ALLPRO Independent July/August 2018

ALLPRO

INDEPENDENT J U LY / AU G U S T 2 018

Spectrum Paint

This 74-store independent sprang from modest roots

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• A NOTE FROM JOE p.2

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ALLPRO NEWS & NOTES

CONEY ISLA ND CO LOR

SUMMER SPOTLIGHT

Awards, architects and anniversaries abound

New Yorker left finance for paint

Say hello to more industry partners

• FA C E B O O K TRAINING • BUSINESS B LO G G I N G

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Buying Opportunities

FROM US TO YOU

By Joe Poliseo Vice President of Merchandising

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LLPRO Corporation is first and foremost a buying group. There are numerous opportunities to enhance your bottom line by focusing your purchasing and taking advantage of all available program elements. Many of our everyday programs have order volume discounts or column pricing with lower costs for larger orders.

The ALLPRO staff and committees work diligently in tandem with our supplier partners to negotiate mutually beneficial promotions to enhance these programs. The ALLPRO Spring Show promotions traditionally provide the very best discounts of the year. Many of them have extended dating terms and Hot Buys as well as across-the-board discounts and even multiple purchasing opportunities.

In recent years we’ve successfully created a series of At-Show Only specials that provide exclusive savings to members who visit supplier exhibits during the shows.

While the Spring Show promotions are the most visible and have the largest impact on your purchasing, there are several other opportunities to focus on smart buying. The fall specials are supported by 90 percent of our suppliers and provide a great opportunity to stock up by making discounted purchases prior to the year winding down. We try to coordinate these specials during the August 15 to September 30 purchasing window, so please be sure to pay close attention to

the promotions posted as the fall season approaches.

We recently updated and added a number of Wild Card promotions.

These are typically for one-time use at the member’s discretion and cannot overlap with any other national or ALLPRO promotion.

They’re great for in-store sales promotions, as well as stocking up for painting contractor breakfasts or pro shows between the spring and fall buying seasons, or as needed throughout the year. Wild Card promotions can be found under the Promotions tab on the ALLPRO website.

Our vendors will occasionally issue a miscellaneous promotion. These may be time sensitive, and we will always try to advise you of any new postings via the biweekly Purchasing Updates.

Check the miscellaneous promotions tab periodically so that you do not miss any valuable information. Some supplier partners offer special buys

ALLPRO Independent

when advertising in this newsletter; be sure to support the vendors who are supporting our publication.

The promotions described above are all for direct purchases from our supplier partners. The ALLPRO Distribution Centers—owned and exclusively for use by ALLPRO members— have quarterly promotions as well as valuable Pool Buys on various products. You will always be notified by email of the Pool Buys and quarterly DC specials, and the DC specials appear on the DC websites as well. If you haven’t been receiving the notification emails, please contact the ALLPRO office to make sure you’re on the email list.

You can utilize all of these promotional buying periods to not only purchase more effectively but also promote products as you choose throughout the year while maintaining a consistent margin. Here’s wishing everyone good buying and good selling!

• Volume 1 • Issue 4

ALLPRO Leadership

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Write us at ALLPRO Corporation

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Ben Moore’s Next-Gen Architects s

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t’s no secret that high-quality paint can enhance great architecture. And as one of the world’s leading paint manufacturers, Benjamin Moore recognizes this fact and is empowering the next generation of designers to pursue careers in architecture.

Through a partnership with the Architects Foundation, the Benjamin Moore & Co. Foundation awarded its Diversity Advancement Scholarship to two students who are pursuing degrees in architecture and interior design. Each $5,000 scholarship is awarded for tuition, books or other supplies needed to pursue a career in architecture or interior design, as well as the opportunity to attend the AIA Conference on Architecture in New York in June.

“We congratulate Caroline Senyszyn of Fort Worth, Texas, and Maly Sears of Adrian, Missouri, on earning the 2018– 2019 Diversity Advancement Scholarships, and look forward to seeing how the next generation of architects shapes the industry,” said Mike Searles, CEO of Benjamin Moore & Co. and chairman of the Benjamin Moore & Co. Foundation. To apply for the scholarship, qualified candidates must submit

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Caroline Senyszyn

Maly Sears

two examples of their creative work, a high school transcript, a personal essay and two letters of recommendation, among other requirements.

