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TRANSCRIPT
primecoat
primecoat
publisher HANS MUGLER
The National Hardware Show and Lancaster Show in Vegas is like a mid-year Christmas. We stroll the floors in search of the latest and greatest products, innova-tions and inventions that will sell well in your stores, and like kids at Christmas, we are wide-eyed when we see something we know is a hero.
After dozens of these shows, we occasionally think we’ve seen it all, then we stum-ble upon a booth offering a better, reinvented mousetrap. Even new packaging could be just the thing that gets that product to fly off your shelves. We wanted you to know the products that caught our attention and had some WOW factor to them.
From O’Brien Distributing comes Dizzolve Brush Cleaner and Conditioner. Former painter Dan O’Brien took the time to show us just how incredibly well this line of products works and how remarkably safe they are to use! Whether you are cleaning wet or dry brushes, brushes with oil or acrylic paint, this product will
clean them every time and brings them back to life for another day. Dizzolve is non-toxic, odor-free, earth-friendly, biodegradable, sus-tainable, reusable, very safe, and contains NO SOLVENTS! These are paint thinner replacement products for fast cleaning of brushes, rollers, and airless pumps and sprayers for commercial painters.
Regular advertiser Preval WOWed us with its technology. Tech is not something we find much in the retail paint business, but Preval showed us products that are truly cutting edge. Preval’s Sam Averbuch showed us his Energy Disbursement Unit (EDU). For painters doing more than just touch-up work, this EDU container clips to your belt and when adding water to it, the EDU system
insulates Preval’s 150 Feet of ENERGY unit at a consistent temperature to deliver a longer lasting, more continuous spray. This innovation gives you five times the spray duration with the 150 Feet of ENERGY. You just know Sam has a Bat Cave at his home, tinkering away at night to develop such unique items!
At the Lancaster show, we spoke with the reps from Cabot Stain who claimed their fairly new DeckCorrect™ product allows you to “put a new face on a bad deck.” Many manufacturers have struggled with their deck re-staining products that seem to fail after only a matter of months, but Cabot reports ZERO complaints, and after only two short years, DeckCorrect has shot up to be its #1 best-selling product by far! DeckCorrect™ by Cabot® covers and corrects worn, weathered, exterior wood and concrete with a thick coating that is enhanced with Polycarbonate Everbeads™ to fill cracks up to ¼" and lock down splinters for a durable, dirt-resis-tant, skid-resistant surface.
Over at the NHS Inventors Section, the buzz was all about the FATLIP© product from Tribe Design in the UK. We’ve seen many products designed to keep paint drips in the can, but this new item will sell if you will just stock it for a trial run. With the high cost of paint and stain, saving what doesn’t get used on a job is important and economical. Snap FATLIP© onto the can of paint (gallon or quart) and whether you are pouring paint or feathering your brush through the exposed fingers on the inner rim of the FATLIP©, the paint runs right back into the can… not around the rim. Not an expensive product, and your customers will keep buying them when they see how well it helps them preserve the paint they didn’t use.
Another great NHS and Lancaster show is in the books. If you did not attend this year, be sure to book your trip early for next year! TPD
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FIRST PRINT 100% PRINT 100% ADDITIONAL PRINTSCOLORS/SWATCHES SAVED TO PRODUCTION
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WHEN IT’S YOUR NAME ON THE LINE,TRUST OURS ON THE LABEL.
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MAY ‘16 TPDvolume 25 » no. 5themix
featurestories departments
Cover design by Kathryn
Tongay-Carr
T h e P a i n t D e a l e r ( I S S N 1 0 6 7 - 1 1 1 0 ) i s p u b l i s h e d m o n t h l y b y M u g l e r P u b l i c a t i o n s , I n c . , 1 1 1 - A N o r t h K i r k w o o d R o a d , K i r k w o o d , M O 6 3 1 2 2 / P : 8 0 0 - 9 8 4 - 0 8 0 1 / FAX: 314-984-0866 / www.paintdealer.com / Printed in the U.S.A. All material in this magazine is Copyright © 2016 by Mugler Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. The Paint Dealer is available free of charge to retailers who sell paint and paint sundries to consumers or contractors. Subscription rate for applicants who do not qualify for free copies is $36/year in the U.S. and $100/year in foreign countries. Periodicals Postage paid at St. Louis, MO and Additional Mailing Office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Paint Dealer, 111-A N. Kirkwood Rd., Kirkwood, MO 63122-4301.
American Paint Paddle .......................... 17 americanpaintpaddle.com
Benjamin Moore ...................................... 5 benjaminmoore.com
Chalk-tique ........................................... 22 chalktique.com
DecoArt ................................................ 13 decoart.com
EnviroCare (Moldex) ..................17, 19, 21 moldexbrands.com
Fine Paints of Europe .............................. 7 finepaintsofeurope.com
Howard Products, Inc. ............................ 22 howardproducts.com
Kelly-Moore Paints ................................ 32 kellymoore.com
Nationwide Protective Coatings ............ 18 nationwidecoatings.com
PPG Flood ............................................. 31 flood.com
PPG Pittsburgh Paints ............................ 11 ppgpittsburghpaints.com
Pratt & Lambert Paints ............................. 3 prattandlambert.com
Preval (Re-Grip) .................................... 27 re-grip.com
SamaN ..................................................... 9 saman.ca
Santint ................................................... 29 santintusa.com
The Smart Drop ..................................... 19 thesmartdrop.com
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6 TPD › 5.16
Tim Hyer & Tom Ferrari Join Gardner-Gibson
Gardner-Gibson, Inc. announced that Tim Hyer has joined the company’s executive team in the newly formed
position of Vice President of Digital. In this role, Hyer will collaborate with sales, marketing and operations, leveraging technology both internally and externally to drive growth for the business.
