Meet Peter Brotherton, sales manager and wallpaper legend
I still remember the day when I climbed onto a friend’s bike to ride down a very steep hill in my neighbourhood. As I took off at great speed, full of vim and vigour, my friend’s voice trailed after me… “oh yeah, the brakes don’t wooorrrrkkkkkk”. Luck was on my side that day and I lived to tell the tale, but it left me wondering about the value of good advice. If my friend had told me about the brakes BEFORE I got on the bike, I could have made a better decision and not seen the pearly gates rushing up to greet me on that summer’s day. You see, sometimes you have to listen to the voice of reason rather than the voice inside your head. Enter Peter Brotherton, wallpaper legend and wise counsel.
Peter was destined to become a colossal figure at Hume Internationale. He left school and joined the company in 1978. Just to underline the length of his service, here’s some of the hit songs of the day…
- Stayin’ Alive (Bee Gees)
- You Light Up My Life (Debby Boone)
- Three Times A Lady (Commodores)
- Boogie Oogie Oogie (A Taste Of Honey)
- Short People (Randy Newman)
Starting to get the picture? It was a long time ago and he has been quietly compiling a lifetime’s expertise along the way. And he didn’t take any short cuts, either. Peter learnt the business from the ground up. He started in the warehouse, moved into the office and then got out on the road covering the market in VIC/TAS. Peter has seen the company through one ownership change, five location changes and watched its fortunes fall and rise with consumer tastes. He can still remember the times when retailers had warehouses full of wallpaper and every paint store sold wallpaper as a standard product. He has also watched customers struggling out of stores carrying enough wallpaper to cover two houses! He knows what matters most in wall coverings; he may not always tell you what you WANT to hear, but he will always tell you what you NEED to hear. Honesty is a very important quality – as I learned bolting down that steep hill on a brakeless bike so many years ago.
Wall coverings are going through a designer led renaissance. I love today’s diversity, textures, and colours. ‘Paintable’ products are leading the way – we may be on the way back to the heady days of the 1980’s. Wallpaper is not boring, it gives another dimension to a room. It makes a house a home.
These days, it’s getting tougher and tougher to find the kind of expertise that this guy has accumulated over a lifetime in the industry. Remember that his advice comes free, it’s just part of the extra service you get at Hume Internationale.
At Hume Internationale we favour the hands on approach. We have a wealth of organisational experience and we’ll give you the right advice. That’s the Hume advantage.
So if you’re thinking of launching into your next interior decorating project, large or small, make the smart decision. Give us a call today on (03) 9335 6711 or explore the site now!