Signs of trouble

Stout and bearded like the vikings who appear in some of the advertising signs he creates, Richard Evers Jr. stood Friday among the detached wires that once powered the tools of his 21st century trade: computers and printers.

Evers, the victim of a Monday night looting, put out this message for his fellow small-business owners: Get a burglar alarm, back up your computer hard drive and stay insured.

He did none of those things.

"I've been completely put out of business," said Evers, who designs and prints signs for businesses, including Fletcher's Plumbing and Nordic Industries, and their trucks. He also prints T-shirts and business cards.

He had insurance but let it lapse last year when business fell off, Evers said.

Plundered from the modest business on Burns Drive in Yuba City were most of his most important tools - computers, printers and software with a total value that Evers put at $45,000.

More importantly, the hard drive containing 20 years' worth of designs is gone.

"It's one thing to steal my tools but they stole my livelihood," said Evers, whose mind boggles at the prospect of recreating the countless signs and logos stored on the hard drive.

Now, when a company needs a sign for the side of a new truck, "I can't just go into a file. I've got to lay the whole thing out from scratch," said Evers.

"I'd take my last penny and buy that hard drive back from (the burglars)," he said. "It's my fault that I didn't have it backed up."

In the increasingly competitive sign business, "the only things that set you apart are your designs," he said.

Besides warning other business owners, Evers hoped a newspaper article might help him recover some of the loot, such as the prized iMac computer he bought about six months ago.

He said he suspects the burglary was pulled off by someone who had visited the business and knew what equipment to take. Entry was gained simply by smashing a window, which faces Burns Drive. It must have taken at least a half-hour to disconnect all the equipment and move it out through the front door, he said.

Perhaps showing his stubborn, Norwegian heritage - and a willingness to max out his credit cards - Evers was on the phone Friday, ordering replacement equipment. He hopes to resume taking orders by the end of next week.

The makers of the Flexi-Sign software that he used to create many of his signs apparently took pity on him and agreed to supply replacements for about half price, he said.

Evers, 56, has been in the sign business since age 16.

"It's the only thing I know how to do," he said.

And he will get a burglar alarm, he added.

Contact reporter Appeal-Democrat reporter Rob Young at 749-4710 or ryoung@appeal-democrat.com