Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriel Barker.
Gabriel, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I started The Sign Savers in 2010 with $1000 and a dream. I had run a sign shop for about four years when I was suddenly let go and had to make a choice, go back and work for someone else or take the leap of faith and do my own thing. I was very fortunate that my wife supported my dream and helped make it happen by supporting us during the first months until it took off. We started with a couple of clients and subbing out a lot of the work out of a shop in Hialeah that really helped us out in the beginning.
After that, I bought a large format printer and set it up along with a small office in what was our family room at the time and started cranking out of the house. Very rapidly, we outgrew the family room and ended up renting a space in where else but Hialeah, which I may add, is, in my honest opinion, the great city in the world. We quickly went from two employees and a 900 sq ft space to 15 employees and a 6500 sq ft warehouse. We became one of the pioneers and premier shops in wrapping (color-changing) exotic cars here in Miami and grew our social media following to over 35k followers organically. We have done cars for celebrities, athletes, and people from all walks of life. I made the decision in 2014 to move to Kendall, where I grew up at and we kept it going down south. We are going into our 10th year in business and we have been lucky to have the same employees (family) for lots of years. We specialize in commercial large format printing, vehicle wraps, paint protection film, anything custom-branded, and we just added marine decking to our lineup.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have seen our ups and downs, and I’ve had to make many sacrifices to keep it going but I wouldn’t change it for the world. We have been very fortunate to do what we have done it the amount of time we’ve done it in.
Please tell us about The Sign Savers.
We specialize in custom vehicle wraps, commercial wraps, large format printing, custom-branded goods, paint protection film, marine decking, and nano-ceramic coating. It’s a broad menu lol. We pride ourselves in being known and respected in our industry as some of the best to do it. Our quality and vision plus attention to detail is what sets us apart from the rest.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Being involved in team sports and having my parents support me and be my biggest fans.
Contact Info:
- Address: 12385 SW 129 Court
Unit 101, Miami, Florida 33186 - Website: www.thesignsavers.com
- Phone: 3059099967
- Email: gbarker@thesignsavers.com
- Instagram: Thesignsavers
- Facebook: The Sign Savers
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