McDonald's And Taco Bell Road Spam

What's up with the gazillion "Broadlands Marketplace: McDonald's And Taco Bell -->) road spam signs that are RIGHT IN FRONT of McDonalds and Taco Bell? Does someone think drivers don't know how to get into the shopping center? Or that we can't see the McDonald's and Taco Bell? Weird. I usually don't get too twitterpated about this issue, but these signs seem to be totally unnecessary.

 

I have seen these signs and thought the same thing. Funny thing is if you head towards the The Shoppes at Ryan Park, you see signs for Glory days, McDonalds and Taco Bell all pointing you in the wrong direction.

 

Today, the signs are for Harris Teeter and Walgreens.

And yes, they are right in front of HT and Walgreen's.

 

i bet the tenants in another plaza moved them... lol

 

It's tough to single out McD's and Taco Bell because there are signs for many of the tenants of Broadlands Marketplace. It seems then that Broadlands Marketplace (Van Metre?) has put the signs up. Broadlands Apartments (Van Metre?) also has several signs. Too bad Van Metre doesn't follow the no signs rule for its property that the HOA tries to follow.

 

They wouldn't be following it if they didn't have a certain individual breathing down their necks!!

 

They are actually double sided signs. So if you are going towards the SW plaza they point you in the right direction. If you are going away from the SW plaza they point you in the wrong direction.

 

They really are inane signs. Why advertise a business when it is in plain sight of the person viewing the sign? The old adage is that 50 percent of any advertising budget is wasted. Well, it seems like McD's and Taco Bell are doing their fair share of wasted advertising.

I do have a suggestion for these businesses, though. Maybe they should make up signs that say:

Drive Slowly - Children Playing in the Road
This Sign Brought to You by Your
Neighborhood McDonalds Located at ...​

All the folks who are asking for signs to be put in front of every household that tells their kids to play in the middle of the street could get them for free from Broadlands businesses!

 

I think that these poor places are trying to draw in traffic. It would be a shame if they left. :indiff3:

 

Maybe they SHOULD say Drive Slowly - Children Walking Through The Road & Parking Lot - since there is not a sidewalk to get to the stores!!

 

THAT is a fabulous idea.

 

The signs are the property of Van Metre, but the sign installer ignored our map of where to install them - twice. Hopefully they will get it right eventually, since they won't get paid until they do. Our instructions to them are to not place any within Broadlands. And yes, they are to help out struggling retailers in the center. Because Mooreview and Wynridge are still fairly new roads, people outside of Broadlands can't seem to find their way to Broadlands Marketplace, despite Mapquest, maps in newspaper ads, etc. At least that's what the merchants tell me.

As for sidewalks - they are coming, but VDOT has been fighting us for almost a year on that issue. Blame VDOT, not Van Metre.

Ty Hausch