“We are excited to bring Tim on board,” said Sean Hyer, CEO at Gardner-Gibson. “As technology continues to grow in the building materials industry we felt like we needed someone with a laser focus and the ability to tap into rap-idly changing technology. Gardner-Gibson is committed to being the product and technology leader in an interconnect-ed marketplace. Tim will enhance our digital platform and create new applications for our customers’ mobile devices supporting interconnectivity to our company.”
Tom Ferrari has joined the company in the newly formed position of Director of New Business Development. In that role, Ferrari will leverage his three decades of coatings industry experience and com-pany portfolio depth to expand domestic and international business opportunities.
“Tom brings 30 years of coatings industry expertise to the new role,” said Tripp Hyer, Gardner-Gibson Senior VP of Sales and Marketing. “Tom’s depth of experience is also impressive as it spans from traditional paint coatings to advanced silicone roof coatings. While he grows our cus-tomer base, his extensive experience will be invaluable to our new customers.”
Previously he held positions with GACO Western and as VP of Dealer Sales for Behr Paint.
Susan Wytrych Joins Hyde Tools Hyde® Tools has named Susan Wytrych as Channel
Manager. She will represent the entire range of products in Hyde’s Professional Products division. Previously she was Major Accounts Sales Manager with the Windsor Marketing Group in Suffield, CT.
Wytrych will work in partnership with the Hyde sales team, independent manufacturer’s representatives, and customers to increase the sales and visibility of Hyde brand products in all domestic channels of distribution, said Corey Talbot, VP of Marketing and Product Development. “Susan brings over 20 years of valuable knowledge and experience in sales, marketing, and channel management. We are very excited to welcome her and look forward to working with her to reach our goals.”
industrypeeps
HANDy Video Contest
Bercom, the manufacturer of HANDy Paint Products, is searching for do-it-yourself painters (and the next generation of Hollywood directors) to enter its 5th Annual Handy Paint Products’ Online Video Contest. To qualify, contestants
must produce a short video between 90 seconds and four minutes, using one (or all 15) Handy Paint Product in some way, shape or form (as long as it’s legal).
“We’re thrilled to be celebrating the 5th year of the Handy Paint Products’ Online Video Contest,” said Mark Bergman, CEO of Bercom International. “Last year’s entries pushed the boundaries of creativity and we can’t wait to see what the 2016 contest has in store.”
The deadline for video entries is September 2, 2016. Finalists will be featured at the September 24, 2016, Handy Paint Products Film Festival taking place live from the red carpet at Bercom headquarters in Chanhassen, MN., where the top three videos will be chosen by local celebrity judges. The Bercom-sponsored event is open to the public and all donations made at the Film Festival will go directly to the Minnesota chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. In 2015, the festival raised approxi-mately $5,000 in donations for the Twin Cities’ Habitat for Humanity paint and critical repairs program, “A Brush with Kindness.”
____________________
We’re Moving! As of June 15, 2016, Mugler Publications’ new address will be342 Marshall Road, St. Louis, MO 63088
paintscene
paintscene
8 TPD › 5.16
Hungry for the
WolfBeautiful whites,
grayed-off neutrals and nuanced pastels make
up the new “Soulitude” color collection from the PPG PAINTS™ brand and acclaimed interior designer
Vicente Wolf. The collection, which
reflects the colors of silence and space, features 63 whites, off-whites and tinted whites, a range of neutrals, and a robust collection of muffled accent colors, all of which are Wolf’s favorites. Soulitude provides designers, architects and homeowners beautiful opportuni-ties to open up and transform spaces, and it is available in a new fan deck that will be launched during NeoCon 2016.
“I wanted Soulitude to include my favorite colors, like blue and shades of white, of course,” Wolf said. “But what I am really looking for in interior design is emotion, and the colors in this collection all evoke certain feelings. Soft, neutral colors, for example, conjure a sense of calm and peacefulness. What-
ever emotions clients are seeking, color is one of the best ways to capture them in a space.”
Wolf will be at the PPG Paints’ NeoCon booth, #7-1019, on June 13 to unveil Soulitude and to discuss development
of the collaborative color collection with designers and architects in attendance. He will sign complimentary copies of his new book, The Four Elements of Design. Released in April, it features interior design themes reflecting his belief that the four classical elements—earth, wind, air and fire—form the building blocks of interior design. The Four Elements of Design helped inspire the color selection for Soulitude.
Wolf’s eye for detail has created a reputation for quality appreciated by his discerning client list, the creative industry as a whole, and his international partner-ships with some of the world’s top luxury brands. Award-winning designer, interna-
tional speaker, book publisher, lauded retailer and celebrated business partner, the designer now heads two companies: VW Home by Vicente Wolf and Vicente Wolf Associates.
DEALER EVENTSHOUSE HASSON DEALER MARKET
June 16-19Sevierville, TNhousehasson.com
UNITED HARDWARE BUYING MARKETJune 17-19
Minneapolis, MNunitedhardware.com
PACOA DEALER MARKETSeptember 10-11Hempstead, NY
pacoa.com
10 TPD › 5.16
A customer or designer looking to make a bold statement can hardly go wrong with red. It makes that statement loud and clear, and even
its softer versions can still be very vocal. Wearing red in the “wrong” place, say a wedding or a funeral, will have everyone making bold
statements. If they’re talking smack about home décor, it depends on how the homeowner feels. There’s got to be that one place where red can rule!
