Soprofen: 'A good night's sleep with 100 percent blackout shutters'

"What are people lying awake because of? If not from inflation or energy costs, then because there is simply too much light entering their bedroom," says Bertje Lecluyse, commercial manager for Benelux at Soprofen. "With the innovative Goodnight shutters, Soprofen has the most blackout solution on the market." Lecluyse explains how the Goodnight range meets customer and installer needs. 

With eight factories in Belgium and France and forty years of experience, Soprofen - manufacturer of roller shutters, awnings and garage doors - is now looking at the Dutch market. Two years ago, for example, they introduced their latest front roller shutter with an enlightening road show. 

Two front shutters were placed in a dark room in front of a light box: a standard shutter and the extra-darkening Goodnight shutter. When the first shutter closed in front of the light box, light leaked in along the sides. A familiar sight to many. With the Goodnight roller shutter, it remained as dark as night, or even darker. "With its double guide with brush and rubber and the patented seal between the shutter box and shutter blade, Goodnight eliminates light leaks and guarantees total blackout," Lecluyse said.

Innovation and service

"In a market as saturated as shutters and blackout, you have to break pots to stand out," Lecluyse continued. "Soprofen always tries to go further than the rest of the market. We couple the development of innovative products with fast, good service. Therefore, we asked our own customers - the installers of roller shutters - and the end customer where the roller shutters usually hang. Our main question: what is really important to you in a roller shutter? Everyone has their own requirements, of course, but with Goodnight, Soprofen answers them all!" 

Darkening, light and insulation

Most light penetrates the side of a shutter. Because a shutter is loose in its guides, outside light reflects in along that path. Goodnight shutters therefore have guides with a second black chamber, sealed with a brush and rubber. To close the shutter completely, Soprofen developed the patented AXIS 50 winding shaft, which uses a suspension spring to push the shutter against the windowsill. The result is complete blackout, burglary protection and a shutter that does not move with the wind. 

The Goodnight range features a compact case and a bottom bar that disappears completely into the case. This makes the roller shutter virtually invisible from the inside when rolled up and allows maximum daylight to enter during the day. "The Goodnight roller shutter is also 12% extra insulation against heat and cold compared to a standard roller shutter," Lecluyse adds. "This keeps it dark and cool inside in summer and keeps the cold out in winter." 

Simplicity and quality

When developing products, Soprofen's R&D department invariably involves the installers who work with Soprofen's range day in and day out. "Naturally, installers like quality products that are easy to install," Lecluyse observes. "A front roller shutter like Goodnight is installed on the outside of a home. So the customer does not have to be at home during installation. Also breaking work is unnecessary because the roller shutter works on solar energy, so there are no electrical cables involved." 

For the dealer's convenience, the 12 most popular colors of the Goodnight are included in the delivery program as standard colors at the fixed price. So no extra quotations to draw up. Those twelve colors are also evaluated every two years. If new colors are popular, they are added to the standard range. In addition to standard colors such as black, beige or dark gray, any RAL color can be chosen. Because Soprofen has its own production units and paint shops, new colors can be quickly switched and introduced." 

"This simplicity and quality are catching on," Lecluyse concludes. "Since rolling out Goodnight, Soprofen has seen clear growth in the roller shutter segment for two consecutive years. Consequently, confidence in our product is high: customers receive as much as a seven-year warranty on their blackout!"