Since 1947.

Mission Statement

Blanchett Neon Limited is committed to providing creative design concepts, using premium products, and employing trained professional craftsman and service personnel. Blanchett Neon Limited is dedicated to ensuring that their customers receive products and servicing of the highest available to the sign industry.

History
Edmonton's sign industry has reason to be grateful to George William Blanchett's versatility and drive, as the story behind the origin of Blanchett Neon Limited so readily demonstrates.

George was born in 1909 and came to Edmonton at the age of three with his parents, George Richard Blanchett, a painter and decorator and Edith Rose Blanchett. (His father operated a firm, Blanchett Decorators, for many years) George went to work for Hook Signs Ltd when he was 15 and began learning how to apply his considerable talent to the production of commercial signs, bulletins and pictorials.

In 1930 the young man married Elizabeth Keith (Libby) Hallock, and later a daughter, Betty, was born in Edmonton. In 1937, George toured England and the continent with the Herringay Racers, a professional hockey team. The year following found him in Vancouver, working for Neon Products of Western Canada - a job that gave him the experience and motivation to start a neon-sign business back in Edmonton. Meanwhile, in Vancouver, a son, Keith, had been born.

George returned to Edmonton in 1944 and began working for his father. His younger brother, Edward Raymond (Ted), had joined the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. At the time George returned to the Alberta capital, Blanchett Decorators Limited was operating from 11448 Jasper Avenue.

The beginnings of Blanchett Neon Limited date back to 1946, after Ted's discharge from the service. The brothers and their wives drove two panel trucks to Calgary, where they purchased a used neon tube-bending and pumping outfit. They bought the equipment and brought it home, where Blanchett Decorators-Neon & Sign Division was launched. The enterprise continued to function as a decorating firm during the daylight hours. During the evenings the design, manufacturing and installations of neon signs were top priority.

In 1947 the two operations were incorporated as separate companies with interlocking officers/directors. Management began to specialize, each brother assuming supervision of one firm. Ownership of the neon company (over many years) was gradually assumed by son-in-law Robert (Bud) Squair and son Keith Blanchett, who survive George as owner/partners. George died in Edmonton in November 1983.

Both organizations moved to new premises at 10224-109th Street in 1952, a structure still known as the Blanchett Building. There were tenants on the second floor and in the basement at the outset; subsequently as the volume of business grew, the neon-sign firm assumed the entire building. A concrete-block addition was completed in the early '60s.

Again because of the growth of the operation, George negotiated his purchase of Ted's half of the building - while a parent company was formed to own Blanchett Neon and the lot and building on 109th Street.

In 1969 Blanchett Neon Limited moved to it's third home, at 12850 St.Albert Trail. This facility, standing on 2.37 acres fronting the highway to St.Albert, provides 28,000 square feet of office and production space.

Its insistence on outstanding design and production of a technically sound sign developed a solid reputation for the company, and volume increased annually. Nevertheless, it's clientele and reputation have served it well in maintaining an efficient level of production.

George took the firm into membership in the Chicago-based National Electric Sign Association, and served as it's director. He also joined Westarc (later World Sign Associates), which began as an alliance of independents in the Pacific Northwest - attracting Canadians from Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. These connections provide constant contact with new products and methods, as well as friendships in many countries that have developed through the years.

Blanchett Neon continues to be very much a part of Edmonton's business fabric, and has maintained a positive stance toward the city's emergence as an outstanding metropolitan area. Today, Blanchett Neon is run by George’s grandson Daryl Blanchett. Blanchett opened a sales office in Lethbridge in May of 2004, along with sales offices opening in Red Deer in November, 2004 and Calgary, January of 2005.

Blanchett Neon continues to be committed to fulfilling George’s vision of quality on every sign we produce.