Red Julius“Hmmm. . .now where
have I seen this red before?” Emmet Fiore is Senior Color Strategist at Fine Paints of Europe, and in Europe a couple thousand years back, red was quite the fine paint.
“Is it me or are these two red rooms, painted roughly 2000 years apart, remarkably similar?” he asks. “They are not painted with the earthy, dull, red oxide pigments we often see on barns…and we see a lot of barns in Vermont, where Fine Paints is located!
No, this is a vivid, mind-blowingly haughty, mesmer-izing, hypnotic vermillion with a patrician pedigree.” In other words, a sophisticated red meant to show us something brazen.
“Function was clearly not the ultimate goal in either space,” he observed. “These rooms, although 2,000 years apart, make a concurrent statement, and the use of red was not accidental. The aim of both rooms is a sublime, transcendent decor, exhibiting ostentatious display beyond the grasp of most, both aesthetically and economically. To this end, a patrician class has always been, and will always be, keepers of this flame or patrons of the arts.” Or more to the point, they had to be some
rich folks to afford red paint, since it wasn’t all that cheap or easy to come by. The automatic tinter— and even the manual dispenser—were still some time off.
“It should come as no surprise that everything scarce, beautiful and refined is costly, including lavish red pigment,” said Fiore. “Painting a room with cinnabar/vermillion 2,000 years ago was kind of like buying a red Ferrari today. Similarly, painting a room with Fine Paints today, although not quite as pricey, will get you lots of ‘red cred.’”
Fine Paints products are expensive, no doubt, but Fiore reminds us that a premium paint yields premium results. “Behold…the photos! Those that can, use a can of Fine Paints. The end justifies the cost.”
Hail, Cæsar! finepaintsofeurope.com
Voices of PinkPPG’s The Voice of Color
is talking pink—that lighter shade of red that’s always ready to make a statement, or elicit a statement of a different kind if someone thinks it’s in the wrong place. But just like any
color, there are
BY editorJERRY RABUSHKA
Making a statement for thousands of years.RED: Bold and
Peaceful
These quiet pinks and neutrals go well together, as shown in the inspirational photos on page 12.
Subdued
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GROW WITH US. WE’LL HELP YOU SUCCEED.With a complete line of products designed exclusively for independent, locally owned retailers, PPG’s
expertise and the best color program, it’s a winning combination every time.
Visit ppgpittsburghpaints.com/for-dealers to � nd out more about this exclusive offering.
Always Working For You is a trademark and The Voice of Color, PPG Pittsburgh Paints and the Drippy P Design are registered trademarks of PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. Wonder-Pro is a trademark of AkzoNobel. ©2016 PPG Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
049826ppgpittThePaintDealer8x10_75.indd 1 5/11/16 8:46 AM
Bold and Peaceful
12 TPD › 5.16
many tasteful ways to use it, and then there are ways that accost and overwhelm. PPG is, of course, showing us the tasteful. Pink princesses are all the rage, but this color is not just for kids. Pink is growing up. These pinks from the company’s Pastel Wonders Collection offer a mature version of the color to charm any space. ppgvoiceofcolor.com
Paint the Town RedObservations by of Dave Christiansen, Santint• Red is one of the primary colors and can
vary in shade from pink to burgundy. • The color red signifies many things: blood,
fire, danger, courage, anger, warning and love—how about a dozen red roses?
• Did you know only 2% of humans have red hair (naturally)?
• In China, red equals happiness, joy and well being.
• Surprisingly, bulls (like dogs) cannot distinguish the color red, they only go after the waving motion of a matador’s cape!
• One of my favorite books is James Schefter’s All Corvettes Are Red.
So, roll out the red carpet, use some red paint, and express yourself! santintusa.com TPD
Christiansen took a 50th anniversary ride in this little red Corvette in 2003. Pay attention to cars; automobile colors often become popular in home interior.
Left: Walls & ceiling: White Rock (PPG1104). Accent: Subdued (PPG1015-4).
Bottom Left: Bed wall: Subdued. Trims & ceiling: White Rock.
Bottom Right: Wall & accent: Mexicali Rose (PPG18-06).
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14 TPD › 5.16
I t’s easy to describe the National Hardware Show® in terms of big…big coming up, big going to, big coming away. Lots of exhibitors, lots of attendees,
you can’t do it all in the time allotted. There are enough people coming over its three days to fill a good sized sta-dium; but the real story is
that in the midst of all this big, everyone needs to have a personal experience to justify coming to Las Vegas.
Realistically, Las Vegas itself is a reason to justify coming to Las Vegas or the show could just as well be held in Frostbite Falls. Las Vegas is big; distances that seem short turn out to be a lot longer when you start pounding the pavement. The hotels are massive, and there’s quite a lot of unfinished lodgings, sixty stories tall and nothing doing year after year, casting shadows of failure eerily along the strip.
The companies and people showing their wares at NHS are investing quite a bit to come out there, and essentially it’s up to the show organizers to bring in enough attendance to make it worth the investment. But it’s also incumbent of the suppliers to have enticing booths and smiles to make people stop by. This year it all came together.
Good for us, good for youThis show, on a personal level for The Paint Dealer
staff, seemed well attended and upbeat. We asked around, “how is the show,” and most folks had a positive response. Over the years, we’ve found that exhibitors are not shy about telling us that things aren’t going well. If you go to a trade show and you can bowl in the aisles,
it’s no secret that attendance is sparse.
So, kudos to Reed Exhibi-tion for a successful event.
We asked a few people to share their impressions; along with a buying show, it’s a mingling show, and a show to personalize a lot of
the products and companies that grace your shelves and footprints.
