Holiday sale signs for small businesses: what earns its cost

Most small businesses spend their holiday sign money backwards. The big banner says "25% Off Through Dec 24," so it goes in the dumpster on December 26. Meanwhile the holiday hours sign, the one every customer reads, is printer paper taped crooked to the door.

Holiday sale signs earn their cost when the expensive pieces carry the season and the cheap pieces carry the dates and discounts. This guide covers which signs to buy, what to put on each one, and when to order so they're up before Thanksgiving weekend.

We're Honor Printing + Design, a family-run print and design shop based in metro Atlanta. We work with churches, schools and small businesses and nonprofits and ship nationally. Here's how we'd plan a shop's holiday signs if it were our own storefront.

Which holiday signs actually earn their cost?

The signs worth paying for are the ones you can use again. Sort every sign you're considering by two questions: who reads it, and will it still be true in February?

If the budget only covers one piece, start with the sign closest to the door. If your shoppers arrive on foot, a sign they pass at arm's length does more work than one they glimpse from the road at 40 miles an hour.

Why is a sidewalk A-frame the first sign to buy?

An A-frame sits at eye level, in the path people are already walking, and its boards slide out when the season changes. That makes it the best return on a holiday sign budget for most storefronts.

Our A-frame sidewalk sign comes in 18×24 or 24×36 inches, with two 4mm coroplast boards in a plastic frame. The base fills with water or sand so it doesn't walk off in a gust. As of October 2026 it starts at $195.

The detail people miss is that an A-frame has two faces, and each one only reaches people walking toward it. Put the holiday offer on the face that greets your busier direction of foot traffic. Put something evergreen on the other face, like "Open. Come on in" with your hours. In January, the holiday board comes out and the evergreen one keeps working.

How much can a holiday sale sign say?

Less than you want it to. A common rule of thumb in the sign trade is about one inch of letter height for every 10 feet of viewing distance. Someone 30 feet down the sidewalk needs letters around 3 inches tall to read your headline.

On a 24×36 board, 3-inch letters leave room for a headline of four to six words, one supporting line, and maybe an arrow. So pick one message per sign:

• The offer: "Gift sets from $25" or "Free gift wrap." Use a real number only if it's true for the whole season.
• The reason to step in: "Local gifts for everyone on your list."
• The direction: an arrow and "Entrance around back" if people can't find your door.

Everything else, like the fine print, the end date and the exclusions, goes on a poster inside where people have time to read it.

What should go in the shop window?

One or two posters, placed at eye level, with enough glass left clear that people can see in. A window covered edge to edge in sale signs hides the thing that sells: the shop itself.

Printed posters are the cheap, swappable layer of a holiday plan. Two sizes cover most windows. An 18×24 poster suits a door or a narrow pane, and a 24×36 works for the main window. This is the right place for anything with a date on it, because replacing a poster costs far less than replacing a banner.

Two practical checks before you print. If the window gets afternoon sun, expect a paper poster to fade over a long season and plan to swap it halfway. And once it's up, check it from the sidewalk and from the parking lot, because glare at certain times of day can wash out dark text on a light background.

Do you need a printed holiday hours sign?

Yes. It's the most-read sign you'll put up all season, and it's the one most often handwritten. A clean, printed hours sign on the door tells customers you planned for them.

The 2026 dates most shops need to cover:

• Thanksgiving: Thursday, November 26
• Black Friday: November 27, and Small Business Saturday on November 28
• Christmas Eve and Christmas Day: Thursday, December 24 and Friday, December 25
• New Year's Eve and New Year's Day: Thursday, December 31 and Friday, January 1, 2027

Whatever the door says, your website and Google listing should say the same thing. The SBA's holiday readiness tips for small businesses make the same point: keep your details consistent everywhere customers look. A customer who drives over because Google said you're open and finds a dark door won't trust your next sign.

When is a banner or feather flag worth it?

When people find you from a car. If your shop sits back from the road, shares a strip center with a dozen other storefronts, or has a lot that faces traffic, a banner or flag is what tells drivers you're there. If your customers mostly walk past, skip both and spend the money on the A-frame and the window.

Put the season on the expensive sign and the date on the cheap one.

For a banner, that means "Holiday Gift Shop Now Open" instead of "25% Off Through Dec 24." The first can hang again next November. Banners on a building face or fence take wind differently, and our guide to choosing mesh or vinyl by where the banner hangs covers which one to order.

Feather flags come in heights from 9 to 18 feet and are rated for winds around 18 to 23 miles an hour, so they come down when a front blows through. A spike base works in grass. On concrete or asphalt you need an X-base. As of October 2026 they start at $160.

Before you order either one, check your lease and your city. Many shopping centers and municipalities have rules about banners, flags and signs on the sidewalk, and it's better to ask before the sign arrives than after a notice does.

How early should you order holiday signs?

Aim to have every sign in hand the week before Thanksgiving, so it's up for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. Work back from there. Design, proofing and shipping take longer than the printing does, and a rushed proof is where typos get through.

A planning order that works for most shops:

1. Late October: decide your offer and your holiday hours. Every sign depends on these two things.
2. First week of November: order the pieces you'll reuse, like the A-frame, banner and flags, while there's time for a careful proof.
3. Second week of November: order posters and the hours sign, since those carry details that may still change.
4. Week before Thanksgiving: put everything up, then walk past your own shop from both directions and from the parking lot.

This is general planning guidance, not a promise from any printer, so confirm dates when you order.

Common questions

Will coroplast signs hold up in rain?

Yes. Coroplast is a corrugated plastic, so it doesn't soak up water the way cardboard or foam board does. The 4mm boards in our A-frames and yard signs are made for outdoor use. Wind is the bigger risk, which is why an A-frame base should be weighted with water or sand.

Can we reuse an A-frame after the holidays?

Yes, and that's the main reason to buy one. The boards slide in and out of the frame. Keep the frame, and swap in new boards when your message changes.

Do we need permission to put a sign on the sidewalk?

Often, yes. Rules vary by city, and some shopping centers set their own in the lease. A quick call to your landlord or city office before you order saves a sign from being taken in.

If you'd like help with it

We'll design your holiday signs from your logo and a few lines of copy, and email you a proof to approve before anything prints. Ground shipping is free in the continental US.

If you know what you want, the A-frame and feather flags above can be ordered online, and posters are quoted to your size and quantity. If you'd rather talk it through, tell us what you're planning for the season. A real person reads every request, and quotes come back within 24 hours, Monday to Friday.