GREEN COVE SPRINGS – A family-owned business is your one-stop shop for all of your business’ sign needs.

When you think about what entices you to check out a new business, you probably think about the services it offers, the look of the building and what you’ve heard about it. You probably don’t think about the sign that adorns the front of the building or the sign on the side of the road. You might not know it, but that sign has a lot to do with why you stopped at that business in the first place.

After all, you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

“It’s integral to a business,” Heritage Signs marketing lead Emma Callahan said. “A sign is the oldest form of advertising and when someone starts their business, they might not think about it, but it’s an important part of a business’ success.”

Callahan said it’s probably the sign that catches your eye on the side of the road, often subconsciously, and it gives you your first taste, your first impressions, of that business. That’s why it’s important to invest in a good sign, she said – it’s your customer’s first view of what your company is all about.

Callahan is one part of the Heritage Signs family located at 1282 Energy Cove Ct, and it’s been the one-stop sign shop for thousands over the business’ 22-year history. Callahan’s father had been making signs since he was 18 working for Quality Sign Company. He worked his way up through the ranks to become the company’s vice president before deciding that he was ready to venture off on his own.

That was in 1998 when he and his wife began Heritage Signs out of their garage in Jacksonville. Business picked up and the couple rented a building in Jacksonville to workshop new signs out of and that growth continued into a third building. The company has moved from rented building to rented building as its constant growth meant Heritage Signs always needed more space, and the company bought its first place of property in Green Cove Springs in 2018.

That’s where Heritage Signs resides today, built from the ground up and it remains family-owned today. Callahan works with her father and mother, president and vice president respectively, and her two brothers, as well as a number of other staff members. One brother is the sign installation lead and the other is the shop manager. The five of them work with the other staff members to build signs for businesses.

"The company is owned operated by the Knight family, with Chuck, Mary, Jonathan, and Chas being the heart and soul of the company," Callahan said.

“We are a full-service sign company and that’s a unique feature to us. We can do design, custom fabrication and installation and it’s all done legally, following area guidelines and permits. We don’t just slap a sign up for you to make a quick buck. We’re with you every step of the way to make sure your sign is legally installed and made and installed in such a way that everyone notices it.”

Each Heritage Signs sign is hand-crafted and built to a customer’s needs, something Heritage Signs is proud to say.

“We try to set ourselves apart as a custom sign company,” Callahan said. “There’s a lot of small sign and print shops around here that can hammer out banners and stuff, which we also do, but we do try to focus on the custom storefront signs, the kind of signs that bring customers in.”

Callahan said Heritage Signs has made signs for big companies and local businesses. The Green Cove Springs city hall sign was made by them as was the city’s police department monument sign. We just want to make your brand pop and make it visible to everybody, she said.

“Driving around Clay County and Jacksonville, we see our work all over the place,” Callahan said. “We try to stay humble, but I think it’s a very proud moment for our guys to see their hard work all over like that. It’s a work of art and it takes real craftsmanship.

“We try to operate with honesty and integrity, and we always put our customers first. I hope and believe that this is what shines through when someone works with us.”