The staff at Howard Products, a family-owned California-based manufacturer of wood restoration products, find it a good way to show new and familiar wares as well as connect with their customers. “It’s always nice to see our sales reps since they are spread across the country and the world., This is the one time of the year we can visit with them all in one spot,” said a company staffer. “The reps do such a good job for us by bringing interested buyers to our booth. It’s also nice to hear people’s stories about how our Restor-A-Finish product saved their heirlooms from having to be stripped and refinished. There is a positive air surrounding our booth because our products work so well and customers stop by to tell us how amazed they are that our products really do what we say they do!”
Along with Howard, Julie Crozier shares the space selling her product Chalk-tique, an additive that gives any latex paint a chalky finish. She saw it as a family
BY editorJERRY RABUSHKA
At the 20 16 NHS, everyone had a story.
The Personal and The Professional
reunion as much as a sales opportunity.“The show was very busy for us,” she said. “A cool
thing at this show for us is family! Howard Products was started by my dad in 1969. Now my brothers Kevin and Eric run the business. Pictured (below, left) from left to right are Trevor How-ard (Eric’s son at his first National Hardware Show), Alicia Munoz, Justine Evans, Kevin Howard and me, Julianne Howard Crozier. At the end of the day,” she said, “with all the exciting new business prospects I received at the show, I feel very blessed to share all of it with my family.”
Crozier is also finding new ways to sell and display her products, and she’s noticed that, at least in her instance, the display makes much of the difference. “I showed potential customers my new Counter Display and how important point of purchase displays really are, especially for my product,” she said. “The Chalk-tique Counter Display, which includes a before and after picture and short description, gives the customer a quick idea as to what Chalk-tique is all about.”
Inventive SolutionsAlong with some big manufacturers—and there’s
plenty of chance to catch up with the major players—the show is a great starting and stomping ground for smaller developers and inventors to show off their products. We
even met a man who told us he sang and wrote music for the funk group Cameo back in the day, and now he was inventing painting tools. You never know who’s going to
get into the biz!Another inventor Don O’Brien, representing
his company O’Brien Distributing—Purveyors of Fine Products, told us that jaws were dropping in
response to his new product, Dizzolve Brush Cleaner & Conditioner. It’s
a safe and easy way to clean out a brush at the end of the day. It’s bio-degradable, reusable, and sustainable, and doesn’t harm the brush. We were truly amazed at how well this works;
O’Brien said his demo won over a lot of retailers. “We removed an oil base primer from a brush in 30 seconds—no solvents, no mess, no
fumes, no stink, no flammability, and no harm to skin,” he said. It was an amazing new product and definitely one to check out. Your painters will love you!
Another interest-ing product was The Smart Drop, shown by Ed Romero from Prostyle Products in Martinez, CA. Billed as “the drop cloth
At the 20 16 NHS, everyone had a story.
The Personal and The Professional
16 TPD › 5.16
you attach to your bucket,” this product is a small tray with a drop inside, and it helps you move your paint bucket as well as your painting tools quickly and safely from one area to another. Your customers can paint neatly without having to move their larger drop into some smaller areas.
“The show went great!” said Romero. “We had a lot of positive feedback and consensus seemed to be that The Smart Drop solves a common problem for both DIY and professional painters. People liked that it was lightweight and could double as a carrying tray for painting tools. There were a number of times that people said it would be much easier to move it across a floor, while painting baseboards and trim, than a traditional drop cloth. They also seemed to like the stability that the base gave to the can or bucket.”
We caught up with Dave Christiansen and Rene Martinez from Santint USA, a mixer and dis-penser company based in China. “We had a very good show,” Dave reported. “Many retail-ers stopped by and we even wrote some orders. Many of the attendees were international and we were able to refer them to our team mem-bers around the globe. It seems the show is growing once again and had more major vendors and
retailers than in the last few years.”
Second Time’s a CharmDecoArt was a company we hadn’t seen
before, but after our visit we’re sure to find out a lot more about them—and therefore, so will you! National Sales Manager, Stacy Lake noted that they had a successful exhibit.
“Our experience this year was smoother and more productive than last year,” she said. “We seemed to
have more traffic in the location we were in this year and made many new contacts from retailers to sales reps.
“Our products were well received by retailers look-ing for exactly what we have to offer for the current upcycling/refurbishing trend fueled by the makers movement,” she continued. “They were impressed with the array of products available in our Americana Decor DIY line as well as by the quality, and that they were made in the USA. We learned that there is still a lot to learn about doing business in this industry, but we feel like this show and the connections we made are leading us in the right direction.”
Home Sweet Tiny HomeJust like Vegas, the show had big and small attractions
mixed together, including the “Tiny House,” an example of a “small” display by a big company. If you missed this at the show, or you stayed home to begin with, or you went to Vegas but never got out of the casino, never fear, because this display might just be coming to town.
The Hardware Show saw the launch of the ProLuxe Perfection tour by the Sikkens® Proluxe™ brand of wood finishes by PPG. It’s a mobile event featuring a tiny log house that showcases the beauty of several pop-ular Sikkens ProLuxe finishes, the company described. The tour will visit more than 150 retail locations across the U.S. and Canada throughout 2016.
Measuring a miniscule 96 square feet, the tiny log house is making its way from coast to coast to offer pro-fessionals and homeowners hands-on demonstrations, product information from Sikkens ProLuxe experts, and the chance to see the brand’s finishes first-hand and up close.
