North Huntingdon business celebrates good times with outdoor signs
A North Huntingdon couple has created a business of spreading joy through creating customized outdoor signs for events such as birthdays, family events, graduations for high school classes and individual students.
“We’re in the joy industry. Everything we do with our signs brings joy,” said Nick Benevento, who co-owns Yardobrations with his wife, Nicole “Nikki” Benevento.
Last week, the Beneventos erected a 15-foot-long sign in front of Norwin High School to congratulate the Class of 2021. Nick hoped it would give seniors another place to stage graduation photos. The sign featured a mortarboard, balloons and a Norwin Knight with a diploma.
“With all of what they have gone through, it’s important for the Class of 2021 to have something like this,” Nikki Benevento said.
The school district paid the Beneventos $200 for the sign at the high school and another one at the Stratigos Banquet Centre in North Huntingdon, the site of the prom, said Jonathan Szish, school district spokesman.
Yardobrations is a companion business to their first commercial venture, Photobrations, which involves pop-up photo booths that have mirrors and a camera to take photos at weddings, proms, graduation parties, anniversaries, mitzvahs and other gatherings. With so many weddings, company gatherings, proms, anniversaries, mitzvahs either postponed or downsized last year, the photo booth business went bust.
The Yardobrations was a business born out of the pandemic, one that would not be impacted by covid-related restrictions. The Beneventos started Yardobrations last fall as a way to operate through the pandemic, he said.
Nick Benevento is a printer at Laurel Printing Graphics in Duquesne and uses a designer to help put his ideas to reality. The signs are printed on a plastic, weather-proof material and held together and solidified with stakes. Nikki does set-up work for exhibits at conventions, a business she said ended abruptly last year on March 13 — a date she rattles off with no hesitation.
With the pandemic restrictions against gatherings being loosened, they are expecting a busy season.
“We measure smiles by the yards,” Nick Benevento said.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.