Kelly-Moore Paints is an American

paint Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

manufacturing company founded in 1946 by William Kelly and William Moore. It is based in

San Carlos, California San Carlos (Spanish for "St. Charles") is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. The population is 30,722 per the 2020 census. History Native Americans Prior to the Spanish arrival in 1769, the land of San Carlos was occupi ...

. The company has 157 stores located in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. The company’s manufacturing plant is located in

Hurst, Texas Hurst is a city in the U.S. state of Texas located in the densely populated portion of northeastern Tarrant County and is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. It is considered a Dallas and Fort Worth suburb and is part of the Mid-Ci ...

. In 2022, Kelly-Moore Paints was acquired by investment firm, Flacks Group.

History

1946–1952: Founding the company

Kelly-Moore Paints was founded in 1946 by William Kelly and William Moore, former Glidden employees.

1952–1984: Acquisition by William Moore and expansion of the business

Moore bought out Kelly in 1952, and for the next thirty years he was actively involved in every facet of the business. He played an essential role in the evolution of production methods and the planning and designing of company-owned stores. In 1974, in terms of revenue, retail sales made up almost 25 percent of the total revenue. As a result of market shifts, that percentage would increase to 37 percent within a decade. There was a rise in the number of homeowners who wanted to paint their own homes. Kelly-Moore maintained annual growth of 13 percent over the past decade. In 1984, Kelly-Moore had a revenue of $136 million and a profit of almost $11 million, when Moore announced retirement.

1984–1998: Company under a new management

Joseph P. Cristiano took over as CEO of Kelly-Moore in January 1985, six months after William Moore retired. During those months, he spent shadowing

sales representative Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the Goods and services, goods or services, c ...

s to learn the ropes. In 1994, Kelly-Moore Paints expanded its presence in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

by acquiring Preservative Paint Co. of Seattle. The purchase created a wholly owned subsidiary of Kelly-Moore Paints with two new retail locations in Alaska and fifteen new retail locations in Washington. In 1995, Kelly-Moore acquired K-M Universal, expanding its presence in the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

by adding a

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

Tempe, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Vale of Tempe , image_skyline = Tempeskyline3.jpg , imagesize = 260px , image_caption = Tempe skyline as se ...

, and a number of retail outlets in the state of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and the state of

. A year later, Kelly-Moore expanded its new subsidiary by absorbing another acquisition, the paint division of Island Equipment Co., situated in

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

1998–2022: ESOP

In 1998, Moore and his wife set up an ESOP, which provided both a retirement and stock ownership plan for eligible employees. In 1999, Kelly-Moore partnered with M.A. Bruder & Sons, a

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

-based company with a

business model A business model describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value,''Business Model Generation'', Alexander Osterwalder, Yves Pigneur, Alan Smith, and 470 practitioners from 45 countries, self-published, 2010 in economic, social, ...

and customer base comparable to its own, in an effort to strengthen both firms' positions in the

marketplace A marketplace or market place is a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods. In different parts of the world, a marketplace may be described as a '' souk'' (from the Arabic), ' ...

. They were both able to serve national accounts since their regions did not overlap; M.A. Bruder handled projects on the

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

, while Kelly-Moore handled those on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

. As a result of the collaboration, both businesses were included beside each other in the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...

' MasterSpec Finishes directory, which is used by some 5,500 architectural and construction firms. In 2000, Diamond Vogel Paints and later Dunn-Edwards joined their alliance which was known as Paints America. In the same year, Kelly-Moore Paints acquired Ponderosa Paint Manufacturing. In January 2003, Herb R. Giffins replaced Cristiano as the new president and CEO of Kelly-Moore Paints. In April 2022, Kelly-Moore Paint Company received the governor's Texas Environmental Excellence Award in Pollution Prevention category.

2022–present: Acquisition by Flacks Group

In September 2022, Kelly Moore Paints was acquired by Flacks Group, a Miami, Florida-based

investment firm An investment company is a financial institution principally engaged in holding, managing and investing securities. These companies in the United States are regulated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and must be registered under t ...

that holds more than $2 billion of total assets. Flacks Group bought the paint company’s retailing, distributing and manufacturing units. After the acquisition, Charles Gassenheimer, managing partner of the Flacks Group, is the new CEO of Kelly-Moore Paints.

Management

* William Moore (until 1984) * Joseph P. Cristiano (1985–2003) * Herb R. Giffins * Steve DeVoe

Awards and recognition

* 2022: Governor's Texas Environmental Excellence Award

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Website
Paint and coatings companies of the United States Chemical companies established in 1946 1946 establishments in California Retail companies established in 1946