Fresno Neon Sign Company is one of Fresno’s oldest and most well-respected sign manufacturers. With clients from across the state and recognizable projects dating back to the 1930s, they are truly a part of valley history. In 1932, Fresno Neon Sign Company started as a small neon shop operated by John McKenzie. At that time, the new neon signage popping up around the country was growing fast, and
with that trend, Fresno Neon quickly grew into Fresno’s largest sign company. Electric lighted and neon signs became a business staple by the 1950s, at the peak of architecture and design. Some of the most beautiful and lasting impressions were made by businesses which chose to invest in a custom-designed sign to showcase their wares and advertise their presence. Some of Fresno’s most memorable signs are part of Fresno Neon’s history: from the enormous Security Bank sign atop the Pacific Southwest Building in Downtown Fresno; to the original Manchester Center signage, with its stunning architectural steelwork and massive neon lights; to the Edmonds Jewelers back-lit neon on the marble façade of their former Fulton Mall location; to the original Hotel Fresno canopy sign, when it still shone at night through the 1940s. In 1956, John McKenzie was succeeded by his son Don, who controlled the business for 30 years. With new competition in town and a widening diversity of sign-writing methods emerging, Fresno Neon managed to change with the times, themselves diversifying to include custom painting, vinyl decoration and internally-illuminated storefront signage. By the 1980s, traditional sign-writing methods such as metal-faces and extensive neon were becoming a thing of the past, but this did not keep Fresno Neon from staying at the forefront of the sign industry. The company was acquired by its former shop foreman Bill Kratt in 1986, and soon after moved from its long-time home in downtown Fresno in the Highway-180 right-of-way to a new and modern facility near the Fresno Airport. Under President and CEO Bill Kratt, Fresno Neon experienced one of its most successful and profitable period in its 80-year history, providing customers with faster, more efficient, and more competitive service, prices, and products than ever before. In 2002, Fresno Neon relocated again, to a newly-built, expanded location at 5901 E. Clinton, in the new Grundfos Development, which has facilitated the increased capacity required to serve the projected growth of the booming Central Valley economy of the 21st century. The newest location, in the expanded Fresno Industrial Park near Clinton and Fowler, features more automated machinery for better and more accurate results, greater room to increase capacity and improve turn-around times, new graphic-design offices and equipment to help the company expand into the fields of marketing and identity design, a large spray booth to facilitate high-quality sign painting, and room for future expansion. In 2014, Bill retired after over forty years in the company, turning over the reins to his daughter, local attorney K.C. Rutiaga, who had returned to the company in 2005. Although neon work is no longer a primary part of Fresno Neon’s everyday business, this type of lighted sign still delights both industry leaders and customers alike. Fresno Neon Sign Company manufactures everything from small lighted storefront letters to vehicle decoration to huge internally-lighted freeway signs. They are also the most experienced electronic message board installer and service shop in the Valley. With projects throughout the Valley and the Bay Area, more and more of our very versatile signs are being sold by Fresno Neon than ever before. With such a rich history and such extensive experience, it’s easy to see why Fresno Neon, after over 90 years, remains a Valley leader in the sign business. Lighting Up the Valley Since 1932!