You’ll want to encourage your contractors to go along with you and learn more about the brand, so they’ll come back and buy product from you. At every stop, the show will offer event-only rebates of $10 per gallon (up to 10 gallons), premium giveaways, and a chance to win a Big Green Egg Grill and a one-year supply of premium steaks.E
Professionals will also have the opportunity to start the process of becoming a PerfectPro™ Contractor. This program gives professionals access to product tools
www.paintdealer.com 17
and technical support to help build knowledge of Sikkens ProLuxe products, application expertise and a strong customer base.
“The Sikkens ProLuxe brand of wood finishes is known for providing unmatched looks, unique clarity and richness of color,” said Jennifer Dodson, PPG senior manager, wood care. “The tour is an entertaining and engaging way for us to connect with Sikkens ProLuxe enthusiasts and our loyal customers, demonstrate first-hand the benefits of the products, and build awareness and excitement around the brand and staining projects.”
We also had a chance to catch up with Benjamin Moore and speak with some reps, dealers, and executives. Despite
rumor after rumor, the company is still committed to the independent dealers, plus, we found out, they appreciate our commitment to the independent dealer as well!
The Envelope Please…From here, we want to con-
gratulate a few award winners from our industry. 3M’s new ScotchBlue™ Platinum™ Paint-er’s Tape won the gold in the New Product Launch awards. This product lets you tear and
pull tape much easier than before, allowing for faster application and sharper paint lines. We featured it in last month’s issue, but if you missed that, or someone stole your magazine, it’s also highlighed in this months’ Paint Contractor.
In addition, this was the 50th year that Hardware Retailing recognized some of the most innovative products in the industry with the Retailers’ Choice Awards. The products and their manufacturers were recognized in a ceremony. In our industry, winners included Stir Whip™ from Hyde®, ’Snot Tape by Snot Co., and Re-Grip by Preval™.
A stop by the Preval booth showed a company where exciting things are going on. These folks know how to
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We can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with next, as well as how they’ll bring it to market!
But Who’s Counting?The folks from the National Hardware Show also
provides us with some facts and figures in a roundup of their own. By their count, over 2,800 exhibitors and nearly 30,000 industry professionals from 32 countries converged on the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 71st National Hardware Show.
“This year’s Show was, once again, a successful one,” says Rich Russo, vice president of the National Hardware Show. “We were thrilled to once again see so many industry professionals from all over the world, and from the feedback we’ve received so far, there were many new business relationships forged, new products discovered and best practices shared that will have an immediate impact on businesses across the industry.”
Attendees and exhibitors alike enjoyed their time at the Show and were impressed with the large crowd and positive atmosphere.
Independent retailers found much to do and learn from.
www.paintdealer.com 19
For example, Greg Schlecht, owner of Greg’s True Value in St. Francis, Wisconsin, was looking for new products and new ideas. “It’s always refreshing to see the new items that are on the market,” he says.
More Than Paint?As in past years, the Show was divided into 15 product
categories to help attendees and media navigate through the thousands of products and vendors. It was spread throughout the convention center’s North and Central halls, with the Tailgate, Backyard & BBQ category outside in the Silver Lot.
Each morning, attendees enjoyed coffee and refresh-
ments at the convention center, along with a happy hour in the main lobby each afternoon to wrap up the day.
The Energy Efficient, Made in America, Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Recovery and Eco-Friendly areas continue to be popular, and in addition to exhibitors showcasing these products on the Show floor, product displays from each of these categories were showcased in the Featured Product Gallery, a new area that combined multiple new products displays into one area. Along with those product displays, the Featured Product Gallery also included New Product World, and just a few steps away, Inventors Spotlight and New Product Launch.
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The Show was the place to find products source from companies from all over the world. Show organized noted exhibitors from China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan and Israel, among many others, in attendance.
Something to Talk AboutThere was almost always something going on at the NRHA
Village Stage, and plenty of retailers were in the audience to hear the speakers or watch the awards events.
First on the stage was Donna Embry, chief payments advi-sor with Payment Alliance International. Embry discussed new mobile payment trends and what retailers need to do to meet the expectations of today’s omnichannel buyer.
“It’s important that you create a more engaged environment for consumers. You have to do retailing at the speed of life and
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one way is by making it easier for consumers to pay,” Embry says. “The experience is the new value driver we need to keep in mind. It’s important to keep them engaged and keep them coming back.”
Next up was keynote speaker Charles Fishman, who talked about the history of Walmart, how the company is changing and how those changes can affect Walmart’s competitors.
“Sam Walton had employees visit competitors’ stores each week and report what they saw. They could only report positive things because he didn’t want to know what they were doing poorly,” Fishman says. “He wanted to know what they were doing smartly. He certainly wasn’t above ideas and strategies that competitors were employing, which is the most important idea you can steal from Sam Walton. The way to be an excellent retailer is to visit your competitors. Visit Lowe’s and Home Depot and think how they would sell what you sell.”
Jim Robisch, senior partner with The Farnsworth Group, talked about how customers’ expectations have changed and what retailers can do to ensure they are meeting those new expectations. Even with a stable market, the things customers want continue to change, and Robisch reminded retailers to be aware of how they can continue to meet customers’ needs. (If we can brag, some of The Farnsworth Group’s insights were featured in a previous issue of The Paint Dealer.)
Pat Murphy, vice president at Mobinar, talked about the importance of mobile-friendly retail experiences and how retailers must embrace technology to continue to connect with millennials. “You have to find platforms to reach mobile audiences on their level. You have to go where they are,”
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Murphy says. Michael Switzer, partner in Goldberg Segalla LLP,
a law firm that works with Member Insurance Agency, spoke about cyber security. He spoke about data breach and cyber liability, coverage for data breach liability and how retailers can protect their businesses from closing if they have customer data compromised.
Many other speakers continued throughout the show.
