Resene Paints LTD is a New Zealand paint and building materials manufacturer and retailer.

Divisions

Resene Paints LTD & Resene Paints Australia LTD

Resene produces paint for New Zealand & Australian conditions from manufacturing facilities in

Naenae Naenae (, occasionally spelled NaeNae) is a suburb of Lower Hutt. It lies on the eastern edge of the floodplain of the Hutt River, four kilometres from the Lower Hutt Central business district. A small tributary of the Hutt, the Waiwhetu Strea ...

and

Upper Hutt Upper Hutt ( mi, Te Awa Kairangi ki Uta) is a city in the Wellington Region of New Zealand and one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. Geography The Upper Hutt city cent ...

, and sells them through its own retail stores and other retailers in both New Zealand and Australia. It also manufactures paint and paint technology for international markets. Resene's major products have been adapted to keep up with changing tastes. In the 1950s, this was

pastel colours Pastels or pastel colors belong to a pale family of colors, which, when described in the HSV color space, have high value and low saturation. They are named after an artistic medium made from pigment and solid binding agents, similar to cr ...

. In the 1960s, it was bold

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of ...

colours like sharp orange, intense teal, banana yellow,

cyan blue Cyan () is the color between green and blue on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 490 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK color ...

and

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

. In the 1970s, earthy colours like

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

and mustard were popular. During the 1980s, "nurturing" colours like

apricot An apricot (, ) is a fruit, or the tree that bears the fruit, of several species in the genus ''Prunus''. Usually, an apricot is from the species '' P. armeniaca'', but the fruits of the other species in ''Prunus'' sect. ''Armeniaca'' are also ...

, nude pink and pale grey were in vogue. The 1990s were a time of minimalism and neutral colours, like

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...

and nautical blues. In the 2000s, shades of

grey Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed o ...

, botanic green,

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

and

taupe Taupe ( ) is a dark gray-brown color. The word derives from the French noun ''taupe'' meaning "mole". The name originally referred only to the average color of the French mole, but beginning in the 1940s, its usage expanded to encompass a wide ...

were in favour. White and neutral colours were the most popular during the 2010s and 2020s. Decorators were using bright colours, pastels and dark cocooning colours in certain areas, based on personal tastes.

Resene ColorShop

Resene ColorShop is a chain of retail stores selling paint and other home improvement products. Its first store opened in

Wellington CBD Wellington Central is an inner-city suburb of Wellington, and the financial heart of the both the city and the Wellington Region. It comprises the northern part of the central business district, with the majority of Wellington's high-rise build ...

in 1975 and it now has 60 stores around the country including 20 in Auckland. The store is deliberately spelt with the

American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the United States, most widely spoken lan ...

spelling of ''

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

'' to be unique. The chain won the painting and home decorating category of the Reader's Digest customer service awards in 2021, coming ahead of its rival

Guthrie Bowron Guthrie Bowron is a franchise of New Zealand home improvement stores established in 1896. It sells a range of home decorating supplies, including paint, wallpaper, flooring, curtains and blinds. There are 51 Guthrie Bowron stores around New Zeala ...

Habitat by Resene

Resene has its own home improvement magazine, Habitat by Resene, covering homes,

do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

tips, paint advice and related news.

Resene Automotive & Light Industrial

Resene Automotive & Light Industrial is a specialist automotive paints manufacturer, producing products for cars, trucks, buses, planes, boats, diggers and machinery, and specialist waterborne light industrial products for machinery and furniture. The paints are designed for the increased UV exposure, wind and salt spray and changeable weather conditions New Zealand experiences. The company also supplies products like fillers and bog, solvents, sandpaper, primers and topcoats and spray painting equipment. It has a nationwide network of commercial vehicle repair and respray for commercial vehicle fleet operators. The company began as Anglo Santano in 1980, founded by a small group of entrepreneurs that spotted a gap in the market. It grew rapidly and was purchased by Resene in 1995.

