Shop Port, Think Local: Diamond Finish

For the next several weeks the Shop Port, Think Local blog wants to introduce you to some of our local businesses. We want to spotlight a new business each week and show you something that makes them special.

This week features "Sign of the Times," sellers of Diamond Finish cleaner.

Our business was born simply out of personal frustration. Back in 2005, we were both unhappy at our current jobs. We didn’t quite know what we wanted to do, but we knew for certain that we wanted to work for ourselves. 

We put our heads together and after much discussion, we took money out of our savings and started "Sign of the Times" in early 2005.  We bought a computer and a small vinyl printer and began printing t-shirts and selling them part-time on eBay.  The business grew, but we soon realized that eBay was taking a huge portion of our profits with all their fees, so we decided to open our own online web store and JackieBlueWear.com was born. 

We continued to reinvest in the business and we purchased a small vinyl cutter a few months later, which cut special materials like glitter and flock that we could heat apply to a higher quality of ladies shirts.  We also were able to cut regular vinyl with this machine, which we used to make small signs and banners for various businesses. During all this, we both kept our full-time jobs and did the work for our business on nights and weekends, putting in about 100 hours a week.   

The following year, in the spring of 2006, we were looking for way to promote our web store and we decided to try some local event vending.  We bought a small pop-up tent and our first show was the May 2006 Maxwell Street Day in Cedarburg.  Soon after we set up a booth at Pirate Fest in Port Washington and the ball started rolling.  It was then we realized that event vending was our best promotional tool and so, ambitiously, we booked an event every weekend from Memorial Day through Labor Day for the next two years. The shows took us all over Wisconsin and Illinois, but it wouldn’t be until midway through 2007 that we felt we could finally quit our other full-time jobs. We were so busy, and things were going so well, we phased out the sign and banner end of the business for lack of time.

Little did we know our business was about to evolve once again.  During one particularly slow event in 2007, we met the manufacturer of motorcycle cleaner.  We took it home and liked it so much, we became the national wholesale distributor.  We continue to vend at motorcycle events throughout the Midwest and grow our dealer network, however, because motorcycling is not only a niche market but also very seasonal, we decided that we needed to represent a product that was more multi-purpose and would be more widely used. 

So in 2009, we developed "Diamond Finish™" — a cleaner, polish and protector that replaces all other household cleaners.  Diamond Finish can safely be used on everything from automobiles and appliances, to TV screens, cell phones, glass and granite. Its unique properties allow it to actually repel dust, dirt and fingerprints.  Today, we are very pleased to say that Diamond Finish is now available locally at , , Lakeshore Kitchen and in Port Washington, at Ozaukee Ace in Grafton and at all Colder’s locations throughout southeast Wisconsin.

All our products can be purchased either from dealers or through our website, JackieBlueWear.com, as we do not have a retail location but only rent facilities in the industrial park. Beginning in 2012, we will be promoting Diamond Finish at home shows and other events like the Milwaukee Home and Garden Show 2012 at State Fair Park.  If your business is interested in carrying Diamond Finish, please contact Scott or Kathryn "Jackie Blue" at Sign of the Times, 800-963-1961 (DiamondFinishPro.com) for more information.