Century Banquet Center, Sterling Heights, MI

Despite being located across the street from the Maple Lane Golf Course in Sterling Heights, Mich., and successfully operating for 45 years, the Century Banquet Center wasn’t being chosen by brides for wedding receptions. Bookings for funeral luncheons, corporate events and parties also had dropped.

The facility, which offers in-house catering with customized menus, had a good reputation for delivering exceptional customer service and personal attention for each event.

Gary Mruk, president of the American Polish Century Club, owner of the facility, felt that the signage might be the culprit. Century Banquet Center’s letter board sign was 4'x8' and two-sided, but it had to be updated manually. In Michigan’s snowy and cold winters, updating the sign was a chore.

Mruk turned to Huron Sign to design a new structure featuring a 19mm, 4' x 9' LED sign in full-color from Watchfire Signs.

The new sign features vibrant images, full-motion video and Ignite software for easy programming. The new sign can be programmed from inside the building, and features eye-catching graphics. Now the facility customizes sign messages for each event. For weddings, Mruk asks newlyweds to email him a digital photograph from the ceremony or from outside the church, and guests are welcomed to the reception with a photo of the happy couple on the sign.

The new Watchfire sign has had a significant impact on business. Before Installation, the facility booked just seven weddings. In the first full year after installation, event bookings more than quadrupled to 38.