Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Stolen Signs
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November 16, 2008 at 7:59 am #588732
Doris M. GouletMemberWhoever stole my “craft sale” signs should be ashamed!! I am a small business and everything costs money. If you needed a sign, have one made that belongs to you.
If anyone spots a “Craft Sale” sign with an orange arrow on it, it belongs to Friends and Company, Rubber Stamps and More Store in the Junction. It is a sandwich board type. Not very big either. We had 6 and now have 4. Please let me know (206) 932-3891 if you spot it!!
November 16, 2008 at 9:16 am #647388
TraciMemberThis is disheartening to hear! I’ll keep an eye out.
November 16, 2008 at 6:21 pm #647389
JaimeGummerMemberI doubt anyone would have stolen the sign to re-use it. I saw one of the others like it out on the sidewalk this morning and, no offense, but it is pretty janky. Must have been some meddling kids.
November 16, 2008 at 6:53 pm #647390
flowerpetalMemberWhat is janky? And if someone says “no offense” then why say it at all; or why not say it in a way that might be less offensive?
Sandwich signs are stolen frequently and repainted. They are expensive to purchase. Sorry for your loss Doris. Someone must’ve seen these get carried away.
November 16, 2008 at 7:44 pm #647391
JaimeGummerMemberflowerpetal: I don’t know Doris M. Goulet so I wrote “no offense” because I didn’t intend to insult her or hurt her feelings but the signs were ugly. I think that if you’re going to go to the trouble of making up signs and putting a bunch of them all over the sidewalks you should at least put a bit of thought into their design, especially when you are marketing something. The signs don’t have to be expensive or elaborate, just simple and tasteful. I think the lack of taste demonstrated in these signs would probably cause me to steer clear of this Craft Sale as they are suggestive of the quality of what I might find at the sale.
With that said, I empathize with Ms. Goulet for the loss of her sign and think it is terrible that people have a lack of respect for other people’s property.
November 16, 2008 at 8:26 pm #647392
WSBKeymasterLinking to the Crime Watch page. There’s been a spate of sign thefts in West Seattle/White Center — including Village Green Perennial Nursery (now closed for the season) having had signs stolen twice, with saw-wielding thieves/vandals cutting signs away from their tethers. Previous discussions have veered off into city rules regarding such signs — for better or for worse, whether or not a sign is in a spot where it “should” be, doesn’t give anyone the right to steal it. And for all the endless hue and cry over whether we’re going to lose our small businesses as new development moves in, signs are among the few ways they have to get the word out “in person” about what they have going … the city has loosened the rules about sidewalk cafes (which once were stymied because of walkway-blocking concerns) and I wonder if they might consider loosening the signage rules at some point.
Meantime, I seem to recall a past stack of stolen signs being spotted in a dumpster near Home Depot on Delridge – maybe someone will spot these too. Doris, I hope you reported it to the police just in case they happen onto it – no theft is too small to report.
November 16, 2008 at 10:32 pm #647393
specialeditionsstudioMemberJamie, Just so you know those signs were her property. Whoever stole them was wrong; and not being a prankster but a theif.
I also would not judge a book by it’s cover. What you will find inside the store at Dori’s 12th Annual and very successful Craft Sale might just surprise you.
Her sale is made up of local artists whose only hope is to sell a few items that they lovingly created to someone who will get great joy in the possiblity of making it a holiday gift.
I don;t think a ‘sale’ sign need be professionally made to have it’s purpose met. I hope that you DID stop in and found something delightful for yourself or someone you love.
November 16, 2008 at 11:15 pm #647394
acemotelParticipantI don’t know about these particular signs or where they were located, but when you put signs on public property or someone else’s private property, it’s fair game.
Last summer someone peppered Admiral and Alki with signs promoting a condo in Des Moines (as I recall). One of those signs was in our front yard.
There are also signs for one particular business throughout West Seattle, eyesores on the landscape. Reader boards shouldn’t be on all the public sidewalks, obscuring the greenery and views of the beach IMO.
November 16, 2008 at 11:39 pm #647395
flowerpetalMemberI sure understand what you are saying Acemotel. And that would certainly include a whole bunch of signs for businesses all over West Seattle, including all of the open house signs we see on weekends. Also “come worhsip with us” signs, espresso signs, estate sales, etc. Not sure if these should be fair game.
I didn’t find the stolen signs to be ugly and still curious about the word Janky. I know a Janky family and don’t think anyone would call them ugly. Funny word huh?
November 16, 2008 at 11:51 pm #647396
WSBKeymasterSomeone whose eyes are not currently swimming as much as mine might consider reading this:
Seattle sign laws.
On my first couple readings, it seems to say that signs like this “in a business district” (which certainly applies to The Junction) are NOT illegal. Section 3a.
November 17, 2008 at 12:00 am #647397
flowerpetalMemberThat is how I would read that too. It is also clearer in section C. But clearly, if Acemotel had someone putting signs in his front yard; which presumably is his property, all bets are off!