Resene Coating Technologies Group

Resene Coating Technologies Group is Resene's

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

arm, which develops new emerging technologies into commercially available products for Resene and other businesses, for local and international markets. One of its innovations, the Resene SmartTouch conductive coating, is used as a basecoat under regular Resene topcoats and can be tapped to turn lights on and off, reducing the need to fumble in the dark for a light switch. Another innovation, Resene Total Colour System tinting technology, allows for an infinite array of colours to be tinted using combinations of existing colourants.

Resene Construction Systems

Resene Construction Systems is Resene's construction supplies arm. It design, manufactures and distributes a range of plaster façade, lightweight concrete systems and coatings for New Zealand and Pacific markets, including Resene's trademark ROCKCOTE and Plaster Systems brands.

Altex Coatings

Altex Coatings is one of the largest manufacturers of industrial and marine protective coatings in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

, supply coating types and systems for most major industries. Its coating products include corrosion protection, fireproofing, flooring and marine coating. The company was established in 1954.

History

Ted Nightingale era

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

builder Ted Nightingale established Resene from his garage in 1946, after being unable to find an akali-resistant paint to protect his concrete buildings. He developed his own cement-based Striplecoat product using an old cement mixer in his garage. He began commercial production in a factory space in Tinakori Road to meet strong demand from local builders. Nightingale began producing the first waterborne paint in

in 1951. He gave it the brand name ''Resene'' in reference to

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on natu ...

, the main ingredient in Nightingale's paints. The product was initially unpopular as people feared it would wash off. The company was formally registered in 1952, initially under the Stipplecote Products after the flagship product. Resene expanded rapidly during the late 1950s and early 1950s and introduced a line of solventborne products. The company was the first in the world to introduce some new colours and technologies, and pioneered the development of coloured paintbases. The company moved manufacturing from

Kaiwharawhara Kaiwharawhara is an urban seaside suburb of Wellington in New Zealand's North Island. It is located north of the centre of the city on the western shore of Wellington Harbour, where the Kaiwharawhara Stream reaches the sea from its headwaters ...

to Seaview, Lower Hutt in 1967. An office was established in Fiji in 1965 to sell Resene Paints to Pacific Island countries. Resene established its own warehouses in 1970, bypassing third-party salespeople and hiring its own salespeople to sell directly to tradespeople around the country.

Tony Nightingale era

Ted Nightingale's son Tony took over the company operations in 1972. Tony Nightingale purchased a wallpaper store in 1975, converting it into the company's first retail store. The company officially changed its name to Resene in 1977, reflecting how its Resene waterborne paints were its staple product. Resene became the first company to introduce a full range of test pots in 1981, and introduced its flagship Total Colour Multi-Finish System in 1985. The company opened an office in Australia in 1990 to sell to Australian and international markets. It moved manufacturing from Seaview, Lower Hutt to its current site in Naenae, Lower Hutt in 1992. A virtual technology software was introduced in 1999, which uses

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...

to allow customers to test how different colours would look in their home or building. The software began to be redeveloped when Flash was phased out between 2017 and 2020.

Nick Nightingale era

Ted Nightingale' son Nick Nightingale was appointed General Manager in 1999, and becoming Managing Director a few years later. Resene reviewed all areas of its business in 2010, following two years of reduced revenues and profit margins during the Global Financial Crisis. The company said it was left in a "tight and tenuous position", being effected by high fixed costs, fluctuations in the exchange rate for the

New Zealand dollar The New Zealand dollar ( mi, tāra o Aotearoa; sign: $, NZ$; code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New ...

and the rising price of raw materials. In 2015, Nick Nightingale said the company was continuing to develop new products, including "new bases, new tints".

References

External links

* {{Retailers in New Zealand Home improvement companies of New Zealand Companies based in Wellington New Zealand companies established in 1946 Retail companies established in 1975