Word for steel gates pulled down over storefronts at night?

November 9, 2009 9:03 PM

Is there a specific word for those rolling, pull-down gates that cover up storefronts in old-school cities (Brooklyn, Barcelona) at night? Here's a picture of the kind of gates I mean.

Grates? Doors? I feel like there has to be a more specific word. Spanish or English would be fine. Thanks!

posted by jcruelty to Writing & Language (28 answers total)

Looks like it's just plain "store front gate" or "rolling gate". Old-school would be something like "portcullis."
posted by mynameisluka at 9:09 PM on November 9, 2009

I've always heard them referred to as just "shutters".
posted by Dreamcast at 9:10 PM on November 9, 2009

Well, portcullises don't roll up...I would just call it a rolling gate...
posted by dfriedman at 9:11 PM on November 9, 2009

Industrial rolling gate?
posted by functionequalsform at 9:16 PM on November 9, 2009

roll up doors
posted by buggzzee23 at 9:18 PM on November 9, 2009

Interesting … the rest of the world calls them "roller doors" or "roller shutters" (and the same term is used across home / shop / industrial versions, with "roller shutter" tending to mean the security versions), but a bit of Googling seems to indicate they're not commonly called that in the US.

The googlebait at the bottom of this page lists quite a few terms.
posted by Pinback at 9:20 PM on November 9, 2009

They're referred to as "roll-up doors", just like buggzzee23 says.
posted by LionIndex at 9:28 PM on November 9, 2009

Shutters. My in-laws' coffee shop in Japan has them, and every morning they draw them up, and every evening they pull them down, giving each day bookends of beginning and finality.
posted by KokuRyu at 9:28 PM on November 9, 2009

Roller shutters.
posted by pompomtom at 9:37 PM on November 9, 2009

I always heard those called "steel shutters".
posted by crabintheocean at 9:44 PM on November 9, 2009

Trying to find them in the Sweet's catalog, they seem to frequently be named "overhead coiling doors" or "rolling service doors", and would be covered by CSI division 08330 (which does call them overhead coilling doors)
posted by LionIndex at 9:57 PM on November 9, 2009

Not sure what relevance it might have for naming conventions, but in Southeast Asia such doors are as common on street-level entrances to residential dwellings as they are on store fronts or commercial establishments. When the doors are open, the area of the home just inside forms a kind of sitting room that's directly connected to the sidewalk/street outside. It's a very different arrangement of personal and public space than most Westerners/Americans might associate with this type of door when it's used for businesses. Since many of these Asian homes share common walls with neighboring buildings on the other sides, the opening formed by these front "doors" often served as the only "window" on ground floor. Again, not sure any of this relates to the names you're seeking, except that it might be curious to learn how any of the Asian languages refer to this type of door and what the English translations for such terms might be.
posted by 5Q7 at 10:07 PM on November 9, 2009

Like Pinback says: roller doors.
posted by meech at 10:07 PM on November 9, 2009

Is there a specific word for those rolling, pull-down gates that cover up storefronts in old-school cities (Brooklyn, Barcelona) at night?

Do Lewiston, Maine and Mt. Ephraim, NJ count as "old school?" Because I've just confirmed that I have photographic evidence of those gates being used in both places.
posted by Mayor Curley at 10:14 PM on November 9, 2009

They exist in Seattle too (both in older areas and occasionally in newer areas, I assume whenever the shop owner's worried about vandalism or breakins at night). I don't think I've heard them called anything other than the names people have already suggested.
posted by hattifattener at 10:59 PM on November 9, 2009

Shutters in Japan, but I called them shutters when I was in the US, too.
posted by armage at 12:01 AM on November 10, 2009

UK - shutters
posted by fire&wings at 2:29 AM on November 10, 2009

In NYC- City Gates!
posted by jara1953 at 3:31 AM on November 10, 2009

in dutch: rolluik
posted by ouke at 3:58 AM on November 10, 2009

I once heard of them called Jalousie, but that was in a residential setting.
posted by Gungho at 5:53 AM on November 10, 2009

Riot gates. (Not pretty, I know, but I just read a book set in Manhattan -- Lush Life by Richard Price -- that used the term several times.)
posted by Mid at 7:09 AM on November 10, 2009

Boston, MA - steel shutters.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:12 AM on November 10, 2009

Native Manhattanite here, seconding Mid on "riot gate."

I think I've also heard them called "storm gates" in hurricane-prone cities.
posted by scratch at 7:52 AM on November 10, 2009

Thanks all. Doesn't seem like there's a definitive answer, but I appreciate the suggestions. Context for this question: I took pix of these gates when in Barcelona and wasn't sure what to name the resulting photoset. I ended up going with "Barcelona storefront shutters."
posted by jcruelty at 8:05 AM on November 10, 2009

In Glasgow UK, the firms that install these call them security shutters.
posted by multivalent at 8:43 AM on November 10, 2009

In Catalan I believe they are "finestrons de seguretat".
posted by rongorongo at 9:15 AM on November 10, 2009

I've heard overhead door (I'm guessing because it's printed on the case that the door retracts into), security grate and rollup door.
posted by electroboy at 9:22 AM on November 10, 2009

Nthing "steel shutters." Brooklyn.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 10:47 AM on November 10, 2009