Shopping Center Signage: What Landlords and Cities Allow

If your store is in a shopping center or strip mall, signage gets more complicated. You answer to two sets of rules: your landlord’s and your city’s. A banner or display can be allowed by one and not the other, and you need both to say yes.

Knowing what each one usually covers, and asking before you buy, saves money and avoids a request to take something down on the first day of a sale.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every lease and every city is different. Read your own lease and check your city’s sign code.

Rule set 1: Your lease and the landlord’s sign criteria

Most shopping center leases include, or refer to, a document often called sign criteria or a sign program. It sets the look of signs across the center so it appears consistent.

Sign criteria commonly cover:

• Building signs: size, height, letter style, colors, lighting and where on the storefront they go
• Pylon or monument signs: whether you get a panel on the center’s main sign, and its size and position
• Window signs: how much of the window can be covered, and what’s allowed (often no handwritten signs)
• Temporary banners: whether they’re allowed, for how long, and where
• Sidewalk signs: often limited or banned in common areas
• Balloons, flags and inflatables: often limited to special events or not allowed at all
• Approval: most criteria require the landlord to approve sign designs in writing before you order or install them

Tips for working with your landlord

• Ask before you buy. Send the property manager a picture and the dimensions of any banner or display, with the dates you want it up.
• Get approval in writing. An email is usually enough.
• Ask about grand openings and events. Many landlords allow more for a grand opening or a short event than they do day to day.
• Negotiate signage before you sign the lease. Pylon panel placement, grand opening allowances and event displays are easier to get in the lease than after.
• Keep it neat. A landlord who sees well-kept, temporary displays that come down on time is more likely to say yes next time.

Rule set 2: The city’s sign code

Even with landlord approval, signs must follow the city’s sign code. City rules often cover:

• Permits for permanent signs, and sometimes for temporary banners
• Time limits on temporary signs, such as a set number of days per event or per year
• Size limits for banners and window signs
• Banned types, sometimes including balloons, pennants, streamers or inflatables
• Placement: nothing in the public right-of-way, blocking sight lines or attached to light poles

In some cities, the shopping center itself has a master sign permit that covers all tenants, and the landlord handles city approval for the center.

(See Curb Appeal That Gets Noticed and Stays Within Your City’s Sign Rules.)

When the rules allow it: making your storefront stand out

Once you know what’s allowed, a few things make the most of it:

• Use your full sign allowance. A sign that’s smaller than allowed is a missed opportunity.
• Light your sign for evening traffic, if the criteria allow.
• Use your windows. Within the allowed coverage, keep window displays fresh and lit.
• Plan event displays ahead. For a grand opening or sale, request approval for banners, flags or a balloon display at your storefront well before the date.
• Choose displays that set up and come down quickly, so they’re easy to remove when the approved dates end.

(See Storefront Displays That Get Noticed From the Road.)

How to check before you buy

1. Read the signage section of your lease and any sign criteria it refers to.
2. Email the property manager with what you want to put up, where and for how long.
3. Check the city sign code for temporary signs and the specific type of display.
4. Ask who handles permits: you, your sign company or the landlord.
5. Keep a record of approvals and permit numbers with your lease.

The bottom line

In a shopping center, every sign and display needs two approvals: the landlord’s and the city’s. Read your lease’s sign criteria, ask the property manager before you buy anything, check the city code, and plan event displays well ahead.

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