Special to the Post / Peter M. Fredin

Vail soon will sell street signs such as these as souvenirs. Visitors have stolen some signs.

Thefts of signs give Vail sales idea

Town to sell copies of street markers

By Jason Blevins, Denver Post Business Writer
The town of Vail is becoming adept at turning lemons into lemonade.

When visitors found the ultimate memento of their Vail vacation by plundering the town's monogrammed manhole covers, the town started selling them.

That has brought in more than $50,000 in the past year.
Now the visitors have developed a fondness for the town's street signs.

"Like the manhole covers, the signs are quite popular, and many have gone missing," said town spokeswoman Suzanne Silverthorn. "So we've ordered the equipment to manufacture the signs ourselves."
First on the priority list is replacing the missing signs. And to remove any temptation for Vail's keepsake-kidnapping visitors, the town will soon begin selling the signs.

Town leaders haven't set a price or a date to begin stamping signs. There's talk of maybe customizing the signs for visitors to really personalize that Vail Valley vacation memory.

Last spring, Vail officials accidentally stumbled across quite the revenue machine when it began selling souvenir manhole covers. Not only did the town's sewer covers remain in the street, but the almost identical souvenir covers became a hit with visitors.

Tossed onto eBay.com last fall, the covers are now selling internationally, with the 52-pounder fetching $295 and the daintier 6-pounder selling for $65.

The cast-iron covers display Vail's founding date - 1962 - and its elevation in feet - 8,150.

The oft-pirated street signs hang on the street lamps that adorn the Vail and Lionshead pedestrian villages. The arrow-shaped signs, garnished with icons such as a ski lift, help strolling tourists avoid any wrong turns in the boutiqued and gourmeted villages.

This summer, the town will be setting up a booth at the weekly farmers' market, hawking manhole covers, and, if the town's sign- stampers are ready, street signs.

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