Big ‘O’ccasion Yard Greetings, a yard sign company, began because owner Liz Floyd wanted to make a statement for her daughter’s birthday like a friend of hers had done in Bowling Green.
“She posted a picture [on social media], and it was super cute and I wanted to do the same,” Floyd said.
Floyd called the business who had provided the yard card and learned that the company was in Bowling Green but worked only that area, so Floyd was out of luck — that year — to make a statement for Molly’s upcoming birthday.
But it got Floyd thinking about starting her own yard card company as a second job. A pharmaceutical representative for over 25 years, Floyd looked into the costs and time that would be involved in the company. The Bowling Green business owner was helpful and directed Floyd to the manufacturer of the signs who lives in Paris, Ky.
“I am the owner of this specific territory, and [the business where I get my signs] is not going to sell them to anyone else locally,” Floyd said.
Floyd talked to her son Alex, who is now 16 years old, about the business and if they thought this would work.
“When he starts driving, this will be his side gig,” Floyd said.
She began the business by ordering two sets of “Happy Birthday” and the alphabet and has slowly added more — now five sets of “Happy Birthday” — to celebrate graduation parties, anniversaries and milestone birthdays in a big way.
In a little over two years, Big ‘O’ccasion Yard Greetings has decorated over 100 yards locally and Floyd rarely advertises.
“It’s all been word of mouth except for advertisements in football programs,” Floyd said, something her boys have to sell anyway.
The business keeps Floyd and her son busy on average three nights a week and some nights they have more than one to set up, but Floyd said the perk of it is getting to spend time with her son, something most parents crave as kids get older.
Emily Edwards said she had Big ‘O’ccasion install a yard card for her parent’s anniversary and they loved it.
“Dad said someone texted to say ‘Happy Anniversary’ and he asked them how they knew,” Edwards said of the card being in their front yard.
One of the reasons Alex likes this job is because they get to sneak around. Floyd said she has had people wonder what they are doing because they put the signs in at night so the person or persons are surprised when they wake
“We had a policeman drive by slowly and then come around again,” Floyd said. “I asked him if he had ever seen them before and he had not and told me he wondered what I had been doing.”
Floyd said the business allows a creative outlet for her because she gets to design the layout and add emojis, hats, balloons and stars to the words.
“To see a picture of the kid [or recipient] standing with the sign makes it all worth it,” Floyd said.
Floyd is very aware of weather changes even though she puts the signs up rain or shine, something that adds to the installation fun, she said. She also watches for the wind gust reports because that affects the signs as well.
Big ‘O’ccasions Yard Greetings often puts signs up for community homecomings, such as Grant Oller’s and others that have affected many people. Floyd refuses payment for some of these because she wants those who drive by to feel the celebratory excitement of what the yard card is announcing.
Big ‘O’ccasion Yard Greetings currently serves Daviess County and can be reached via Facebook, its webpage, or calling 270-929-8512.
