SOUTH FLORIDA -- Feb. 1, 2006 -- Each weekend, they sit on bus benches, holding arrow-shaped signs on their laps. Or they stand, smiling and waving alongside busy roads, holding the signs that direct motorists to nearby businesses.
Sometimes called "human directionals," they are young, enthusiastic and a favorite advertising tool of condo converters.
"They bring us quite a bit of traffic. They catch peoples' eyes," said Teresa Alvarez, sales manager for St. Andrews, a 332-unit complex on Pembroke Road at Flamingo Road in Miramar.
"It's amazing how much traffic they generate," agreed Virginia Bosch, sales agent for the Sea Breeze, a 20-unit building at 1405 Miami Road in Fort Lauderdale.
Sometimes, companies use teenagers because more traditional methods of attracting customers, such as placing temporary signs in median strips on weekends, are illegal.
"We had flags and signs and thought we were complying with the code. But the city of Miramar said it was a violation so we took them down," Alvarez said.
Although various businesses use them, competition in the condo market is forcing converters to find new ways of getting the word out to potential buyers.
Finding enthusiastic, smiling people to hold the arrows isn't that difficult.
Bosch uses high school girls, all friends and relatives, to stand on the 17th Street Causeway and on Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale.
"It's not like they're out there working for a stranger," said Ernesto Del Monte, president of BCD Developers in Miami Lakes, which is converting the Sea Breeze.
"They are more enthusiastic knowing they are helping out a relative. It's better than someone who just stands there. People come in just because of the girls."
People like cosmetics distributor Sheila Ryan.
"I saw the girls with the signs and had some time. So I checked out the units, loved what I saw, went to get a cup of coffee and came back and put my money down," she said.
The teens are out every weekend, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. carrying arrows, answering questions from motorists and smiling at everyone.
Nicky Goicouria, 18, has been a sign holder for two months.
Bosch, the sales agent, "is my godmother," Goicouria said. "I'm helping her out, and besides, it's good money." She declined to divulge how much.
Goicouria, who attends high school in Miami, listens to music while working but plugs her iPod into only one ear so she can quickly respond to motorists.
"When people ask questions, I don't have time to pause because the [traffic] light might change," she said. "Every once in a while a jerk throws a rude comment, but I just smile. There's no point getting mad."
To help sell St. Andrews, Alvarez depends on Eventz Extraordinaire, a California firm, to supply people to carry arrows.
The firm currently puts 75 arrow-holding people on the streets every weekend in the tri-county area for 15 clients, mostly condo converters but also residential developers and cell phone companies.
"It's a unique way of marketing," said Mitch Dutia, Eventz's Florida vice president. "By placing people in uniform -- blue shirts and khaki pants -- and having them carry 71/2-foot signs shaped like arrows, we're giving our clients a way to grab the attention of drive-by traffic."
The firm calls its arrow-carriers "human directionals" and uses mostly college students, who earn $10 to $12 an hour.
"We pay them well, especially compared to McDonald's," he said.
© Copyright 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Joe Kollin, Jan. 31, 2006. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
Largo Florida Real Estate Cell : (727) 744-6821 or (727) 744-6822Our goal is to keep you informed on trends in the Tampa real estate marketplace using the latest technology and statistics while providing WORLD CLASS SERVICE, PERIOD.Regards,Mark And Sam Wells, Lic Florida Realtors
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Thursday, February 02, 2006
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