- November 23, 2024
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Jeff Cappalletti said he listens to electronic dance music to keep him in the mood. If he gets tired of that, he'll switch to 1980s synth pop. Brian McMillan
Want to see Jeff Cappalletti at work? Check out the video at the Palm Coast Observer's Facebook page.
Ever wondered about the guy who spins a sign and waves to people on State Road 100 on the way out to Flagler Beach? His name is Jeff Cappalletti, and he’s promoting a consignment shop called Junque in the Trunk.
I stopped to meet him the other day, and I asked, “Where is Junque in the Trunk?”
“It’s right behind here,” Cappalletti said, pointing to a building that was obscured by the Shell gas station.
“Which is why you’re out here,” I said.
“Exactly.”
Cappalletti, aka “The Sign Guy,” is 48 years old, and this isn’t his first sign rodeo. He worked for the Junque in the Trunk owner for two years in Fleming Island, before Cappalletti moving to St. Augustine. When the owner decided to expand to a store in Flagler Beach, “she knew who to call,” Cappalletti said.
He said he makes $10 per hour, six hours a day, six days a week, to stand on the side of the road and hold up the store’s sign. “Which is a piece of cake for me,” he said.
He does have to take measures to protect himself. First there is the sun: “I use 70 spf sunscreen,” he said. “Otherwise, I’d be across the street in Publix’s lobster tank.” Then there are the cars: Once, he had to jump out of the way of a car that was barreling toward him. And then, there is the sun again: He keeps a cooler with him to keep him hydrated with sugar-free Kool-Aid.
And he has worked hard to perfect his craft.
“This is my ‘hi’ wave,” he said. “This is me trying to personalize it, like, ‘I see you.’”
And the spinning?
“I know how to spin it,” Cappalletti said. “I also know when to stop. You see all these fancy spinners on YouTube, but what’s on the sign? You can’t read it.”
He said he has regular sign tricks, and then he has a “high wind show.” “You have to adapt to the weather conditions,” he said.
He is critical of “statues,” which is his term for other sign guys who just sit down and don’t dance or spin their signs.
“They won’t remember you like that,” he said.
