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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Andrew Tellijohn
09.01.2003

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New gun law boosts
sign business, but not
all sign-makers cheer

At least one enterprising sign-making company sent a sales rep to a seminar this summer about Minnesota’s new conceal-and-carry law.

In effect in May, the law allows more people to get permits to carry a concealed weapon. It also requires companies that want to ban guns to post signs with exact specifications.

After one workshop on the topic, given by attorney Mark Geier of Mackall Crounse & Moore in Minneapolis, he noted that a rep was there to pass out sign-making info to business owner attendees.

The manager of FastSigns in Inver Grove Heights notes an uptick in business. “We have done a lot of signs. It’s a quick dollar,” says Bradley Brown. He and his reps will give information on the signs if a client asks or if they see a paper sign tacked on a client’s door.

But his store is not actively seeking the business, nor does he believe the news reports in which other business owners say the signs are a boon.

“They’re visually appalling,” says Brown. “If anything it’s the least interesting work we’ve done this summer, because it’s pretty much typing in a company name.”

Bradley Brown, FastSigns: 651.455.4559; 286@fastsigns.com

Mark Geier, Mackall Crounse & Moore: 612.305.1400