I’m Marty Dew. DewNorth belongs to me and my wife Jenny — there’s no call centre, no sales team, and no one else who’ll turn up at your door. You ring me, I come out, and I’m the one you deal with until the job is finished.

Eight years of other people’s windows

I’ve spent eight years in flooring and window furnishings across three Adelaide stores, In that time you see the same things over and over: the blockout blind fitted where a sunscreen belonged, the shutter ordered in a blade size that swamps the window, the beautiful fabric that faded to nothing in two summers because it was never meant for a west-facing room.

Most of those weren’t bad products. They were the wrong product for that window, sold by someone who never saw the room.

Why I started DewNorth

Retail window furnishings run on showrooms — rent, staff, stock sitting on a floor. Every one of those costs ends up somewhere on your quote, and none of them helps you choose the right blind.

What actually helps is standing in the room. Seeing which way the window faces, what time the sun hits it, whether the neighbour’s second storey looks straight into the bedroom. Holding the fabric up in your light rather than under showroom downlights, where everything looks good.

So that’s what DewNorth is. I come to you, I measure properly, and I tell you what I’d put in that room if it were mine — including when the cheaper option is the right one.

How the job actually runs

I do the measure, the advice and the quote. Manufacture and installation are handled by an established South Australian manufacturer I work with — which means your check measure is done by the same people responsible for fitting it, and your warranty sits with a business that has been doing this a long time.

It’s a deliberate arrangement. You get one person who knows your job from the first phone call to the last blind, backed by a trade operation with real depth behind it. The bit that usually goes wrong in this industry isn’t the manufacturing — it’s nobody answering the phone afterwards. That part is mine.

Local, and staying that way

I’m based in the North of the Barossa and work right across Adelaide metro. I’m not trying to build something enormous. I’d rather do a smaller number of jobs properly and have people ring me again in five years when they do the next room.

Outside of this I’m a member of BNI Adelaide North, and I run a small kindling business that keeps me honest about what it takes to get a business off the ground.

Come and have a look

If you’ve got a room that’s too hot, too bright, or a bit too visible from the street, ring or text me on 0403 744 899. The measure and quote are free and there’s no obligation.

— Marty Dew, Director, DewNorth Blinds & Shutters