Cruise to the TopNRHA presented The Industry’s Top Guns award,
which recognized the accomplishments of four of the home improvement industry’s most innovative inde-pendent retailers. This year’s honorees are Eli Bliffert of Bliffert Lumber & Hardware, Tim Fansler of Family
Farm & Home, Jack Foxworth of Foxworth-Galbraith and Jeremy Melnick of Gordon’s Ace Hardware.
The four retailers shared stories about the business challenges and successes they have weathered, and what they have done to grow their operations.
Adding new store locations, and branching out into suburban markets rather than sticking only with urban stores, have been key to the success of Gordon’s Ace Hardware. “In the end, it’s been about diversification and diversifying risk,” Melnick says. “It’s part of survival. When you’re a single-store operation, you have all your eggs in one basket.”
Growth for Bliffert Lumber involved cleaning house in the retail space as well as in back office processes, Bliffert says. “We’re really old, so every store I went to,
there would be stuff from the ’50s,” he said.
Lancaster Buying ShowOnce again, paint sundry source
Lancaster co-located its show with the National Hardware Show. The Lancaster Buying Show was held at the Westgate Resort Hotel & Casino and included more than 100 brands. It’s a much smaller show, of course, and a different environment, but still a chance to talk to current manufacturers and get to know new ones. Plus, you get an opportunity to speak with that unique species of humankind, the manufacturer’s rep. Several manufactures split their time between NHS and Lancaster, so if you’d like to chat them up in a quieter and more paint-focused environment, here’s the spot.
The Westgate might have cleaned up its mens room, because what hap-pens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay there to that extent.
We at The Paint Dealer are glad to have had the opportunity to meet with many of our longtime friends and associates, as well as making some new ones. We wish everyone continued success. As one retailer pointed out, where else can you visit so many people from the industry at one time? For that alone, this trip is a bargain!
The 2017 National Hardware Show will take place Tuesday, May 9 through Thursday, May 11, once again at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Whether you go big or go small, it’s not too early to look into the trip. Keep it personal. TPD
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W ater’s comin’ in, let’s run everything upstairs! The Iowa flood of 2008 doesn’t stay in our
consciousness as much as Hurricane Katrina’s visit to Biloxi and New Orleans in 2005, but take a walk through downtown Cedar Rapids and you’ll find many recovered buildings with a sign showing the high water mark. Some of those high water marks are pretty high.
Brian Klinger, a member of the 4th generation at family-owned Klinger Paint Company, said that while
everyone knew the water was going to rise, it was a quick fill. The Cedar River runs
right through town, not far at all from the Klinger building. “In a day it went from dry to four feet,” he recalled. “We moved a lot of products and tinting machines upstairs.” Fortunately, they warehouse paint on the second floor, and it’s rein-forced to hold a lot of poundage.
While the flood was ugly, the build-ing was strong, and it didn’t sustain any structural damage. “After about three or four days we operated out of our back loading dock, and within six months it was back to what it is now,” said Klinger. “But downtown was a disaster. It took years to rebuild and you can still see the effects.”
Turned out there was a sliver lining to this murky river water. Klinger Paint’s been in downtown Cedar Rapids since 1900, and over its 116 years it’s seen a lot of history, sticking out its location while the area went into decline. After a flood, you’ve either got to start over or walk away, and when Cedar Rapids chose to start over, Klinger was in the right place.
A flood, of course, provides a lot of business to any nearby building materials store, but along with that, Brian noted, it jump-started a revitalization of the area. “It’s kind of been a good thing,” he said. “You’re forced to start over. Before, no one came downtown, now there is a bunch to do. There is everything to restaurants to
breweries and live music, and all this has lead to ongoing building. It was a huge punch to paint, but it just built up and people keep building.” New condos are going up —even a grocery store, which is always a good indicator of an area’s residential health. The more the city grows, the more others are encouraged to get on board, and Iowa’s second largest city is seeing new life.
Store Operations Manager Chris Puckett sat across the table from Brian and agreed. “The flood ended up being a positive for this town,” he observed.
BY editorJERRY RABUSHKA
Klinger Paint runs strong in Cedar Rapids.
A Young 116
www.paintdealer.com 25
“Everything was starting to get old and need work, and people were pushed away from downtown. The flood forced things to happen.” Klinger Paint is helping make it happen. “It comes in handy to be two blocks away from a project,” he said.
Brian expects things to get better from here, and he’s got plenty of time to do it. He’s a young fellow compared to many paint dealers you’ll run into, and he’s excited about the future. He’s just as excited about the past. Something about continuing the company started by his great grand-father gives him a pride of ownership in keeping alive a long and successful 116-year tradition. “This legacy is something I wear proudly. We built this up from a little paint store to what we are now. Fourth generation family owned isn’t around very often,” he noted. “I have a passion for this and I’m going to keep it going as long as I can, because I’m here to fight for it.”
Make Your OwnThere are two distinct facets to Klinger Paint; along
with the retail store is a manufacturing plant that grinds out its own brand of residential paint for the locals but mainly batches up an industrial line that’s distributed nationally, and occasionally on a global scale. The com-pany ramped up its industrial output in the 1970s, but it’s been making paint since founder Wesley Klinger started
grinding in 1930. Back in the day, transportation being what it was, and
Cedar Rapids being where it was, it was perhaps easier to make their own product instead of waiting for it to show up. “My great grandpa started making it up in the attic, and you can assume he was making some solvent type product,” said Brian, who serves as operations manager for the manufacturing facility. “That building burned down—only a skeleton was left—and we moved it to the current location.”