Both of this year’s winners have shown dedication to the field and a desire to contribute to their local communities.

Senyszyn, who hails from Fort Worth, Texas, grew up working in her mother’s fashion business. She studied jewelry and metalsmithing in high school, and has earned local, national and international awards for her work, including a first-place design for a Fort Worth public library. She plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Texas, with the goal of becoming involved in commercial real estate developments. Sears, a nature lover and artist whose dream is to revitalize the land and bring people together in their local communities, was born in Vietnam. She plans to earn a master’s degree in landscape architecture from Kansas State University.

Throughout their partnership with the Architects Foundation, Benjamin Moore has donated more than $150,000 to support architects through the Diversity Advancement Scholarship program.

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hile geologists may have predicted the recent eruption of Kilauea on Hawaii’s Big Island, residents and businesses had to work together to problem-solve during the fallout—including one of ALLPRO’s suppliers. SAS Safety, an ALLPRO supplier in Long Beach, California, quickly turned around a big, long-distance order of respirators for a member store in May, after a statewide emergency made shipping difficult.

Their warehouse, located close to the HPM Building Supply Freight Forwarder in Carson, California, had the respirators in stock and was able to prepare the order quickly for shipment back to HPM Building Supply in Hilo, Hawaii. “It was nice to have the inventory in house to fulfill a pressing need for an ALLPRO member,” said CJ Chipparoni, national sales manager of the retail division at SAS.

Barrydowne Paint Scores Big Award

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anpro member Barrydowne Paint of Sudbury, Ontario, was named Entrepreneur of the Year at the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce’s 2018 Bell Business Excellence Awards at a gala on May 15.

“Because of local breakthroughs in mining and technology, Sudbury is known as an innovation powerhouse,” said Barrydowne owner Kelly Scott. “We are proud to be part of a business community where entrepreneurs are encouraged to dream and develop new technologies that are being used across the globe.”

Started in 1981 as an independently owned and operated business, and now in its second generation of family leadership, Barrydowne Paint has three brick-and-mortar locations. The company recently underwent a digital transformation, launching an e-commerce site with digital tools and platforms for fellow paint and design companies.

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New Members Join us in welcoming two new members to the ALLPRO family of independent retailers. The Columbia Paint Company has two Maryland locations, one in Columbia and the other in Clarksville. California retailer West Coast Paint & Design has stores in Sacramento and Stockton.

New Locations Congratulations to the following members for opening new stores.

• Aboff’s picked Babylon, New York for their 34th location.

• Mallory Paint put their 17th store in Everett, Washington.

• All Florida Paint Decorating Centers opened their fourth location in Merritt Island, Florida.

• John Boyle Decorating Centers chose Cromwell, Connecticut for their ninth location.

• Loconsolo Paints opened their fourth store in Brooklyn. [See p. 10 for more about Loconsolo] • Cole’s Hardware opened their 12th retail location in Muncy, Pennsylvania.

• Texas Paint & Wallpaper selected Grapevine, Texas for their fifth location.

• A & E Paints opened their third location in Cape Coral, Florida.

PPG Restores Learning Center

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s part of its Colorful Communities Initiative, PPG Industries recently helped redo the TLC Learning Center, a child care center in Pittsburgh’s North Side area. The Colorful Communities program provides volunteers and paint products to various organizations along with financial contributions “to bring color and vitality to communities where [PPG] operates around the world."

“The project brought together nearly 30 volunteers who spent the day revitalizing four rooms at the early childhood center through painting and carpet installation,” the paint company said. “The project also included a custom mural on one of the main walls that illustrates a vivid outdoor landscape.

Volunteers donated new books to the center, and PPG provided approximately 45 gallons of paint products.”

To complete the job, PPG partnered with Reading is FUNdamental (RIF) Pittsburgh, an independent affiliate of Reading Is Fundamental, Inc., the oldest and largest nonprofit children’s and family literacy organization in the United States.

