At the bottom of the K-Mart signs that are being put out all over the country, there is "The Sign Company" name with phone number 760-751-3428 and website go2signsale.com. I called the number and talked to a male about the illegal placement of their signs. I informed him that we don't allow their signs and cities around me don't either. He invoked the standard "court order" statement and I told him that this has no bearing on our removal of the signs. I told him that as long as they put them up we will take them down. He stated that he has thousands of K-Mart signs to be put out and many people have been hired to do this. I think all of the signs have been distributed to the mules and this individual is out of the loop. I believe the phone number is from the Palm Springs, California area. I looked at the website and saw some very familiar signs that we have had in my area - such as Leather Center. I believe the signs will continue to be put out until the end of K-Mart's going out of business. Never give up.

These same people "go2signsale.com" have been involved in similar blooms of hundreds of signs here in Oregon. They've worked for 2 car dealerships, both of which received visits from local police about the legalities.

Both dealerships stopped.

I recommend putting together as much intimidation as possible. CE + police + dozens of phone calls should help.

And the court order line is garbage. Their argument is that anyone in bankruptcy is required to publicize, therefore they're allowed to publicize however they choose. Don't let them beat you down.

That phone number does not look like it comes from Palm Springs California but from somewhere in North County just north of San Diego.

Interestingly, here is their domain registration info:

The Sign Sale Promotion Inc.
Anthony Fick
6904 Creekside Lane
Las Vegas, NV 89145
US
Phone: 760 751 3434

The phone number is in the Valley Center, California area, according to the assignment records at www.nanpa.com. Looking at a Yahoo! map, it's somewhere in the middle of the desert north of San Diego. (Well, the map makes it look like a desert, but it could be a rainforest for all I know.)

I wouldn't be surprised if these guys had something to do with the Thompson Oak infestation in Robbinsdale, MN a couple months ago. It looks like their same mode of operation.

Thanks for all the tips. We will just keep banging them and never give up. Any attempted intimidation from these sign folks has never worked, won't work, and never will work. For these people, putting up signs is work. For me, it is work/fun doing my job as directed by our city officials.

Just out of curiousity: Are you doing anything other than just pulling down the signs? Have you spoken with K-Mart? Are you pursuing any legal actions against them? It seems to me that, if all you're doing is pulling signs, K-Mart is probably just regarding the signs as part of their cost of doing business (and a relatively minor one at that).

>Just out of curiousity: Are you
>doing anything other than just
>pulling down the signs?

I hit the Kmart in Columbia Heights, Minnesota hard and fast a couple of weeks ago:

1. I removed over 60 of their signs.
2. I stickered about 20 more to raise awareness.
3. I scattered dozens of cut up signs in their lobby with a note that read, "illegal signs".
4. I notified the C.H. police who told me they would "take an inventory of the signs and speak with the store manager to see that they are removed."
5. I wrote to corporate headquarters and complained about this store's illegal activities.

Last week one of my spotters told me that there were no illegal signs up, just walking spam.

-Spellchecker

>Just out of curiousity: Are you
>doing anything other than just
>pulling down the signs?

Every contact by a CAUSS member that we're aware has been met with the same feedback "The bankruptcy authorities are handling that thru the sign company, we have nothing to do with it"

That's the down side, the upside is, Addison (TX) and Carrollton (TX) have taken a proactive position with the store managers and dealt directly with the KMart legals. It appears that the spammers have stopped in Addison. There were no new signs in Carrollton that CAUSS is aware of this past weekend.

The problem comes with the lesser proactive CE offices that accept the sign company's statement that "they are allowed by court order", which is BS.

All the signs were picked up in the North Dallas area in addition to those left over in Carrollton/Dallas border that were missed. The lack of signs this past weekend, may or may not occurred due to the severe thunderstorms, off and on, most of Sunday.

As far as CAUSS is concerned, IMHO, I think we have three options.
Leave them be and report them to CE.
Pick them up and complain to KMart. (which so far has been fruitless)
Or we can do both.
Either way we can expect some kind of signs until those 240 (+or-)stores close.

GreatWhite-BH (GW)
Texas Chapter - CAUSS

GW

Currently, I have been directed by my supervisor, the Building Official, to remove the signs and nothing else. If I am given a different directive, then I will go in that direction. Removing the signs on a regular basis is better than nothing. I am glad that we are a proactive sign removal city and don't leave all this hard work to great CAUSS volunteers. Never give up.

I apologize for being a little snappy in my previous post. I did talk to the manager at K-Mart in Addison about their signs. If I pick up any of their signs this coming weekend, I will contact the K-Mart manager in Addison, issue him a written notice, and (by direction of the Building Official) perhaps issue court citations. Thanks for all of your help.

>I apologize for being a little snappy in my previous post.

Hey, we all get a little crabby occasionally. You're one of the steadiest (as far as I can tell) CE guys we've had, so no need to apologize.

Redstone

Aw heck, Redstone. You make me blush. Seriously, thanks for the encouragement. I love my job, even when the days seem on the dark side; but I know that tomorrow brings a better day. Sounds like life's experiences, doesn't it? Never give up.

I didn't think you were being snippy – if you hadn't apologized, I wouldn't have noticed anything!

But I do have a question: I know that you don't set the policy, and I understand from your last note that the policy has toughened up, but...

In your first note (the snippy one ) you said that you had been directed by your supervisor not to take any action other than removing the signs. I know you're not a mind-reader, but why would any city (especially one as pro-active as yours) have a policy like that, even temporarily? If someone is massively spamming your city, and you know exactly who it is (as opposed to some of them that are hard to track down), why would you not go after him?

This is not at intended as any kind of criticism (so don't get... you know...), but I've always been puzzled about why cities don't go after street spammers more aggressively. I understand that resources are limited, there are more important things to do, street spammers are hard to track down (and they deny that they were responsible for posting the spam), and so on. But then a situation like this comes up, which is certainly as clear-cut as any you're likely to come across in your professional career -- and your boss tells you not to do anything but pick up the litter! I'm pleased to see that he's changed his mind, but I'm baffled as to why that would have been his policy in the first place. Any light you could shed on the situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For the most part, and not counting K-Mart signs, we are not heavily spammed with illegal signs. Most of our violators are residents with garage sales, etc. Some good news.....this morning I talked to an inspector from our neighbor, Addison, and he gave me the name and phone number of the sub-contractor that actually puts out the signs. Later today, he will give me the name and phone number of the person who hires the sub-contractors. Today, I am also visiting with the K-Mart manager in Addison to obtain some more information, if possible. Addison issued approximately 15 court citations to the person that hires the sub-contractors and this has stopped the signs from appearing in Addison. Hopefully I can do this for signs that may appear this coming weekend. Sometimes, it is better to do something and later ask for forgiveness rather than ask for permission in the first place. This may be the case with these K-Mart signs. Thanks for your inquiry and I will keep you all posted. Never give up.

In Southern Oregon a few years back a furniture chain was going out of business and spammed the city. Spammed with a vengenance. My friend got some people to picket the store, which then quickly hired some bums to be walking spam.
Using his cel phone, my friend called the store and reported several pickets all over town, and in two nearby town that share city limits.
The store manager had his goons driving all over town, looking for pickets (who kept moving) and providing transients with work. Made it tough for them to do their regular business and made it tough to do business (rip off furniture shoppers) IT was so classic. Plus, it did cause a drop in their business.