San Jose Signs Index 

The giant animated arrow points to The Table—but it used to point to Elite Cleaners. For some 50 years, the corner of Lincoln Avenue and Willow Street was home to a place that would wash and press your shirts. Over time, the neon tubing on the sign was “washed” away too. As recent as 2009, the only neon left on the sign was on the arrow. And then the cleaners moved. Enter The Table Restaurant —“New American” cuisine with locally sourced ingredients. The same forward-thinking approach to the menu was applied to the signage. Instead of knocking the sign down, and sending the pieces to a scrap yard, the cleaners sign was brought back to life by Michael Mulcahy and SDS NexGen Partners. The arguably new and improved signage was designed by the folks at AD-ART... the same people responsible for some of the best Las Vegas Strip signage in the 1960s. Today, the word “ELITE” has been replaced with the words “WILLOW GLEN” and the neighborhood has its own “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign.
--Heather David