Dean repaints shopfronts in Spencer, NN5, a mile from Northampton town centre and just north of the St James shopping streets. The district's shops are small local parades on Gladstone Road, Warren Road, Dallington Road and Spencer Bridge Road, so the work is planned around convenience-store and takeaway trading hours.
A district of corner shops, not a high street
Spencer’s shops are local convenience parades. Gladstone Road has a convenience store and a takeaway. Warren Road has a newsagent and a mini market, Dallington Road near Warren Road has a general store and a takeaway, and there is a mini market on Spencer Bridge Road. The bigger shopping strips on Weedon Road and St James’ Road are in St James to the south. So a shopfront repaint here is usually a single unit: a fascia board, a door, window frames, a stallriser and perhaps a shutter box, sometimes with a flat above.
That smaller scale makes the job quicker, but it does not make the timing any easier. Convenience stores and newsagents open early and close late, and takeaways trade into the evening, so there is rarely a moment when the frontage is not in use. Stock deliveries and a steady flow of walk-in customers add to that.
Timing the work around two kinds of trading
The plan depends on what the business does:
- Convenience stores and newsagents are busiest at breakfast and after school or work. The entrance is painted in the quieter mid-morning or early afternoon, with the door kept usable and wet-paint signs out.
- Takeaways often trade from late afternoon. The whole frontage can often be prepared and painted in the morning and early afternoon while the shop is shut, giving the paint hours to dry before opening.
- Shutters and shutter boxes are done while the shop is open and the shutter is up, so it is not rolled down over fresh paint.
Our shopfront painting service covers the preparation and products in more detail. If the inside of the shop or the flat above needs doing too, see our commercial painting page.
Main-road dirt, parking and exposure
The mini market on Spencer Bridge Road fronts the A4500. Its fascia and frames collect a film of traffic grime that has to be washed and degreased before sanding. Parking a van outside a shop on a busy main road takes planning, so loading and access are agreed with you before the start date. On Gladstone Road and Warren Road, away from the A-roads, the van is parked a little way along rather than across the shop window, so shoppers’ cars still have room to pull in.
Gladstone Road also runs uphill, to over 80 metres at its top end, higher than the rest of Spencer. A fascia board facing into the weather there wears faster, so its top edge and any exposed end grain get extra attention.
Colours, signs and the flat above
No conservation area covers Spencer, so repainting a shopfront in a new colour does not face the conservation restrictions that apply in Dallington village next door. Signage is a separate matter. If a new illuminated or projecting sign is part of the plan, check with West Northamptonshire Council whether advertisement consent is needed before the fascia is painted. Where the shop sits under a flat, the upstairs windows and the doors to the flat are easiest to paint at the same time, but only with the agreement of whoever owns them.
Dean will visit, look at the frontage, ask about your opening hours and give you a free written quote. Other services in the area are on the Spencer area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