That was 1940. The city wouldn’t allow them to manu-facture paint downtown after that, so the two parts of the company split up. Now the plant is in a separate building about ten minutes from the retail store. Not long ago,
Brian Klinger (left) and Chris Puckett talk things over in the company warehouse.
26 TPD › 5.16
Klinger recalls, Cedar Rapids was more industrial than it is now, so there were nearby clients who benefitted from those coatings. The company found a niche supplying paint to the LP gas industry—providing custom coatings and aerosols for their equipment—and that led to the national and global distribution. “It just grew from there,” said Klinger. “We go to a few trade shows a year and it just does its own thing.”
While Klinger Paint sells nationwide, it’s not the kind of thing you’ll be putting in your own store; they keep their retail product local and the industrial version is usually in a company warehouse or shed. But Brian knows where it is, and he’s all smiles when he travels and passes by a facility that buys his paint. Now, they’re using some of the industrial resins in the residential paint to make it better than ever.
Not Gone For LongKlinger grew up in this company, and
after a short go at another career after college he came back to the family fold. “I had a general interest in paint,” he said. Once he got started, he got the bug and never looked back.
Chris Puckett is a friend of his going back to high school; prior to joining Klinger, Puckett put in some years at a Sherwin-Williams store. When some family members left Klinger, Brian asked Chris to fill the gap, so Puckett runs the retail store while Klinger manages the plant.
“I grew up with a family owned company,” said Puck-ett. “I started working for Sherwin-Williams when the family sold their business.” It got him turned on to paint, and when Brian offered him the position he jumped for the chance to do both paint and work for an independent. “It’s more what I’m used to,” he said. “It’s very similar to what I grew up with, and there are no big corporate politics. Everyone finds something they like—and I like a family owned company.”
Custom CustomersWhen you make your own paint in smaller batches,
you can customize it for your customers, and the same with service—when you work with one customer at a time and have a personal stake in that customer’s
satisfaction, you can make sure that everyone is happy when they walk out the door.
A door being a two way device, if an unhappy customer walks out the door, they probably won’t walk back in, and so the Klinger Paint staff makes sure that everyone who leaves has a smile on their face. Our visit on a Saturday morning showed that service in action; there were a lot of customers and a very busy stuff.
For many customers, a trip to Klinger is out of the way. There might be the Lowe’s or the Home Depot closer to home, so if someone is going to drive the extra minutes to visit an independent, there needs to be a good reason for it. “We’re small and if you make people mad by not providing good customer service, you’re done,” said Brian. “We have machines that can tint so we can make a color, but it’s 90% customer service. The rest of it will take care of itself. If you make someone mad and they don’t come back, in our size town word’s going to spread and people will go somewhere else.” While there’s no one there who started work in 1900, there are staff members
with three or four decades under their belts. Klinger feels he and Chris are on the same page as well, with mutual trust and the same goals as to where to take the company in the future.
Chris definitely takes the word service to heart. “We genuinely care a about each person’s project,” he said. “We’ll go the extra miles and make sure whatever they are working on comes out correct.” He’s in charge of training the staff, and from his perspective, communication is just as important as knowing the product. “If they can’t communicate with a customer it’s not going to work out no matter how much paint knowledge they have,” he said.
Box TourBrian likes to check out the big box competition, some-
times to see how they sell product and sometimes just for amusement. “I look at the paint section at Walmart and I’m intrigued by it,” he said. “I just want to sit and watch. This guy there has no idea what to recommend and what’s going on! Those places won’t have as much
Old product—does it still work?
www.paintdealer.com 27
knowledge as we have. I don’t think they do custom matching—we do! I’ve matched the blue from the sky on the Iowa license plate before.”
Decorating help is one of this company’s strong points—you can buy other decorating products at the store as well, so people can come in for consultation and advice, or for a fee, a decorator will visit their home. Most folks can paint a wall, but other projects demand a little extra instruction. “Decks are always a struggle for everyone,” said Puckett. “We do a lot with decks and talking people through it. We also help with general maintenance—peeling paint or any other kind of prob-lem. Most people can figure out what to do if they want to change the color of their room. If there is anything weird going on, we jump in and guide them.”
Color wise, at least on the exte-rior, Puckett and Klinger paint Cedar Rapids as relatively conservative. You might find a yellow or purple house here and there, but on the whole new housing goes with the trends, and older housing goes neutral. “I think of our town as half conservative and half liberal as far as things like that go,” said Klinger. “However, there are some cool areas that have color.”
Complete to CompeteAlong with the home brand,
Klinger’s sells Pratt and Lambert and added Benjamin Moore a few years back. This allows them to concentrate on industrial production at the factory and sell some well-known brands at retail. Brian sees the additions of Ben-
jamin Moore and Chris Puckett as the store’s two biggest moves for success. “Everyone knows the Benny Moore name,” he said. “Adding the brand was a big undertak-ing, but it gave us a broader product line. Chris brought some of his colleagues from Sherwin-Williams and that increased our relationship with customers.”
One of Chris’s challenges for now is to get those customers to understand that a smaller retailer can be price competitive with the big box. “People don’t know that,” he said. “The challenge is getting people in here and have them realize we can easily be competitive price-wise. Plus, we have better paint and someone who knows something.”
Here’s to another 116—and on from there!klingerpaint.com TPD
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MS3 Combinational Mixer• Quality material for high accuracy and reliability.• A flexible, reliable, and durable metal rotary plate for heavy loading.• The first in the industry to adopt a ceramic valve core for durability.• The gauge is made of refined copper to ensure accuracy.• POM plastic (polyformaldehyde) is used to ensure the dissolution-proof performance.
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M3 Manual Dispenser• Single piston dual pump system.• With a combination of large and small pumps for high efficiency and accuracy, the two pumps work
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• Quality material for high accuracy and reliability.