November 17, 2008 at 12:11 am #647398
ErikParticipantI had 3 of those condo signs in my parking strip. They were gone before the sun set.
November 17, 2008 at 3:44 am #647399
rampinrodneyMemberOh, for heaven’s sake! Doris just would like to get her signs back. Janky, skanky, or hanky-panky; so what. She just wants her signs back. If you know of their whereabouts, contact her at the number listed by her.
November 17, 2008 at 5:04 am #647400
acemotelParticipantha ha ha
Urban Dictionary says this is the definition of janky:
(adjective) inferior quality; held in low social regard; old and dilapidated; refers almost exclusively to inanimate material objects, not to people
I think when you are posting to a forum you should expect comment. just sayin’
November 17, 2008 at 5:58 am #647401
JaimeGummerMemberacemotel: Sometimes I think the word janky was invented especially for a certain demographic in West Seattle.
rampinrodney: I don’t think Doris should hold her breath about getting those signs back. And again, from my perspective whoever took them was doing us all a favor removing them from the sidewalks.
Whatever happened to all of the great hand-painted sign makers?
November 17, 2008 at 6:55 am #647402
wingmeMemberjanky ex-cop cars parked all over; yards janky with clutter; janky sandwich-boards; wow, JANKY…my vocabulary expanded, one new word at a time.
November 17, 2008 at 7:29 am #647403
Doris M. GouletMemberGreetings All!! I never would have thought that my request for my signs to be returned would turn into such a thread. I just want everyone to know two things – one is that stealing, is stealing, is stealing – no matter how “janky” something is.
The other is that when I told my 65-year friend who made the signs about what was going on, he was devastated because he was so proud of his work. He is an eclectic sort and I, quite frankly, was very proud of his work also. Some day you’ll have to see the “WOWZA” wheel he made for our shop which consists of wheel chair parts, an oxygen tank and few other eclectic pieces. This wheel, which is rather “janky” is beginning to find its way into several of the businesses in West Seattle. I guess its all in perspective. How do people feel about pink flamingos in people’s front yards? Would you steal these??
Keep it fun is my motto and will continue to be. Thanks to all for the support. I hope you take time to vist us someday. And by the way, the craft sale was a HUGE success for both the consumer who got great deals and our vendors who sold much of their wares. Until next year….. Doris
November 17, 2008 at 8:03 am #647404
rampinrodneyMemberAnd to JaimeGummer, in answer to your question, all the “great hand painted sign makers” moved to beautiful Bellevue. Perhaps that is a demographic you can identify with….
Holding my breath in West Seattle…
November 17, 2008 at 8:51 am #647405
wingmeMemberDMG…I didn’t see your signs but judging by the attitude of those with such astute artistic sensibilities, they probably weren’t as bad as all that. And to unapologistically condone theft of things based on personal notions of what is pleasing to the eye, well that’s just wrong. But the word JANKY, now there’s a positive contribution to this entire discourse. P.S…did you have to tell the old guy?
November 17, 2008 at 9:36 am #647406
WSBKeymaster65 isn’t even remotely old.
November 17, 2008 at 9:56 am #647407
wingmeMemberTR…laughing MFAO!!! Sometimes I forget I was born in the fifties.
November 17, 2008 at 9:59 am #647408
wingmeMemberAnd yes I’m aware the word is ‘UNAPOLOGETIC”. Senior moment, brain fart, call it what you will.
November 17, 2008 at 3:32 pm #647409
kennemMemberWhen you put something on public property and leave it there, it’s called littering. When you remove litter, you are cleaning up the neighborhood, not stealing. I didn’t remove the signs but, if they weren’t in front of the business (the spot where the city generally allows them unless you’re in a special district, which we’re not), whoever did so did us a favor.
Advertising signs use public property to promote private gain. That is generally wrong and, justifiably, illegal. Perhaps there’s a misunderstanding about the difference between private property – which allows you much greater freedom to put up signs – and public property.
Signage in the public right of way, particularly on sidewalks, clutters the sidewalks and makes pedestrian mobility more difficult. If you’re in a wheelchair, visually impaired, or have other mobility issues, it’s even worse.
Let’s keep our sidewalks for walking, not for advertising.
November 17, 2008 at 4:05 pm #647410
TrickParticipantI use to have condo signs in front of my place of business that pointed towards their development about 8 blocks away.
I always thought that if they wanted to pay the rent on a highly visible corner like I had too, they should have contributed to the higher rent I paid on a more highly travelled corner, or at least asked permission to litter my store front.
I only used one sandwich board sign, paid the city fee, and took it in each night.
November 17, 2008 at 10:18 pm #647411
vincentMemberThis comes up here from time to time, and people seem to have some weird selective morality about it being theft.
Signs on a public right of way, or any property other than your own are litter. Especially A Boards.
sorry, build a bridge and get over it.
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