Looking for a sign? Self-storage facility brings joy with clever messages

By Gracee Mattiace

Click here for updates on this story

    MILLS RIVER, North Carolina (WLOS) — If you’ve ever asked the universe for a sign, then you probably didn’t think it would come from a self-storage facility…

Drivers who pass by Arden-Mills River Self Storage, located at 5520 Old Haywood Road, will see clever puns and funny sayings posted on their interchangeable marquee sign.

But it wasn’t always that way. The Hartzogs, who own the business, first put up informational messages related to their rates and deals.

That’s until their son, Will, who was in his mid-20s at the time, decided to change things up.

“A lot of friends would come over, and people would write quotes on the wall so I just thought this would be cool to like display some of these really funny ones on the sign,” Will said. “It always gets my attention, maybe it’ll get someone else’s attention.”

But the first time he tried the new marketing tactic, a vandal changed around the letters.

His dad, Bob Hartzog, got to the shop to see the crude message, and confronted Will.

“Finally one of us broke and said ‘wait what did you actually put up there’ and I told him and I said ‘oh’ and he told me what he saw and we giggled,” Will said.

Despite the issues with the first attempt, Bob and Lizabeth Hartzog allowed the clever signs to continue. They said they had no idea how popular the signs would become.

“’We love your signs this week,’ one guy said ‘I bring my daughter, requests that I drive her by here, it’s out of the way but she wants to see the signs,’” Lizabeth said.

Now Will works full time as a musician and Taylor Gibson changes the signs.

He’s not a part of the family, but he says, “We all kind of feel like a family around here.”

Gibson said he aims to change out the signs every 10 days, and if he lets it go on too long, those passing by will let him know.

The signs are suggested and voted on as a group and Gibson has a meticulous process to change them out.

He writes all the letters down and counts how many he needs. He then considers what letters are already being used for the current sign, so he doesn’t have to get new letters out.

Finally, he sorts through a large filing cabinet to finds the exact letters he needs.

For the Hartzogs, the signs have become a small reminder that a little joy and fun goes a long way in life.

Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.