A fresh look at shop shelving for the new year

Starting a new business can mean long hours, late nights and substantial outlay. With this in mind, there is often a tendency to cut corners to try to save a few pennies. We've all been guilty of this at some point when trying to lower costs, but rather than sacrificing on quality, there are ways to find decent shop fittings at affordable prices.

When you're setting up a new shop, you may be able to reduce costs by sourcing used materials and carrying out some of the work yourself if you feel confident enough. Of course, there's no point in doing this without the right skills - it always costs more to have something put right rather than hiring someone to do it properly the first time!

When Jim from Derby visited our showroom to buy some shop shelving and shop fittings for his new store, he told us he was on a tight budget and was interested in looking at the used shop shelving we had available. This is something we hear quite a lot, especially for business owners just starting out.

New and used shop shelving warehouse

Shopfittings and shelving warehouse

With Jim's low budget in mind, we sat down and drew up a plan of his shop, taking into consideration the position of the counter and pillars in the centre of the floor as these often cause problems when trying to position your gondola shelving. (You can almost guarantee there will always be at least one pillar in the way!) After about twenty minutes and a walk around our warehouse, Jim was satisfied we were able to supply him with what he needed and we agreed to deliver the shelving and assemble it for him. We just had one final question for him: was the floor flat? He assured us that it was (but might be a "little springy" at points, as it was a wooden floor), and that since his budget didn't stretch to a new floor it would be staying... or at least that's what he thought!

Old floor in need of repair

Carpeted floor before refit

The next day we loaded up the van and off we went... When entering the shop we couldn't help noticing a six foot deep hole in the floor which looked like someone had fallen through the day before. Jim assured us he would get it fixed and suggested we start putting up the shelving. We had our doubts but got started...

Cutting corners on something as important as the floor is never a good move, even if you are on a tight budget. Not only does an uneven floor look bad, but it makes it extremely difficult to keep the shop shelving straight, and this gives a tired and messy appearance to your shop. A floor in bad condition can also be a tripping hazard and will be costly to repair at a later date, when your shop is open and fully stocked.

Luckily, however, it didn't get to this stage. After putting up all the gondola shelving and having a few days over Christmas to think about it, Jim decided to take it all down again and have the whole floor relaid. And what a transformation it made! Jim replaced all the old rotten flooring and out of date carpet with a fresh, bright-looking laminate which has given the shop a new, clean look.

New floor after refit

A brighter, cleaner looking store!

We wish Jim all the best with his new shop and look forward to seeing him again in the future as his business expands. 


As well as used shop shelving we stock a full range of new shelving including:

- Wall Shelving,

- Low Gondolas,

- High Gondolas,

- Magazine Units,

- Shelves and Accessories,

- Low End Bays,

- High End Bays,

- Corner Shelving,

- Peg Board Wall Shelving,

- Peg Board Gondola Shelving,

- Peg Board Ends.

For any more information on new and used shop shelving and shopfittings, or advice on how best to fit out your store, please call Shelving4Shops on 01455 221512.