SignCut produces signs and gift/promotional items from materials including metal, wood, acrylic and corrugated plastic board.
The larger portion of the company’s sales come from sign-making machines, such as CNC routers and laser cutters, marking machines and engravers.
Mark Li, a newcomer from China who moved to P.E.I. with his wife and two daughters, started the business. He was out of province and unavailable for an interview.
Ruby Burt, office manager and marketing and sales associate, said things have been picking up as the business tries to get off the ground.
“It’s been good. It’s starting to catch,’’ Burt said.
About 80 per cent of the signs have gone to Island customers while the majority of sign-making machines have gone to clients in other provinces.
“Locally . . . there’s a lot of craft people on the Island and they’re just kind of discovering us; that we have smaller machines that you can use for vinyl cutting. We carry a lot of vinyl, which can be hard to get. Sometimes you have to order it from the (United) States but we have it locally.’’
One of the bigger challenges for the business has been shipping, more specifically the cost of bringing products in. Shipping a machine here involves a boat shipment from China to Halifax and then truck transportation to P.E.I. That truck drive costs about half as much as the ocean voyage from China to Halifax.
It’s also been hard to find employees with the specialized skill he needs to run the high-technology machines.
Burt notes there is also local competition in the signage market, such as Kwik Kopy and Sign Craft in Charlottetown.
“They’ve been here for many years; they have their own clientele and we’re just starting to get into the sign business so they have the big equipment to put up three storeys and ours are less elaborate,’’ she said. “It’s hard to compete with them when they’ve been in business so long and they know the tricks and trades.’’
The business has been good for P.E.I. newcomers. Sign Cut employs three people, two of whom are Chinese.
“It’s easier for the Chinese people to come in. They’re able to come in and speak (their native language) to techs from China. Even if I was speaking to them in English and they could speak English there’s still that barrier of what I’m saying and how I’m saying it (that) they’re not catching.’’
Sign Cut is located at 20 Myrtle St., in the Stratford Business Park. Call toll free 1-855-932-6899.
On the web: www.signcut.ca.
(Includes information by Lori Mayne supplied by the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce)
