A new sign business in Sudbury and Alliston, Ont. has the pandemic to thank for its success.

Linda Faubert and her daughter have a business called Sign Up The Yard, inspired by her need to get out and interact with the world during this global health crisis.

"I was getting sad ... it was just too much at home ... not being around family and friends and stuff," she told Morning North CBC host Markus Schwabe.

"So it gave me an opportunity to talk to people and go out and do things."

They don't actually get physically close to people — they take virtual orders and then erect the signs in customers' yards.

"We celebrate people's celebrations that they wouldn't be able to do," Faubert said.

"So we come in with these big, bold signs and we put them up and people do drive-bys. And it's just a way of celebrating somebody's celebration, birthdays and anniversaries during COVID time." 

Faubert said the idea came after she and her daughter spotted something similar on a Niagara Falls website.

"I was going a little covid-crazy. So it was something to get me out and get me fresh air and be able to interact a little bit."

About a month ago they started the service in Sudbury and in Alliston, where her daughter lives.

"The signs are really colourful — 12 to 16 feet long. Some are shorter, depending on the sign, and they run four-to-five feet high."

How high they make them largely depends on the weather.

"If there's a lot of wind, we try to bring them down a little bit. But it doesn't make them any less bright and bold," Faubert said, noting that the signs are layered when they are installed, giving the signs a dimensional look.

They have signs for birthdays, anniversaries, baby showers, new homes, and are willing to custom-make signs based on customer wishes.

"So there's lots of avenues that we can go down to service people and hopefully it lasts," she said, adding that she hopes the sign business will be just as successful once the pandemic is over.

Signs costs about $100, which are set up by Faubert and taken down about 24 hours later.

"We try and do it as a surprise. We go out after the sun sets," she said. "We try not to get caught."

She says she's looking forward to doing a birthday sign for a person who is turning 100-years-old. 

"We're doing [that one] for free because it's such a monumental thing," she said, adding the customers say they're going to instead donate to a charity of Faubert's choosing.

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