Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Family on a roll with new wallpaper shop
A FAMILY business which has sold wallpaper online for 20 years is on a roll after opening retail premises in Broughty Ferry.
Select Wallpaper, founded by former decorator Roderick Selbie and wife Debbie, was one of the first in the world to sell online when the ecommerce business started from the garage in their Dundee family home in 2003.
Today the website has more than 60,000 products and serves customers all over the world – including several celebrities.
Until recently the business operated from Pitkerro Industrial Estate in Dundee, which didn’t stop customers travelling from all over Scotland to see products in person.
Select Wallpaper now has designs on further growth. The move to open retail premises on Brook Street has been spearheaded by daughter Diane.
She describes the shop, which occupies the former Valet Services dry cleaners, as a “library of inspiration and colour”.
Diane said: “The marketplace on our website is worldwide but we thought it would be nice to have a shop in the Dundee area where local people can come and have a look at our books.
“The premises is big enough to house all of our stock and office space as well as having a showroom.
“With so much choice it can be hard to select the perfect wallpaper and we’re here to help people find something special.
“Broughty Ferry makes sense for us. I think it’s got more footfall and people browsing than the city centre.”
The shop’s walls have been decorated with a variety of different wallpapers to help inspire customers.
Diane, who is known locally as a street artist, said jungle themes, floral themes and geometrics are currently popular designs.
Wallpaper ranges in price from £16 to £600 a roll, with the more expensive papers carrying designer names and printed using traditional methods.
“I’d encourage people to being open to putting up some nice patterns in their house,” Diane said.
“It can really cheer up a room and it makes the space unique.
“We source from around the world.
“In the shop we have books upon books we can help people navigate.
“We’re not interior designers but we know what people mean when they talk about patterns and styles. We can also supply mixed paint in any colour.
“I’d also suggest people think about how much they want to spend on a room as the prices can vary hugely. “Generally, if you are paying a premium price, you are getting a premium product.”