IPG Picks Up EPA Energy Prize

Sunnyside Up

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our generations ago, Sunnyside Corporation was founded on the North Side of Chicago as H. Lueders & Company, distributing kerosene and oils from horse-drawn wagons. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the company, which remains family owned and operated, and offers customers high-quality products coupled with unparalleled customer service. Its full line of American-made thinners, solvents, paint removers, cleaners and paint additives is available in every state and is formulated to meet or exceed current environmental regulations. Robert Lueders, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, continues to move the company into new markets while introducing new products: In addition to the Sunnyside brand, their products are also marketed under the brand names Pro Solutions, Green Envy, Back to Nature, M-1, 2-Minute Remover, Ready Strip and Challenger.

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he Environmental Protection Agency awarded its 2018 Energy Star award for sustained excellence to ALLPRO supplier IPG. A producer of paper- and film-based pressure-sensitive and water-activated tapes, as well as polyethylene and polyolefin films, IPG is committed to going green: Since 2009, the company has saved more than $5 million on energy management.

Notable 2017 achievements include reducing energy intensity by 1 percent over 2016, integrating three newly acquired plants into the corporate energy-management program, and achieving an energy intensity reduction of 31 percent at their plant in Carbondale, Illinois.

Work Tools and 30 Years of Excellence

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n 1988, Tom Typrowicz Sr. was working as a teacher and part-time painter when he noticed a hole in his tool lineup: mini rollers. The only kind of roller available was the 9-inch version. “I saw an opportunity to create more efficient and higherquality tools that professionals could utilize,” Typrowicz Sr. said.

Enter the Whizz mini roller. Tom was his own first customer, and he used the roller on his own job sites. At the time, the mini roller category was very small: “It wasn’t even really a category,” Typrowicz Sr. said.

To give the product more exposure, he took his rollers to a local paint store and sold them from a three-foot section.

Today, Whizz Professional has more than 1,100 SKUs, can be found in more than 6,000 retail locations in North America and is sold on three continents, with plans to expand to Western Europe and South America.

In 30 years, the company has demonstrated its ability to key into the products that contractors and professional painters need to perform their jobs at the highest level.

And as the paint market has changed, Work Tools has advanced its tools to match, adapting the fabrics of its rollers to advancements in paint and coatings. “We’ve also expanded the program to address a broad base of needs, whether it’s a unique surface, weather conditions or application method,” Typrowicz Sr. said.

In addition to expanding its product line, the company has acquired businesses that work within the Work Tools brand, such as Elder & Jenks, a brush maker that has been in operation since the 1700s.

“As we continue to innovate, we are focused on growing our brand and bringing tools to the job site that work,” said CEO Tom Typrowicz Jr. While the company has plans to grow, the Typrowiczs aren’t inclined to forget where the company started. “Our idea was to always make professional-quality tools, and the independent retailer connects us with those customers,” Typrowicz Jr. said. “If their customers are happy, they’re happy—and we’re happy.”

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MEMBER PROFILE

Spectrum Paint With stores in eight states that reach from the Midwest to the East Coast, the Detter family has built one of the largest and most successful independent paint retail operations in the U.S.

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hen Travis Detter started selling industrial coatings out of a mini-storage facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1986, he wasn’t planning to start a retail empire.

But that’s exactly what happened.

Detter’s Spectrum Paint now consists of 74 stores in eight states (Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina). The company employs 430 people.

Detter’s daughter Gentry Stafford is Spectrum’s vice president of marketing and store development.

She said her dad never had any overarching plan of conquest. The business just kept expanding to meet customers’ needs. “They’d say, ‘Hey, I’ve got jobs in Oklahoma City’ and here and there. So he went where customers needed him to have a store.”

When asked what all the stores have in common, Stafford spoke of a customer service philosophy. “Customer service has always been our focus. I think what sets all independent paint dealers apart is that we’re able to provide the best service. It sets us apart from national companies in particular.”

Spectrum now has distribution centers in three cities: Tulsa; Grandview, Missouri; and Knightdale, North Carolina.

Stafford said these centers give Spectrum freedoms that most independent retailers can’t enjoy. “If you just have a few stores, maybe you can’t buy a truckload at a time.”

