 Avery Brothers Sign Company was founded by Milt and Noel Avery in the basement of their parents home at 913 23rd St. in Sioux City, Iowa. At the start of The Great Depression, they thought there would be more opportunity in a bigger town, so they went to New York City, where Noel and his wife Marles worked in a hotel and Milt worked in a sign shop (for no wages) to learn the craft. Back in Sioux City, the brothers, with Marles as their bookkeeper, opened their first sign shop at 1222 4th St. in 1935. They expanded into a building at 419 Pearl St. in 1937 and were joined in 1948 by their young brother Chuck in a business that now included billboards. |
Avery Brothers grew substantially during Chuck¹s
tenure, even though it was a time marked by the challenges of regulation
and a new environmentalism. It was during this time that the company
took on a decidedly more urban profile. |
Steve, Noel and Milt, Chuck's sons, came into the business in 1972, 1979 and 1983 respectively. We always liked each other, even when we were kids, so it has seemed pretty natural to work together in the family business, Steve said. Milt runs the outdoor business, which moved to 2420 Correctionville Rd. in 2003, while Noel and Steve run the commercial sign business at 416 Water St. |
 Avery
Brothers has 25 employees, who have been with the company from a few
months up to 34 years. Ryan Avery, Steve¹s son, joined the firm
in September, 2003, becoming the fourth generation of his family to
work at the business his great uncles founded when they were 26 years
old, the same age Ryan was in the fall of 2003! |