Danielle Watkins’ draws attention to her family’s art store in Batavia holding a handwritten sign with a catchy slogan and wearing a costume.

Danielle Watkins’ draws attention to her family’s art store in Batavia holding a handwritten sign with a catchy slogan and wearing a costume.
By Megan Alley
Sun staff

In an age of high-tech marketing strategies, one area teen is using handwritten signs and costumes to drum up business for her family’s art store.

Danielle Watkins’ mother, Vicki Watkins, owns Under the Stars in Batavia. The store opened on Main Street in March.

“We needed a way to attract customers,” said Danielle Watkins. “One day a shipment came in, and we had some extra cardboard lying around, so I just wrote on it with a Sharpie and decided to stand outside holding it.”

She added, “I got a lot of laughing and honking.”

Danielle Watkins, 17, is going into her senior year at Glen Este High School. She tries to come up with slogans that are short enough for people to read while they’re driving by and are interesting enough to pay attention to.

“I really like writing and coming up with ideas, so I would always try to come up with the next clever slogan I could put on a sign.”

Her favorite slogan is, “This is a sign … that you should come visit our store.”

One of the store’s artists let Danielle Watkins use a fairy costume, and she came up with a slogan to match the outfit.

“I like wearing costumes and acting in skits,” Danielle Watkins said. “I have this giant box of costumes in my garage, and basically if I can come up with a slogan to match a costume, I’ll use it.”

Her favorite costume is the Tinker Bell costume, because it makes kids happy when they drive by in the car with their parents.

Since June, Danielle Watkins has been standing out on the street almost every day.

“I go out there pretty often if it’s not raining or it’s not 100 degrees outside,” said Danielle Watkins. “I’ll stand out there for a couple of hours at a time.”

Vicki Watkins added, “I’ve had to make her come in and get something to drink and sit down, but she gets into it because [people] start honking and waving, and then she starts laughing. She’s getting a following.”

She said customers can’t wait to see what slogan Danielle Watkins will come up with next.

“It was funny because we had a couple customers come in and say they saw our sign girl,” Vicki Watkins said. “I knew people would notice her, but I didn’t think people would come into the store because they saw her.”

Danielle Watkins said she enjoys standing outside wearing a costume and holding a sign because it’s fun. She said her favorite reaction was when someone took a photo of her sign.

“I like seeing the way different people react. It’s like some sort of psychology study,” Danielle Watkins said. “I like thinking about who’s going to wave and who’s going to avoid making eye contact.”

She added, “I really enjoy it and I see a lot of interesting people. I’m smiling the whole time I’m out there, not because I think I should, but because I’m genuinely happy doing it.”