Because of its size, Spectrum has been able to hire firstrate managers and salespeople. The company has numerous employees who have worked there for decades, so anyone in the management chain can depend on a lot of resources when faced with a tough problem. “Our employees are the lifeblood of the company,” Stafford said. “If any region wasn’t able to be

successful, then Spectrum wouldn’t be as successful. We have been blessed by good employees all over.”

Stafford boasts that ALLPRO has been a major part of Spectrum’s success. “We’ve been a member of ALLPRO since 1994. That was the year that (my grandfather) John came on full-time. Travis and John have always been big believers in ALLPRO and the benefits of being involved.”

Stafford was a baby when her dad started Spectrum, so the business has always been a big part of her life. “I have always been around it, and I have always really loved it and I have always helped in different ways.”

Nevertheless, after Stafford earned a degree in advertising, her father suggested that she work elsewhere for a while. She was really interested in sports marketing, so her father encouraged her to try it. “I did do an internship with Fenway Sports Group right out of college,” she said, “but after that, I decided I really

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Customer service has always been our focus. I think what sets all independent paint dealers apart is that we’re able to provide the best service.

wanted to come back and work for the company.”

Stafford and her dad aren’t the only family members involved in Spectrum. Her brother-in-law is a sales manager, and four cousins work for the company. Her younger sister is a registered nurse and recently started working on Spectrum’s safety and wellness program. Her grandfather John still purchases “all of our equipment and vehicles.”

Working with family can be tricky, but Stafford said the Detters have figured it out. “My dad and grandfather kind of set the precedent for everyone. They’ve always been good at separating work and family. Family is important to all of us.

They always tell us at company meetings, ‘God comes first.

Then family. Then Spectrum.’ They could be disagreeing with each other one minute, and then we’ll all meet for dinner and it’s all good.”

Spectrum focused on inventory reduction to endure the

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recession that caused so much pain to so many independent paint retailers. But they kept their customer service standards high. Stafford added that her father actually started the business during tough economic times. “He didn’t know differently. Even in tough times, he always felt there was business to be won and ways to compete. Because Oklahoma is an oil-dependent state, the economy is always up and down. He has always had to diversify and find ways to sell during those down times.”

During the recession, Travis Detter felt it was important not to reduce his sales force. And, as previously mentioned, he does not have a goal for the number of stores opened or the number of states entered. He just sees opportunities and takes them. “Obviously, whatever markets we enter, we want to compete,” Stafford said. “We want to compete with the biggest players in those markets.”

The Spectrum Difference

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pectrum Paint has a customer service manifesto called The Spectrum Difference. It consists of these five points.

Freedom. We have the freedom to bring the best product to our customer, regardless of who makes it.

Stability. Our consistent growth over the past three decades is a testament to our commitment to being a leading supplier of architectural, commercial and industrial coatings.

Brand diversity. We carry Benjamin Moore Paints and PPG Pittsburgh Paints in addition to Spec-Pro and Spec-

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One (our private-label contractor and premium paint lines).

We also distribute lacquers, stains and specialty coatings from other manufacturers in order to provide our customers the broadest and most complete offering of paint and related products.

Problem solving. We know that no two businesses are alike. Our independence allows us to create custom solutions and give quick response times while providing best-in-class customer service.

Flexibility. We don’t implement firm policies on deliveries, like time and minimum order restrictions. We strive to meet every customer’s demands.

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MEMBER PROFILE

Loconsolo Paint This Coney Island–based institution was founded in 1953 by paint contractors who count the World Trade Center among their biggest projects.

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ven though he was born into the paint industry, Jon Chiaro never envisioned himself managing a paint store. “I went to school for finance and international business, and I didn’t like the people I went to class with, or even the industry,” he recalled. So he worked for the family business part-time while he was in college, stacking paint cans in the warehouse, just as his cousin Paul did the year before he graduated. “The idea was that we would build the business: We were one store, with one truck and six employees. That was in 2002.”

