Grant Sign Group Becomes MRI
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Grant Sign Group, Toronto-based out-of-home service provider, has put all its companies and divisions under the one new name of Media Resources International and added three new offices in Calgary, Edmonton and New York City.
“The main reason for the name change” says Steve Gallow, a principal partner at MRI “is the growth and diversity of our products and services over the past decade. The Grant Sign Group name (in business since 1967) has long represented the sign installation side of the business. Today, our product line and operations have expanded to include manufacturing, production and service maintenance for a wide array of outdoor and indoor displays including LED, digital, 3D, traditional large and small format outdoor advertising, tri-vision displays and POP digital printing. We also offer a multitude of specialized displays for events and trade shows, stage and studio backdrops, and street furniture, as well as parts and systems – just to name a few”.
In Canada, MRI’s major customers include Pattison and Astral. In the digital sector, it has five LED signs installed on Toronto’s heavily trafficked Gardiner Expressway. Past 3D works included Wrigley’s ‘fire and ice’ boards in Toronto and Montreal, and advertising with smoke rising from the top in parting lots for McDonald’s Restaurants, in association with Titan. A new 3D installation will be going up later this month in Vancouver for an as-yet-unnamed client. In the U.S., to date, its two sales offices in New York and Naples, Florida, have concentrated on an easy-install tri-vision product.
Gallow adds “We are really a resource to our customers and our main ones are media related. This new name helps incorporate all our sister companies (Grant Sign Imaging, Rite Sign International, Media Maintenance and Grant Sign Service) as a single entity. We have also made several internal changes in our sales, customer service and operations departments to provide a more streamlined service for our clients”.
The company’s new name was chosen following an employee contest, with the winning final choice a suggestion from Linda Chandler, the company’s longtime bookkeeper.
MRI now has offices in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, New York City and Naples, Florida. MRI’s founding partners are Cal Courneya, Keith Edwards (former head of the sign installation group), Steve Gallow, Bill Mullen (former head of digital and tri-vision products) and Will Thomson (former head of the printing group). – all who have years of experience in the out-of-home industry and a network of ooh associates worldwide.
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