Supplying happiness through yard cards, announcements

Rachel Sankey

Past Staff

December 13, 2023

GREEN BAY – “Say it with a sign” – that, Andrea Johnson said, is a great representation of Titletown Storks & More, a yard sign business Johnson runs with her husband, Garry Lenser.

The idea to start a business of her own, Johnson said, was sparked in 2016 when she had some uncertainty at her full-time job.

“Back in 2016, (my company) went through a reorganization, and some of us were on the list to be let go,” she said. “And while I knew that was happening, I thought, ‘well, what if I just start my own business?’”

Thankfully, Johnson said she was able to remain at the company assuming a different role, but the idea of starting her own business still lingered in her mind. 

“It got me thinking, ‘what if that happens again?’” she said. “It would be nice to have a side business so I have some extra income.”

From there, Johnson said she took to the internet, researching businesses one can start with low startup costs. 

It was a yard sign rental business that caught her eye.

“I started researching (yard sign businesses) and came across a lady that was called the Stork Lady, and she’s based out of Texas,” she said. 

Johnson said she was able to purchase signs from the Stork Lady – set up a few and posted them to Facebook.

That, Johnson said, is what got the ball rolling and prompted Titletown Storks & More to branch out and offer additional sign options.

“A lady reached out to me from De Pere, and (said), ‘I have 50 pink flamingos, you could do flockings, and I’ll sell them to you for $50,’” she said.

Johnson admits that she had to research what flockings were.

“I found out people put these pink flamingos in other people’s yards,” she said. “I was like ‘oh, that sounds like a good add-on (for the business).’”

The flamingos, Johnson said, “turned out to be our biggest hit.”

After co-owner Andrea Johnson learned about flocking – where people surprise others with flamingos in their yard – she decided to add it to her business. It has since been a hit. Photo Courtesy of Titletown Storks & More

“People thought it was funny to wake up in the morning with 50 pink flamingos (in their yard),” she said. 

Johnson said she began to add more signs from the Stork Lady and ended up purchasing a business package from her.

“I think it was like $6,000,” she said. “It included the signs and all the documentation to get yourself set up. She helped me with the website setup. So, it was a one-time fee to get you started.”

For many different occasions
Today, Titletown Storks & More offers yard signs for birthdays, retirement, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, weddings, wedding anniversaries and showers, engagements, christenings and the flamingo flockings.

The base of the messages, Johnson said, are on one sign and can’t be individualized.

“We have what we call ‘little short setups,’ where ‘Happy Birthday’ is already one sign, and we can’t do individual letters,” she said.

However, Johnson said there is room for customization in other ways.

For example, a customer could personalize the yard sign to add the recipient’s name or request add-ons that reflect the recipient’s interests.

“If I can get them in time… I will always try to accommodate any special interests,” she said.

Johnson said customers can also specify what kind of color scheme they want and what message they want to include in the yard sign.

“We’ve tried to do as much as we can, but it’s limited to our inventory,” she said. 

Johnson said all signs come with a personalized keepsake sign that is left with the customer after pickup.

Titletown Storks & More is responsible for the setup and the takedown of the signs.

And, though Johnson said there isn’t another business in the Green Bay Area doing something like this, she said the business sets itself apart even more from their rental time frame.

“The typical rental period (with other similar companies in the country)… is 24 hours,” she said. “We always do three to four days. We want to make sure they get to enjoy it. If their birthday is on Thursday but they’re having a party on Saturday, they want to keep it (for that).”

In special circumstances, Johnson said they’ve allowed customers to keep their signs for longer. 

“We’ve had one where the baby ended up being in the hospital longer than expected,” she said. “I think we left the stork up for two weeks because we wanted them to be happy at that point.”

Johnson said Titletown Storks & More mainly services the Green Bay area, with varied pricing depending on how many miles she and her husband have to travel for setup. 

Clients in areas outside of Green Bay, Johnson said, must call Titletown Storks & More for pricing on mileage.

No matter the season
During the winter season, Johnson said business tends to slow down – but Titletown Storks & More is open and available all year-round.

“The winter does not stop us,” she said. “My husband actually takes a drill with him, and he sometimes does have to drill holes for each of the letters because they have a metal H stake that goes into the ground… so it’s a lot more time-consuming.”

Customers can let Johnson know what kind of theme they would like for their yard sign rental, and Johnson said she will do her best to match that theme. Photo Courtesy of Titletown Storks & More

Though sometimes more work, Johnson said pricing in the winter remains the same.

For everyone to enjoy
Johnson said she knew early on that Titletown Storks & More would add happiness to customers’ lives, but what she didn’t anticipate was the impact it has had on the people in the surrounding area.

“The neighbors get happy,” she said. “We’ve gotten calls from people that say, ‘our neighbors – everybody just loves it.’ Or they said, ‘we have not met our neighbors before, and when the sign was up, the neighbors came and talked to us.’ I think it helps the neighborhood connect.”

Since starting the business seven years ago, Johnson said customer response has been consistently “positive.”

“We had one elderly lady, she got the birthday yard sign from her neighbors,” she said. “She called us and said, ‘my neighbors did this, and what you’re doing is so nice.’”

Johnson said she’s also had many repeat customers. 

“Sometimes, we see if we do a set up in a certain street, then all of a sudden, I see an influx in orders that come around that neighborhood,” she said. “Then I know we were seen and people obviously liked it and went ahead and did that as well.”

Though Johnson and Lenser are not able to take the business full-time since they are both already working 40 hours a week, Johnson said if the option were to ever arise for her to take it full-time, she would.

“I don’t have the time or the resources yet,” she said. “I’m still about seven years away from retirement, so maybe when we’re retired we do (more) and make some add-ons.”

To learn more about Titletown Storks & More, visit titletownstorksandmore.com.