Fast-forward 16 years, and Jon and his cousin Paul have steadily expanded Loconsolo Paint from one location to four, with 30 employees across all of their stores. While the Coney Island location remains their business headquarters and is the most well known, the Williamsburg location opened at the end of June. Their clientele includes a mix of large and small painting contractors, government agencies, hospitals, schools and local facilities of all types. The pair hopes to continue to expand their business the same way they have for the past 16 years: through a mix of reliability and flexibility.

Their road to success wasn’t paved overnight: It involved a dedication to improving outside sales and seeking out a diverse customer base, which was one of Chiaro’s first tasks when he started working at the store. Building local awareness meant everything from making cold calls and approaching people who were painting

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on the street, to setting up meetings with purchasing departments and owners of local paint shops. After that, word of mouth helped the store gain a reputation as a good source for specialty products, with a dedicated, client-focused staff. “The fact that we’re a smaller company gives us an advantage,” Chiaro said. “Some customers are price-sensitive and others are service-sensitive, so we really try to identify those sources of pain and alleviate it efficiently and quickly.”

Brooklyn residents also appreciate the store’s connection to the city’s history. Before establishing the Coney Island location of Loconsolo Paint, Chiaro’s grandfather founded the Belt Painting Company, a contracting firm responsible for the upkeep of several New York landmarks, such as the World Trade Center, the Verrazano-Narrows, Brooklyn and Kosciuszko bridges, and Shea and Yankee stadiums, as well as several Las Vegas casinos. He dissolved the business in the ’90s to devote time to the brickand-mortar store.

Today, the Coney Island location continues to operate as the original store, a warehouse and the administrative office for the Marine Park, Bronx and Williamsburg

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worry about the dedication of the stores. Chiaro’s title is executive vice employees at each store: Some have president; his cousin Paul D’Auria is been with the company for 25 to 30 vice president of operations. The two years, a loyalty that reflects how well work together to bring in and develop the company treats its employees. new accounts, as well as hire all And while experience in the industry employees and manage each store as is helpful, it’s not required: All an individual thriving business. “We managers and employees receive have stores where there is a strong product training in color matching retail environment, where we can and have the enthusiasm and connect with the local community stamina to work long hours without and be the choice for local painting, sacrificing customer service. “Paint maintenance and renovation needs,” is an experience, and that’s what Chiaro said. we’re trying to deliver,” he said. “We And while the threat of big-box hire honest, honorable people we can retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot trust to represent our name—and our exists, the two work hard to make sure brand—the right way.” each of their stores stocks products that A few guys from Belt Painting, the Loconsolo’s original paint contracting business, circa 1958. Jack Keeping employees happy is meet the needs of each customer—and Loconsolo, Jon Chiaro’s great grandfather, is in the important to Chiaro and his cousin, that they hire dedicated employees suit, top left; Chiaro’s grandfather, John Loconsolo, is and so is diversity.

Workers hail customers can trust. “People are in the bottom row, far left. The others were painters who worked for the company. from many countries, including seeking advice and guidance, and we Peru, Argentina, Chile, Mexico, find that we have great employees who Russia, Ukraine, El Salvador, Honduras, China and India. are trained and passionate about what they do,” Chiaro said.

The company also employs women: “My mother runs the “Sometimes that gets lost in other companies.” wallpaper showroom and decorating area,” Chiaro said with While he admits that maintaining a consistent level of a smile. And the company is eager to hire more women: It service will be a challenge as the business grows, he doesn’t

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hired two female salespeople last year.

If a balanced mix of genders and nationalities addresses the shopping needs of a diverse urban population, diversity in language also helps: All managers are bi- or trilingual. “We have clients from all parts of the earth, speaking a multitude of languages, and our staff is able to accommodate that,” Chiaro said. All of these factors have earned the company a client loyalty that extends beyond Brooklyn: Some contracts have brought them into Connecticut and New Jersey; they’ve also shipped products to Florida. The stores carry full lines of Benjamin Moore paint, as well as venetian plasters and waxes by Meoded and Modern Masters.

