HAMPTON -- Since Wicked Awesome Wallpaper and Paint relocated last year from Stoneleigh Park in North Hampton to its new location across from Newick's on Lafayette Road in Hampton, sales have gone up, according to owner Jack Boland. He attributes this, in great part, to the service he and his staff provide.

Take Judy Barrett for example. Barrett works in the wallpaper gallery where hundreds of rolls and borders abound. She points proudly to some of the many ways in which they provide unique service to the customer.

"We carry the Imperial Wallpaper Color System. There are only seven of these in the country," says Barrett. She is referring to an experimental program that allows the consumer to find every wallpaper made by Imperial that matches their chosen color. For example, if a customer wants a lime green bedroom, they choose the lime green book, and they will find every wallpaper pattern that either is that color, or has lime green in it. That could certainly simplify choosing paper for the home.

For Boland, the wallpaper and paint business runs in the family, all the way back to his grandfather. Besides the store in Hampton, he owns a store in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He and his staff, which includes Dick Speer, manager of the new store, have a wealth of knowledge about their product lines.

Speer, who has worked for the company since 1990, says that the customers find a friendly and experienced staff when they walk in the door.

"The climate in the store is one where the customer can expect personal attention, problem-solving, and even a friendly joke," Speer says. "The big mass merchandisers may screw up, but the impact is minute, compared to the small mom-and-pop stores. To us, service is the key element."

When asked about the name of the store, Speer relates how it came to be. It seems that Jack Boland, on the occasion of the opening of his first store, told his daughters, ages 6 and 8 at the time, that they could name the store. In those days, the buzz words for kids were "wicked" and "awesome," so the store was called Wicked Awesome Wallpaper and Paint — W.A. Paint for short.

Be sure to stop by W.A. Paint for all of your paint and wallpaper needs. For more information about all that W.A. Paint has to offer, please call 929-1717.