The open closed sign in two lines
The open closed sign is a beech wood plaque to hang on the door, lettered on both sides: OPEN with an invitation to come in on one side, CLOSED with a wooden clock and movable hands on the other. Laser-cut letters raised from the background, natural cord to hang it.
Who it is for
For the venue that loses customers at the door without knowing it. Someone who arrives at a closed door and cannot tell whether the bar is on a break, has finished for the day or will reopen in ten minutes does not wait: they go elsewhere. It is the one case where a piece of wood protects the takings, and nobody notices, because the customer who walked away never comes in to complain.
The clock is the part that does the work
On the CLOSED side there is a wooden dial with two hands on a pin: turn them with your fingers to show when you reopen. That is what turns the open closed sign from a notice into a promise. “Closed” sends people away; “closed, back at 5pm” gets them to walk round the block and come back, and over an afternoon break that difference is worth several times what the sign costs.
Specifications
- Material: beech wood
- Sides: 2, OPEN and CLOSED
- Letters: laser-cut and raised
- Clock: wooden dial with movable hands, on the closed side
- Hanging: natural cord
- Finish: natural wood, unvarnished
Natural beech, and where not to hang it
This maker’s wooden collection is in natural beech left unvarnished, to keep the grain on show. It is an aesthetic choice with a practical consequence: bare wood absorbs moisture. Hang the open closed sign on the inside of the door glass, or under a canopy, not out in driving rain. Outdoors and wet, beech turns grey and warps, and it does not come back.
The lettering is in English
The two sides read OPEN and CLOSED. In a cocktail bar, a city venue or an area with passing tourists that needs no translation. If most of your customers read another language, it is worth thinking about who comes through the door before ordering, because the lettering cannot be changed afterwards.
Raised letters, readable from a distance
The lettering is not engraved into the wood but cut separately and glued on top, so it stands a few millimetres proud of the background. The relief casts its own shadow, and that shadow is what keeps the open closed sign readable from an angle and in low light, when flat lettering in the same colour as the background would disappear. It is the same principle as a carved shop sign, on a small scale.
Care
A dry cloth, and nothing more. Unvarnished beech should not be washed with water or treated with furniture polish, which leaves dark marks along the grain. If the letters darken over time, that is the normal oxidation of the wood and not a fault; the contrast with the pale background actually increases. The cord can be replaced with any hemp cord of the same thickness.
FAQ
Is the open closed sign lettered on both sides? Yes: OPEN on one side, CLOSED on the other. Just turn it over.
Do the clock hands move? Yes, they are mounted on a central pin: turn them with your fingers to show when you reopen.
Can it hang outside the door? Only under cover. The beech is natural and unvarnished: direct rain spoils it.
What language is the lettering? English: OPEN and CLOSED.
How does it hang? From the natural cord already fitted, on a hook or on the door handle.
Can it be varnished? It can, but you lose the visible grain, which is the reason the wood is left bare.
Dispatched from Rome, Italy. The other wooden pieces are in the vintage bar equipment category.
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