For a company whose work is often designed to help people find their way, Creative Sign Designs is entering a new territory of its own.
The Tampa-based company, a national provider of custom signage, wayfinding systems and environmental graphic design, has acquired Rite Lite Signs, a full-service architectural sign manufacturer based in Concord, North Carolina.
The deal gives Creative Sign Designs a second manufacturing location, adds 50,000 square feet of production capacity and extends the company’s reach into some of the Southeast’s fastest-growing markets, including Charlotte, Charleston, Raleigh, Atlanta and Knoxville.
More importantly, it represents another step in the evolution of a Tampa company that has spent decades growing alongside the communities it serves.
Creative Sign Designs Builds a Bigger Southeast Footprint
Rite Lite brings integrated design, fabrication and installation capabilities to the Creative Sign Designs platform, along with a roster of customers spanning healthcare, multifamily, entertainment, corporate, education, retail, government and national brands.
The acquisition also gives Creative an opportunity to bring production closer to customers across the Southeast.
Rather than simply adding another facility, the company plans to strategically allocate projects between its Tampa and Concord operations based on capacity, expertise and customer needs. The goal is a larger, more flexible platform capable of delivering signage projects from initial concept through fabrication and installation.
For regional businesses and national brands with locations in multiple markets, that geographic reach can make a significant difference.
Creative Sign Designs and the Business of Creating Places
Signage may be one of the last things people think about when a new building, campus or development opens. But for the businesses behind those projects, it is an important part of creating a recognizable and navigable environment.
Creative Sign Designs works across that intersection of architecture, branding and functionality.
Its projects can involve everything from exterior architectural signs to interior identification, wayfinding systems and environmental graphics. The company serves industries where navigating a large or complex space is part of the customer experience—from healthcare campuses and educational institutions to multifamily developments, entertainment venues and corporate environments.
The Rite Lite acquisition expands those capabilities while giving Creative a larger geographic footprint from which to deliver them.
A Family Business Finds a New Home With Creative Sign Designs
Rite Lite was founded by David and Tasha Catchpole, who built the company around a straightforward philosophy: take care of the customer.
That philosophy, the founders said, was central to their decision to partner with Creative Sign Designs.
“We are proud of what our family and team have built,” David and Tasha Catchpole said. “From the beginning, we’ve been guided by a simple principle, take care of the customer, and by the values of passion, collaboration, innovation and integrity.”
They described Creative as a partner that shares those values while providing Rite Lite’s customers with additional resources and reach.
Bruce Saunders, Rite Lite’s general manager, will continue leading the business following the acquisition.
“This is an exciting step forward for our team,” Saunders said. “With Creative’s resources and capabilities behind us, we can build on everything this business is known for and take it further.”
The combination brings together nearly 80 years of experience and operating history between the two companies.
Creative Sign Designs Enters Its Next Growth Phase
For Creative Sign Designs, the Rite Lite transaction is the company’s first strategic add-on since its 2021 growth recapitalization with Heritage Growth Partners, an Atlanta-based private family investment office.
That relationship has provided a foundation for Creative’s broader growth strategy, which has focused on identifying companies whose capabilities, customer relationships and geographic positions complement the Tampa operation.
Rite Lite fits that model.
The acquisition adds manufacturing capacity, expands Creative’s presence in the Southeast and creates a larger platform for serving both regional customers and national brands.
“We are excited to welcome the Rite Lite team to Creative and begin this next phase of growth together,” said Jamie Harden, Creative’s chief executive officer.
Harden said the two companies bring together a shared commitment to quality, service and people, while the combination creates greater scale and opportunity for both customers and employees.
What Creative Sign Designs’ Expansion Means for Tampa
There is a larger story behind the acquisition.
Tampa has spent years establishing itself as a growing business center in the Southeast. Increasingly, companies based here aren’t simply serving the local market—they are using Tampa as a base from which to compete across the region.
Creative Sign Designs is an example of that evolution.
The company is expanding outward while maintaining its Tampa operation as a key part of its manufacturing platform. With a second facility in North Carolina, Creative can position itself closer to customers throughout a broader Southeast territory while continuing to grow from its Tampa roots.
That makes the acquisition more than a corporate transaction. It is part of a larger pattern of Tampa-based businesses building regional scale.
Creative Sign Designs Looks Toward Continued Growth
Heritage Growth Partners views the Rite Lite acquisition as an early step in a broader strategy.
Alex Mammen, managing partner at Heritage Growth Partners, called the transaction a natural next step for the platform established with Harden and the Creative team.
“From the onset, we have been impressed by their culture, values and unwavering dedication to serving their customers,” Mammen said.
Evan Toporek, a partner at Heritage, said Rite Lite represents the type of complementary business that can help Creative expand its capabilities and geographic reach.
The expectation is that growth will continue through both organic expansion and additional acquisitions.
For Creative Sign Designs, then, the signs point toward a company that is becoming bigger without abandoning the characteristics that helped establish it in Tampa in the first place.
The next chapter may stretch well beyond Florida—but its roots remain firmly planted here.