You can’t use Awnings

in the Wind & Rain!

In the summer issue it was argued that poor

weather was no excuse for poor sales of

canopies and awnings. Here,Astra says it

might just be the reason for even better sales.

Take a leisurely walk through the

streets of Paris, Brussels, Bruges,

Munich or Amsterdam and you

will see the same thing over and

over again, the locals and the tourists,

mainly British ones, sitting outside under

awnings enjoying their coffee, their beer,

their croissant, their Danish pastries,

their frankfurters and their pistolets (The

Belgians, strange folk). But what’s this,

“The wind’s blowing a gale and it’s

raining cats and dogs” you exclaim,

“should not this weather, curse of the

British blind-maker cause our

continental comrades to hear those all

too familiar words ‘Rain has stopped

play!’ and send them dashing for cover.”

Well of course not, this is mainland

Europe! Our European counterparts

despite all their flaws have come up with

the perfect solution to windy inclement

weather, the awning!

So next time you get that call from a

sobbing local bar or restaurant owner

asking for the answer to the British

weather, don’t bury your head in your

hands and exclaim “you can’t use

awnings in the wind and rain” pick up

the phone and call someone like Winsol.

Its changing the way we all have to think

Shock horror!” I hear you exclaim

“you can’t use awnings in the wind and

rain they’re sun protection products,

right?” Right! Most of them are and it’s a

wise blind-maker that encourages his

customer to safely close his awning away

in heavy rain or high winds. But look

again down those streets of Paris,

Brussels or Bruges these awnings that

are quite happy in the wind and rain are

no ordinary run of the mill awnings,

they’ve got legs and project up to 6

metres, roof rollers to support the fabric,

fancy integral gutter and drain pipe

systems, plus loads of other bits and