Quirky Sign Distinguishes Main Street Business

While it may seem like a backwards business tactic, brothers Bruce and Scott Carothers choose to make jokes rather than advertise their business on its Main Street sign.

The co-owners said it works.

They decided to start posting jokes on the sign after realizing that signs with rental information were not increasing business, Bruce said.

“It really came about because we were putting up signs about things we rented, and [it] had absolutely no effect whatsoever,” he said.

A customer walked in one day and asked if the company rents carpet cleaners. He did not notice the sign out front, which was advertising exactly what he was looking for, Bruce said.

“That pretty much convinced us that nobody is looking at the sign,” he said. “The purpose of the sign is attention, so we decided to take a different track and it got a really good reaction.”

The Carothers’ late father, who opened the business in 1979, was not as enthusiastic about the new strategy. However, he quickly came around once they started bringing in more customers.

“My father was not, at the time, very up on the idea until people started bringing it to his attention,” he said. “And then the light bulb went off and he said, ‘Hey, this is really working.’”

The brothers have been posting signs for nearly 10 years since 2002. At 104 signs a year, it's quite a lot of jokes.

“We make up about a third of them,” he said. “The rest we either steal or adapt what we can find.”

They even invented a character, Cousin Earl, who is often the butt of the jokes.

While the signs have helped business, Carothers hopes they also give passersby a laugh.

“It does exactly what it is supposed to do,” he said. “It gets us attention, and in the long run, as people drive by, they get a chuckle. What could be better than that?”

Across the street, Owner Donnie Mason looks forward to the new signs, although she said they’re not always funny.

“Sometimes they don’t make sense,” she said. “But it’s cute, and we look forward to the changing of them. They really give you a laugh.”

As a customer of more than a decade, Reisterstown resident Dennis Collier has enjoyed the signs since their inception.

“I ride by here every day and they’re very amusing,” he said.

Beyond the sign, Bruce and his brother constantly joke around, and it keeps spirits up at the shop, he said.

“We have a good time,” he said. “Frankly, let’s face it: You can be unhappy and grumpy at any job you have, or you can make the best of it and have people enjoy coming in and seeing it.”

A number of the brothers’ favorite sign postings can be found on the Bay Country Rentals website.