Check out how Iron Man is helping one business owner in the Florida area attract patrons below:
“For several months, drivers on U.S. 1 have had a bumpy ride between State Road 520 and State Road 528 because the road is being widened and reconstructed.
As they are jostled around, drivers have to zigzag back and forth to follow lanes that have been relocated around pockets of construction and detours. They must pay close attention to keep from colliding with another car, a barrier or a construction vehicle.
Businesses bordering the massive project have suffered. Those using the road don’t have time to really pay attention to signs and some of the main businesses’ signs have been removed to make way for the widening. Also, many drivers have found other routes to take, which means they are less likely to patronize the dozens of businesses lining that stretch of U.S. 1.
But about a week ago, one clever and resourceful business owner took a creative step toward recapturing some of the public’s attention.
James Kelly, owner of Performance Plus Automotive, built a replica of the movie character Iron Man and placed it next to the blue “Business Entrance” sign provided by the highway department. The character is pointing toward Kelly’s business.
When I first saw it the other day — in between bumps and jogs — I thought, “Hey, Robert Downey, Jr. is here in costume.”
It brought to mind an occasional newspaper feature we have called “What the heck?”, as in “What the heck is that?”
Steel creation draws attention from drivers
In an attempt to answer that question, I stopped and talked with Kelly.
He acknowledged business has been off, but was all smiles about his creation. His business does a variety of automobile repairs and since he had several 55-gallon steel drums that needed to be recycled, he decided to put them to work.
“We do metal work here, so we just took the steel and built it,” he said. “Three other guys here had their hands in it. It was like a project.”
Instead of calling him Iron Man, he nicknamed him Steel Man — after the metal used to make him.
Kelly chained his creation to the Business Entrance sign and let it do its work. It certainly attracted me, and Kelly said others have been stopping in, too.
The bad news is that the construction is going to go on forever. Well, that’s hyperbole. But Kelly said the highway department told him the road project would stretch into 2016. That probably seems like forever to the businesses and drivers affected by the construction.
Iron (Steel) Man might get tired of holding his arm up that long. But being made of steel, at least he shouldn’t rust.
Contact Stover at bstover@floridatoday.com or follow him on Twitter @editorbobstover.”
Source: FloridaToday
