Sign of Success: Sign Matters, Inc.
Maureen Yarborough’s pride in her Sign Matters team is apparent as she offers a tour of her Collierville facility. From sign-bedecked front desk area to her graphics and production department and into the business and accounts side of the company, Yarborough has created a successful business whose products find space in countless government buildings, healthcare facilities, office buildings, organizations and schools throughout Collierville, Memphis and the Mid-South.
In a short fifteen years, Yarborough has gone from a home-based business to her current expansive showroom and production facility on Distribution Parkway. She’s gone from a one-woman operation to a company of 14 full-time and 7 part-time employees.
Flipping through a portfolio of work, you can understand why she takes pride in her team. Her company’s work is dynamic, crisp and bold. “Custom signage is where we shine,” Yarborough notes and then adds, “Every building has a personality.” She is quick to point out that so much of her work is done in collaboration with architects, designers, and contractors – working relationships she treasures. Collierville High School offers one local project where Sign Matters found ample opportunity to show off their full range of work. From the exterior signage to the hallways and every corner of the building, Sign Matters proved its talent for bold and stylish signage. That fierce dragon displayed on the school also speaks to the creative genius of the team.
Another magnificent example of their exterior signage is that of the Shorb Tower for Methodist Hospital in Memphis. Clean and bold signage is a hallmark of the company. The range of their clients reflects their reputation: schools, offices, restaurants, property management companies, architects and general contractors all have turned to Sign Matters. They have worked with some of the most prestigious names in the area, including Fleming Architects, Medtronic, OrthoOne, Financial Federal, Youth Villages, Commercial Advisors, the Memphis Zoo, the Memphis Fire Department, Briarcrest Christian School and Shelby Farms, to name only a few. Occasionally they are called in to assist in ADA signage for the disabled, as was the case with the trendy new Citizens Building, a mixed-use development of apartments and retail in Midtown Memphis.
Yarborough’s business philosophy reflects the same basic and bold characteristics as the signage the company produces. As her website puts it so succinctly: “Our goal is to make all of our customers happy by making the entire process easy and the end result aesthetically pleasing. Over the years, we have learned to listen to our clients…Because we manufacture products in house, we are able to control timeliness as well as work within budgets.” That’s a formula that works. That’s a sign of success.