• A flexible, reliable, and durable metal rotary plate for heavy loading.• The first in the industry to adopt a ceramic valve core for durability.• The gauge is made of
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S4 Automatic Clamping Vibrational Paint Mixer• Mixes any size can at full speed.• Smart enough to sense the capacity of the can and even smarter, to apply the appropriate clamping pressure.• Smooth and quiet
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Celebrity Endorsement!Richard Scott, owner of Don Smith
Paint in Springfield, IL, was featured as a happy customer in a Santint ad last year, and we always like to interview a celebrity. He’s on his third year of using the Santint S4, and so far he’s got no complaints. It’s become the go-to shaker for all his staff. “We have ‘brand x’ in the store right next to it, and nine times out of ten everyone goes to the Santint,” he said. It’s quicker, he added, plus after you learn how to use it, it’s easier to load and unload both a one- and a five-gallon pail. It’s quiet enough that he can keep it on the sales floor vs in the back room.
“We’re not a huge store but we do our share of shaking here,” said Scott. “We’ve had no problems whatsoever. It’s computerized, so I can set it on differ-ent times. One minute, three, six, nine, whatever I need.”
So far, he’s only had to make one call to the manufacturer. “I had a belt that needed to be adjusted. They talked me through it and that’s it.”
Shakers are durable, of course, so three years is nothing from a product type that can faithfully serve for 40 or 50. “We’ll see how long this one lasts,” he said. “Three years is still in its infancy compared to some we have around here.”
While the competitive price was what initially intrigued him, he’s very happy with the results. After all, it’s not worth saving money now if it costs more in the future. “It’s been outstanding,” he said. “I highly recommend it.”
Scott has a long tenure in the paint business. He had initially partnered with Dexter Smith, Don Smith’s son. They co-owned stores in Bloomington and Springfield, then decided that each one would take a store to himself. Maybe in another 25 years we’ll see if Richard’s still there, shaking with his Santint S4. TPD
“We’re not a huge store but we do our share of shaking here.
We’ve had no problems whatsoever.”
contributing writer
MARK LIPTON
I wonder what it must be like to be a thought in my teenage daughter’s brain. I mean, if I were a thought in her brain, I would definitely be worried about my survival rate. How would I handle the frenetic pace? I’d guess that the constant change of direction would be rough on this thought’s knees! But I’m a strong thought:
I think I could handle the pace and con-stant change of direction. No, if I were a thought in my teenage daughter’s brain I think it would be the loneliness that would be my final downfall!
Loneliness is something that many independent paint dealers I know com-plain about. It’s not loneliness for the company of people though; it’s loneliness of thoughts at decision-making times that we often feel the most stressed about. Decisions made with no one to help us and often without the proper data.
For most independent paint retailers, when it comes to decision-making, we generally work alone and get little data beyond our own four walls. Our organizations are often smaller and my two stores are no exception. Any time I want to view my entire executive team all at once, all I need to do is look in the mirror! That setup is helpful in some respects. It keeps us nimble for sure, which is a hallmark of small business in the United States. Being light on management keeps the payroll low and that hopefully shows on the bottom line—and that’s good for the man in the mirror.
The downside, though, of keeping it lonely at the top, is that you have no one to help you with decision-making, both large and small. That’s a problem for small business and it needs a solution if smaller independent paint retail-ers are going to continue to prosper.
Most good decisions in this era we live in are data driven. Bigger organizations know so much about customer buying patterns and habits, competitor pricing and policies and even their own businesses that they are able to make better and better informed decisions.
As independent retailers, we suffer a disadvantage without this support and data. Often we are forced to make decisions in the dark. With small choices like a new line of brushes or spackling it’s not a big deal: so you win or lose a few bucks! But how about if you’re contemplat-ing a new paint line, a new store, expanding your outside
sales presence, adding another driver and truck? These are expensive decisions that if made alone in your vacuum without data can cost you dearly, or worse they can be your final and fateful decision.
For me personally, I don’t have it quite as bad as most dealers. As an AllPro member I have access to the other AllPro members as well as survey data that they collect on us on a yearly basis. It’s not all I would want but it’s much better than no data at all. But that data is only distributed to the members so most independent retailers never get to see it. Also, there are thousands of independent paint and decorating retailers in the US and the survey only collects data from inside the group (and only from those who bother to reply to the surveys, which take time) so in truth, it’s too small a sample to be terribly valuable. The industry can and should do better.
How many trucks do you need to handle your delivery business? Don’t you think UPS can answer that? YES….because they have data! Is your store’s layout optimizing sales per square footage? Data would tell you that, and for sure Home Depot knows! There are countless other crucial areas of our businesses—data points that could
be measured—and independent retailers are desperate for that data so we can run our stores more efficiently.
What types of data we need is not that hard a ques-tion to answer. Give me a committee of retailers and a few days and we’d make a comprehensive list. But who can collect this data? We are generally small and disconnected from each other. Dealer cooperatives like AllPro are a good start, but they’re too small; we need regional and nationwide data to support the types of decisions that will make us successful! The PDRA comes to mind, as do the manufacturers we buy from. Can they cooperate? Do they have the vision? They certainly have the data, they just don’t collect it! Who will or can bring our disparate data points together and collaborate on a solution that benefits us all?
Hopefully someone will have that thought, and it won’t be a lonely one!
Mark Lipton is the 4th generation owner of Tremont Paint in New York City as well as a consul-tant to the coatings industry. [email protected] TPD
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“Most good decisions in this era we live in are data driven.”
Lonely Thoughts, Lonely Thinking
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