What’s in a business sign? A lot actually. A good carwash sign can make a business thrive. The owners of Elephant Car Wash in Rancho Mirage, California, know that their pink elephant carwash sign gets a lot of attention locally, but when they recently decided to give the sign a makeover, they found themselves in the national spotlight as well.

“If you looked at it right now, because of the cold weather - it was so harsh to the sign,” said Anthony Antonis, who co-owns the car wash with his brothers, Michael and John. “It’s such a pillar of the community.”

The car wash serves about 200 cars daily and doubles that number on the weekends, he said.

Customers may not know the business’s name, but they know the elephant. “I hardly remember the name; I just call it the car wash with the big elephant,” said Palm Desert resident Eve McCulloch. It’s a hot spot for photo opportunities, manager Gary Deines said.

“Every night, I see someone taking a picture,” he said. [read more...]

What’s that? People stopping to take a picture with your business sign? That’s right, it’s become something of a landmark. When completed, the restored sign will have new neon lights and cost about $9,000 — a small price to pay for the media punch this sign packs.