Has Your Home Covered
By Ian Nadeau
Atlantic News, Thursday, March 21, 2002
Pictured here are (left to right) Bill Lord, owner Jack Boland, Mike Baulkus, Chris Smith, Patrick Haney and Judy Barrett.
[Atlantic News Photo by Ian Nadeau]
HAMPTON — Wicked Awesome Wallpaper & Paint owner Jack Boland has a philosophy for running his business that is both very simple and very effective.
According to Boland, selling a good product, charging a fair price and making your customers feel comfortable in your store is the key to owning a successful business.
“That’s what has made this business run for all these years,' he says.
Of course, having the paint business in your blood always helps too. The Bolands have had three generations of men enter the profession — Jack’s grandfather, William P. Boland, started a paint business in Haverhill in 1919, which was eventually passed on to Jack’s father. Jack reflects fondly on the time he spent learning the trade from both his father and his grandfather.
“It’s kind of neat being in a legacy of paint people,' he says. This year the Boland family will celebrate an astounding 85 years in the paint business.
Thirteen years ago, Boland opened Wicked Awesome Wallpaper & Paint at 848 Lafayette Road in Hampton, and it quickly became the Seacoast’s favorite supplier of paints, stains, wallpaper and window treatments.
“Absolutely, the strength of our business is the people we have working for us,' declares Boland. Unlike some of the larger retailers, Wicked Awesome’s customers will never be found wandering the aisles. That’s because their dedicated staff is always there to walk the client through their next home improvement project. It is not uncommon for the employees to spend upwards of half an hour with just one customer, showing them, for example, how to prepare, prime and even remove wallpaper.
“We tend to spend an unusual amount of time with people who have never done a household project before,' says Boland.
Through years of experience, the staff has accumulated a tremendous amount of client and product knowledge. Boland identifies employees Judy Barrett and Chris Smith as prime examples of this. Barrett, who has been in the paint and wallpaper business for 20 years, can identify any swatch of wallpaper out there, while Smith will be able to tell a customer what color they painted their dining room three years ago.
Their product line is equally impressive. Wicked Awesome only buys the best in any of their product lines. For paint, that means stocking an extensive selection of Benjamin Moore products. “Benjamin Moore is the line you want to use in your house,” says Boland.
One area that really sets WA Paint apart from the rest is their wallpaper department which features more than 500 side-wall patterns and around the same amount of borders.
“We’ve been told by traveling salesmen who sell us our wallpaper that we have one of the best wallpaper departments in all of New England,' he says.
With such a top-quality inventory and service staff, it's hard to imagine why anyone would shop anywhere else.
“We really feel that we’ve created a loyal customer base and the only way to create that is to treat them right the first time they walk in the door,' says Boland.
Wicked Awesome Wallpaper & Paint is located next to Lena’s Subs & Seafood on Route 1. Contact them at 929-1717.