It’s easy to overlook Mortenson’s Sign Shop. Sitting on the corner of Avon Allen and Bennett Rd, it’s off the beaten path in a residential area. Not exactly an ideal location for a commercial venture. So why is it in such an odd place? The answer is actually very simple: family.
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In 1981 Bob Mortenson was married to his high school sweetheart, Jenny. They had purchased a house on Bennett Road and Bob was commuting to Seattle daily for his work at Messenger Signs, roughly an hour each way. When the couple discovered they were expecting, the commute became unsustainable.
So with the support of his wife, Bob opened his own sign shop from the garage. He used the house phone line as his business phone number (that number is STILL the shop’s phone line number to this day!) and started Mortenson Signs.
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The business started as a one man operation with Bob handling every detail of every project. When he first opened the sign shop doors, everything was done manually. From the drafts, to outlines, to the finished project, it was all done meticulously by hand. Today things rely a little more heavily on machine labor. And while technology has had an enormous impact on the process, the shop has always kept excellence and attention to detail at the center of the business.
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Four decades later Bob and Jenny now have two fully grown children. The shop has expanded, employs a team and without any kind of advertising connects with new customers daily. Throughout it all, one thing has remained at the heart of Mortenson Signs. Family.