Visual scheduled a demo with Crystal Gardens for operation and ownership. The demo featured the modern technology of our Fusion Series. Following the demo, Crystal Gardens decided to move forward with the project.

Electro-Matic upgraded the resolution significantly from what they had previously. We were able to meet the project budget and Mr. LED was able to coordinate the project efficiently.

“Working with Mike at Mr. LED Signs is always a pleasant experience. After a couple of years of consideration, Once he was able to set up the demo, the project closed very quickly. It’s a primetime installation for EMV on the main hub in Southgate on a highly viewable intersection.” 

– Visual Sales Team

Products and Services Electro-Matic used:   

• Fusion 5’ x 11 m/s 16 mm – 84 x 192
• AAA Signs, Flat Rock, MI performed the installation.

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.