If all the time spent at your home has you thinking about sprucing things up, then you might want to pay a visit (via phone or on-line) to this month’s Business Spotlight – Lewis Paint!
The Lewis Paint store located at 44 S. York Road has been a staple in Hatboro since the late 1970’s. They have been operating at their current location for the past 20 years and before that could be found at 218 S. York Road where George Lewis opened shop in 1977 after working for Brooks Paint store (also previously located in Hatboro) for 20 years.
Now managed by George’s daughter Cherrie Lewis, Lewis Paint has, and continues to be, the regional go to paint store for contractors and do-it-yourselfers looking for quality products and personalized customer service. An independently owned Benjamin Moore retail store, Lewis Paint offers the entire range of Benjamin Moore paints (interior, exterior, premium, commercial paint and stain) and painting supplies, but they also carry additional paint options including a private label brand called Founders 77 that features George’s picture on the back of the can.
In keeping with the theme of transforming surfaces, Lewis Paint also offers customers stacks and stacks of wallpaper books, a trend that Cherrie reports is making a comeback. And Cherrie should know, as she has been in the business for over 35 years. She jokes that she has seen trends come and go and comeback again. “There was a time when my father’s wife Vicki had hundreds of wallpaper books and samples and customers were papering their entire houses. Then wallpaper seemed to die off in popularity. But now we are seeing wall coverings being used a lot, but in a different way. People are using them to create interest and texture on accent walls of individual rooms and to create interesting environments in powder rooms.”
Like her father before her, Cherrie started working part-time, after school in the local paint store. The only difference was that this store was her families business. Back when she started George had the Hatboro store and it had done so well that he opened another store in Lansdale. Eventually Cherrie began running the Hatboro store and her brother Tim Lewis ran the Lansdale location which allowed George to open two more locations, one in Glenside and one on Rockledge.
When George retired at 80 years young, Cherrie and Tim decided to close the Lansdale and Rockledge stores so they could each concentrate on one store and continue to provide customers with the personalized service that they have come to expect. Tim and his wife Jen run the Glenside store and Cherrie and employee Tim Gray run the Hatboro location.
Cherrie has become known in Hatboro as the “paint lady”…but not just because she sells paint, but because she has a gift for helping people choose just the right color for their project. And anyone who has ever tried to find just the right color for a paint job knows it’s no small feat! “I’d say that’s the favorite part of my job – helping people pick their colors,” Cherrie says. “I have customers that bring in pieces of their home décor for me to use to help them. I’ve had to crawl in the back of people’s cars to check out the colors in the area rugs that they want to compliment. And I guess I’ve gotten pretty good at picking the right colors because I have customers now that come in and say things like ‘I trust you, whatever you choose if fine’ and ‘I can’t make a decision without you.’ But my favorite thing to hear is when they come back and say ‘you picked the perfect color.’” In-store paint, wallcovering and decorating advice is provided free-of-charge, but Cherrie is also available to provide in-home color consultation for a fee.
For as long as they have had a presence in town, Lewis Paint and the Lewis family have been known as active and generous contributors to the Hatboro community. George has served as the president of the Hatboro Chamber of Commerce and as the president of the Hatboro Rotary – he remains an active Hatboro Rotarian today. Lewis Paint sponsors youth organizations like the local Little League and Eagle Scouts and has donated hundreds of gallons of paint over the years for post prom parties, local theatres, play grounds, historical society projects, scout projects and more. George, Cherrie and Tim say they believe in giving back to communities that help them thrive.
But there is something else Lewis Paint has been known for in Hatboro – their dogs. And especially George’s Golden Retrievers. Since 1979 George has had a “golden” at his shops. Cherrie reports that the dogs became such a staple in town (and in the stores) that people would just stop in to see them. Cherrie has continued the tradition of having dogs in the store, and while not nearly as big as the “goldens” her smaller dogs still make their presence known. The next time you are walking in Hatboro stop in to check out the store, say hi to Cherrie & Tim and to keep up the tradition of visiting the dogs!
Current Hours: Monday–Friday 7:30am – 5:00pm, Saturday 8:00am-3:00pm
Phone: (215) 674-0300
On-line: www.lewispaintstore.com
Call or visit the on-line store for information or to place orders. Curbside pick-up now being offered.