Chiaro admits that owning a paint store is a recession-proof business, but that’s not the reason he chooses to stay in it: “I love what I do, and I love working with families. I love that at the end of the day when we make a dollar, it goes to a family. I also love working with my cousin—we wouldn’t be successful without this partnership.” When asked what he’d do if he

could do anything else, he considers real estate or finance but then remembers the advantages of running a small business. “When you’re in a corporate structure, there’s all that red tape to cut through. Here, we just do it. And that’s an advantage.”

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SPOTLIGHT

Liberty Paint & Wallpaper

Columbia Paint Company

Flushing, New York CEO: Richard Park colorall.benmoorepaints.com

Columbia, Maryland President: Steve Butler columbiapaintco.com

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Colorall Paints

BYK Gardner

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n independently owned store serving the Flushing community, Liberty Paint & Wallpaper has established itself as a favorite among local residents, thanks to its well-stocked selection of Benjamin Moore paints. The highly trained staff is eager to answer questions pertaining to home-decorating needs, which makes shopping for paint and decorating supplies painless, affordable and easy. Current favorites include Aura and Regal Select interior paints.

Lee, New Jersey CEO: Richard Park colorall.benmoorepaints.com he Fort Lee location of Colorall Paints offers personalized service in a small, convenient location.

CEO Richard Park often travels between the Flushing store and this location to ensure both businesses are running smoothly. In addition to offering a wide selection of Benjamin Moore products, the shop also specializes in custom shades and blinds, a plus for local residents looking to do all of their homeimprovement shopping in one place.

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ounded in 2013 with the goal of providing hard-to-find niche and specialty products, the Columbia Paint Company continues to expand: Its president, Steve Butler, is in the midst of moving the Columbia, Maryland, location to a larger space after opening a second location in Clarksville earlier this year.

Butler said, “We try to do all we can to make sure our customers end up at a point where they can say, ‘They are the kind of people we like to do business with.’”

Columbia, Maryland President: Stephan Glander byk.com ounded in 1924 as the additives and instruments division of parent company Altana, BYK Gardner is responsible for managing quality control of paint in the paint, plastics and automotive industries. “We’re focused on how additives make paint better,” said Sherry Brown, marketing manager for BYK Gardner USA. By measuring pigments through physical testing, BYK aims to guarantee quality products in a competitive market.

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I N D U S T R Y NE W S

Blogging for Businesses

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f you haven’t started a blog for your business, what are you waiting for?

Here are a few tips to get you started:

Aim for quality posts, not quantity. One report indicates that titles with six to 13 words get the most traffic, and posts of 2,000 words or more perform better.

Write four posts each week.

Studies indicate this leads to 3.5 times more visitors than companies that post fewer than four times a month.

Add photos and videos.

Research popular search terms.

People retain 65 percent of written information when it’s paired with images or video clips, compared with 10 percent for text-only posts.

Look up popular keywords on Google that are related to your business and then use them in your posts. They’ll rank higher in search engines.

68.7

%

Titles and length matter.

The percentage of small business owners who expect higher earnings for the fourth consecutive quarter.

- Source: MetLife & U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Facebook’s Training Plan

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all it the 2020 experience: Facebook plans to train more than 1 million small business owners on digital skills in the next two years, with the goal of reducing the amount of jobs unfilled due to applicants with outdated training. A study by management consulting company Korn Ferry found that a lack of coding skills in the workplace could leave 85.2 million jobs unfilled by 2030. To counter this, Facebook launched its Community Boost training program last November.

Attendees can receive in-person training at one of 50 workshops in U.S. cities by the end of the year. Continued education will be offered through partnerships with local organizations.

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The Independent Retailer’s

Challenge

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t’s no secret that the internet is stealing business from brick-and-mortar stores.

According to the Kiplinger Letter, a weekly business and economic newsletter, 15 percent of retail sales occur online, and Amazon nets 44 percent of those. What’s more, the number of Amazon Prime memberships is staggering: Seventyfive percent of households with an annual income of more than $100,000 have one.

Independent retailers need to dig in their heels if they want to wrestle sales away from the online giant, and Kiplinger says there are many ways they can start, such as adding detailed product descriptions on their websites, optimizing their sites for mobile traffic and making sure to engage with customers on social media.

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INDEPENDENT but you’re not alone.

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