Slatwall, Gridwall or Pegboard: Which Wall System Suits Your Store?

Slatwall, gridwall and pegboard all do the same job. They turn a wall into hanging space you can rearrange without tools. They do it at different costs, with different looks, and with different limits on what you can hang.

Three questions decide it. What are you hanging? How often will the wall change? Can you drill into it? Here is how each system answers.

The short answer

Slatwall: the finished wall

Slatwall is a panel with horizontal grooves. Every accessory has a lip that drops into a groove and locks under the weight of the stock. Lift it out and move it, no tools.

Our MDF slatwall panels are 4 feet high by 8 feet wide with a 3/4 inch MDF core and 15 grooves at 3 inch spacing. Four finishes: unpainted, black, Galaxy White and Hard Rock Maple. Two panels stacked make a full height wall.

The accessory range is the widest of the three. Hooks for carded stock. Shelves and brackets for boxed goods and footwear. Faceouts and hangrails for anything on a hanger. Trays, bins and baskets for loose stock, and sign holders and mirrors. A bike shop can run helmets on shelves, gloves on hooks and jerseys on faceouts, all on the same panel, and swap the whole wall for winter in an afternoon.

Where it wins. The front of the store, the wall behind the counter, any department that will be there next year. It looks like part of the building.

Where it does not. It is fixed. Panels fasten through the grooves into the wall studs. In a leased space where you cannot drill, the freestanding version is the answer: gondolas, four way stands and rotating towers put the same groove system on the floor. It is also the highest upfront cost of the three.

The full guide, including installation and accessory capacity, is here: Slatwall: the complete guide for Canadian retailers.

Gridwall: the wall that moves

Gridwall is a welded wire panel with 3 inch squares and a double beaded edge. Hooks, arms, hangrails, shelves and baskets clip onto the wire anywhere on the panel.

Our double beaded wire grid panels run from 1 foot by 4 feet up to 4 feet by 8 feet, in black, chrome or white. Mount them to the wall, or stand them on legs, bases and casters. Connectors join panels into four way units, triangles and freestanding walls, and a locking caster stops the whole thing wandering.

Where it wins. Anything that moves or changes. A garden centre that rebuilds its seasonal wall four times a year. A craft store at a weekend market with two panels on legs and a box of hooks. A pharmacy putting a cold and flu wall up in October and taking it down in March. It is also a low cost way to get a lot of hanging density fast.

Where it does not. It looks like wire, because it is. On a customer-facing wall in a store that has spent on finishes, it can read as temporary. The usual fix is slatwall out front and grid in the flexible zones.

More on panel sizes, legs and units: Grid panels and fixtures buyers' guide.

Pegboard: the hook display

Pegboard is a board with a grid of holes. Wire hooks push through the holes and hang on the back of the board. It is the system hardware stores and tool retailers have used for decades, and it still does that job well for small carded stock.

One thing to be clear about: we do not sell wall-mounted pegboard. Sheet pegboard comes from a building supply store. What we carry is pegboard on a stand. Pegboard spinners and counter stands put three faces of hooks on the counter or on casters on the floor, with a sign holder on top. And we carry what goes on any pegboard: pegboard hooks in packs of 100, scanner hooks with a label holder on the front so the price sits with the product, plastic hooks that fit both pegboard and slatwall, and security locks that stop hooks lifting out when a customer pulls hard.

Where it wins. Small carded product in volume, close to the till. Phone cases, batteries, craft supplies, fishing tackle, pet toys, pharmacy accessories. A spinner at the counter turns 200 hooks of the same small thing into an impulse display that takes one square foot of floor.

Where it does not. It is not built for apparel, and a pegboard wall is the least finished look of the three. If what you want is a hook wall, slatwall hooks do the same job on a wall that looks like part of the store.

How to choose

Start with the stock, not the wall.

• Hanging apparel, footwear on shelves, or a mix of shelves and hooks on one wall: slatwall, or gridwall if it needs to move
• A wall that changes with the season, travels to markets, or sits in a space you cannot drill: gridwall on legs
• Hundreds of small carded items at one price point: a pegboard spinner or counter stand, or hooks on the slatwall, with scanner hooks if you price at the hook
• A finished front-of-store wall that will still be there in five years: slatwall

Plenty of stores run two of the three. Slatwall on the walls customers see first, gridwall where the layout changes, a pegboard spinner at the counter for the small stuff. That is not indecision. It is using each system for what it is good at.

Some accessories cross over. The wire baskets and wire shelves marked for slatwall and grid fit both systems, and the plastic display hooks fit pegboard and slatwall. If you run two systems, buy the crossover pieces once.

Not sure which way to go for your space? Call the order desk at 1-877-433-3437 with your wall size and what you sell, and we will talk it through. If you would rather not do the install yourself, we install it.

Questions we get asked

Is slatwall better than gridwall?

Neither is better outright. Slatwall costs more and looks like a finished wall, so it suits permanent customer-facing displays. Gridwall costs less and can stand on legs, so it suits budget fits, markets and temporary setups.

Do you sell pegboard panels?

No. We do not carry wall-mounted pegboard. Sheet pegboard comes from a building supply store. We carry pegboard spinners and counter stands, and the hooks, scanner hooks, label holders and security locks that fit any standard pegboard.

Can I use pegboard hooks on slatwall?

Some. The plastic display hooks and clock hooks we carry are made for both. Standard wire pegboard hooks are not, because they hang on the back of a board rather than dropping into a groove.

Can gridwall stand up without a wall?

Yes. Grid legs, bases and casters turn a single panel into a freestanding unit, and connectors join panels into four way and triangular displays. That is why you see so much gridwall at markets and pop-ups.

What size are slatwall panels?

The standard panel is 4 feet high by 8 feet wide with a 3/4 inch MDF core and 15 grooves at 3 inch spacing. Finishes are unpainted, black, Galaxy White and Hard Rock Maple.