Creative Sign Designs Buys Rite Lite, Forging a Southeast Signage Powerhouse
TAMPA, FL – September 15, 2026 – In a move that signals a significant consolidation in the architectural signage industry, Tampa-based Creative Sign Designs today announced its acquisition of Rite Lite Signs, a full-service manufacturer headquartered in Concord, North Carolina. The deal, the first strategic add-on for Creative since its 2021 growth recapitalization with private family investment office Heritage Growth Partners, effectively creates a dominant force in the booming Southeast market.
The acquisition combines two long-standing industry players, uniting nearly 80 years of operating history. More critically, it doubles Creative’s manufacturing footprint to 100,000 square feet and provides a strategic foothold for servicing key growth corridors, including Charlotte, Atlanta, and Raleigh. For competitors and clients alike, this maneuver is a clear signal: the landscape for large-scale, custom architectural branding in the region has been fundamentally reshaped.
A Strategic Blueprint for Regional Dominance
This acquisition is not an opportunistic purchase but the calculated execution of a long-term growth strategy. When Creative Sign Designs partnered with Atlanta-based Heritage Growth Partners in late 2021, the stated goal was to leverage Heritage’s capital and M&A expertise to accelerate growth. This deal is the first major fulfillment of that promise.
“This acquisition is a natural next step for the platform we set out to build with Jamie and the Creative team,” said Alex Mammen, Managing Partner at Heritage Growth Partners. His partner, Evan Toporek, added that Rite Lite is “exactly the kind of high-quality, complementary business that helps Creative extend its capabilities and geographic footprint.”
The complementarity is stark. Creative’s 50,000-square-foot Tampa headquarters is now paired with Rite Lite’s own 50,000-square-foot facility in Concord. This immediately provides the scale necessary to compete for and execute complex, multi-site projects for national brands in sectors like healthcare, multi-family housing, and entertainment—all of which are expanding rapidly across the Southeast. The combined company plans to strategically allocate work across both facilities, optimizing for capacity, regional expertise, and specific customer needs, creating efficiencies that smaller rivals will find difficult to match.
“The combination brings together almost 80 years of experience and operating history and a shared commitment to quality, service and our people,” said Jamie Harden, CEO of Creative. “This acquisition creates greater scale, stability and opportunity for our customers and employees alike.”
Merging Legacies: Integrating Culture and Capabilities
While the strategic assets are compelling, the success of any acquisition hinges on the integration of people and processes. Creative appears to be navigating this deftly. In a move that signals respect for the acquired company’s operational DNA, Rite Lite’s General Manager, Bruce Saunders, will continue to lead the Concord-based business.
“This is an exciting step forward for our team,” Saunders stated. “With Creative’s resources and capabilities behind us, we can build on everything this business is known for and take it further.”
This approach speaks to a merger of equals in spirit, if not in scale. Rite Lite, founded in 1989 by David and Tasha Catchpole, grew from a garage operation into a regional powerhouse built on what its founders call a “simple principle, take care of the customer.” They identified a partner in Creative that they believe shares their core values of “passion, collaboration, innovation and integrity.”
This cultural alignment is crucial. Both companies have built their reputations on providing turnkey, end-to-end solutions, managing complex projects from initial design consultation through fabrication and final installation. By preserving Rite Lite’s leadership and emphasizing shared values, Creative is not just acquiring a factory; it is absorbing decades of client relationships and specialized knowledge, aiming to create a unified platform that is stronger than the sum of its parts.
The Financial Engine and Market Signal
The transaction is a textbook example of a private equity “buy-and-build” strategy. Heritage Growth Partners, which describes itself as a provider of “patient, flexible family capital,” injected the resources in 2021 that enabled Creative, a company with a reported $24 million in annual revenue at the time, to move from organic growth to strategic expansion. This model allows a strong regional player to consolidate a fragmented market, achieving national scale and capabilities.
Heritage’s support extends beyond capital. The firm’s role involves providing ongoing strategic and operational support, guiding Creative’s leadership team as they integrate Rite Lite and identify further opportunities for growth, “both organically and through additional acquisitions,” as Toporek noted.
The market signal is unambiguous. By combining two highly respected, full-service providers, the new Creative Sign Designs platform is positioned as the go-to partner for corporations and developers undertaking major projects across the Southeast. Its expanded capacity, geographic reach, and fully integrated service model present a formidable challenge to other sign manufacturers in the region. The move demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of where future growth lies and a willingness to invest decisively to capture it.
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