After More Than 5 Decades, Paint Business Expanding In Enfield

ENFIELD, CT — In this era of big box home improvement stores driving small shop owners out of business on a daily basis, a longtime North Thompsonville institution is not only holding its own, but is actually expanding its retail floor space.

The owners of Enfield Paint, located at 401 Enfield Street on the corner of Brainard Road for more than 55 years, have knocked down the wall inside the building to create an expanded showroom. It has taken over the space occupied for many years by various hair salons, most recently Tangles, which closed about two years ago.

The store, founded by and operated for more than 40 years by Stanley Piorek, then run by his sons Steve and Tom, was known for decades as Enfield Wallpaper and Paint, as evidenced by the ad shown below from the 1965 Enfield High School yearbook.

Since purchasing the business about five years ago, Mark Quinn and his dad George have concentrated on providing paint and supplies to their customers; in fact, the store is the sole authorized Benjamin Moore paint dealer in town. Benjamin Moore, founded in 1883, is only available at independently owned paint and hardware stores throughout the country.

"I grew up in the paint business; my grandfather opened a Benjamin Moore store on St. James Avenue in East Springfield and ran it for about 35 years," Mark Quinn said in an interview Thursday. That store closed two years ago, he said.

A true family business, Quinn's brother Joe also works at the Enfield store. After the hair salon space had been vacant for about a year and a half, the Quinns decided to knock down the wall and expand. Renovation began about six months ago and should be complete in a few weeks, Mark said.

The presence of huge stores such as Home Depot has not had the same adverse effect on Enfield Paint as it has on many other small businesses in the region.

"It's competitive, but we survive on service, fair pricing and good advice. If you have a question, we'll get you the right answer," Mark Quinn said.

Enfield Paint is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The store phone is 860-745-3721, and the business also has a Facebook page.

A Benjamin Moore color display in the newly expanded showroom area. (Tim Jensen/Patch Media Corp.)

The Piorek family owned the business as far back as the 1960s, as shown on page 152 of the 1965 Enfield High School Yearbook. (Enfield Historical Society via archive.org)