This is a true story.

My sister in law is a real estate attorney in NJ. One of the clients is a strip mall shopping center. The mall owners and local government have been fighting with each other for years. In this mall is a Dicks Sporting Goods. For awhile, a Krogers was there also.

The sign visible from the freeway is ancient, installed before zoning restrictions and any change must be approved by city council.

Kroger's moved out. A new food store moved in. The mall owners wanted to replace the sign. The local government said no. All you can do is change Krogres to the new store name.

The new store was Giant Foods.

After the change, one side of the sign said "Dicks - Giant".... The other said "Giant - Dicks".

The city council promptly reversed their decision and allowed the mall to replace the sign with a new one that includes the full name of all the stores.

Interesting article! A sailing friend of mine owns a sign company. I'll forward this link to him and ask what he thinks.