Lighted "Marquee Letters"

by North Texas' (DFW's) Largest Custom Sign Builder

Lighted “Marquee Letters” refers to the predecessor to Channel Letters; large open-faced 3-dimensional letters internally-lighted with exposed light bulbs, popularly installed atop the marquees of arcades, amusement parks, and movie theaters.  The definition has somehow morphed into 3-5’ tall free-standing illuminated letters; whether lighted with light bulbs or not.  (Plastic changeable letters on a marquee sign’s face are referred to as “changeable marquee letters.”)

For information on wall-mounted lighted lettering, or lighted letters attached to other surfaces, view our Channel Letters pages, because these are manufactured, lighted, and installed differently.  A tab is included in the left column of this page, "Other Sign Types," linking to our Channel Letters page.

We manufacture large free-standing illuminated Marquee Letters, primarily for cities, usually so that they are portable.

Usually we manufacture these letters with internal Sunburst^™ LED lighting covered by virtually-unbreakable polycarbonate faces.  About 50% of the time the internal LED lighting is color-changing.  Lighting option links are included in the tabs down the left side of this page.

What about including the vintage flair of exposed light bulbs?  We can do this, but 500 incandescent 40 watt light bulbs require 220 amps of 120 volt 1 phase electrical service!  And be prepared for a lot of servicing.  An average incandescent light bulb has a lifetime of about 600 hours.  Most storefront business signs are lighted over 2,000 hours every year.  (That’s more than 1,500 replacement bulbs every year.)

Fortunately, we also manufacture letters using LED light bulbs, however.  These are energy-efficient, long-lasting, and visually provide this old-time vintage flair.

Speaking of vintage flair, we also manufacture letters using neon for internal or exposed lighting.  A link to learn more about our neon manufacturing is included in the tabs down the left side of this page.

All of these options are viewable in our Showroom.

Summary - Marquee Letters In a Nutshell

The Special Features and Benefits of Signs Manufacturing Corporation's Marquee Letters

• Lasting Quality - Your Sign will ALWAYS look good to potential customers
• Thick welded aluminum letters - No rust and the sign will last forever. Virtually Hail-proof.
• CNC Computer-controlled Cutting of Metals and Plastics - Perfect look, not handmade, much more impressive.
• CNC Computer-generated Installation Patterns - Perfect installations.
• Signlux Paint Systems™ Automotive+ paints and 2 part primer system - The same exterior paint type they paint a Ferrari with. It looks new virtually forever, helping your business.
• Letter insides painted with Solar Finishes™ Bright Reflective White - The letter always lights brighter because of this paint, attracting more attention, with no additional electrical cost.
• Impact-modified plastics - Won't break and look bad.
• SolarGuard- protected plastics - Won-t fade and look bad to customers.
• Lumabrite- coated plastics - Always looks brighter with no additional energy cost.
• Vandal resistant coatings - Your sign won-t be intentionally damaged.
• Self-cleaning sign faces - Your sign never looks dirty and dingy, chasing potential customers away.
• SolarBrite™ LEDs - 5 times brighter than the LEDs used by everyone else (Sloan, JT, JS)
• Neon made in-house - Highest quality made specifically for your sign - fits perfectly for even illumination of the entire letter.
• Brighter Signs™ neon Option - Twice as bright draws more attention.
• LetterLites™ LED first-surface lighting Option - Attracts more attention so you do more business. The lights are visible!
• SpectraLites^- LED color-changing internal lighting Option - Differences Sell.
• Energy Saving Signs electrical - Saves 35% or more of electricity costs, some signs can even be solar powered.
• UL or ETL listed signs - These signs Can be legally installed anywhere, and moved anywhere at a later time.

The Special Features and Benefits of Doing Business With Signs Manufacturing

Signs are Like Boats

There are $50,000 boats and there are $400 boats. Technically both are boats, but don't expect that $400 boat to keep your business afloat. The devil is in the details.

If a company goes to the cost and effort of adding value to their product (types and amount of lighting, paints, protective coatings, etc.), they're going to talk about it. Pay attention to what they aren't telling you.

Our websites, literature and proposals describe in detail what we are quoting, and why we are doing it.

Nobody ever includes quality and features in their products that are not described in their literature and quotations.

Have you had a different experience?

Consider how important a quality sign, being the first thing your customers see of your organization, is to your success.

Buyer Beware! Nothing hurts a business more than bad signage.

Literature