Kelly-Moore Paints

Kelly-Moore Paints was founded in 1946 by William Kelly and William Moore, former Glidden employees.[3]

Moore bought out Kelly in 1952, and for the next thirty years he was actively involved in every facet of the business.[5] He played an essential role in the evolution of production methods and the planning and designing of company-owned stores.[5]

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.[5] 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.[5]

In 1984, Kelly-Moore had a revenue of $136 million and a profit of almost $11 million, when Moore announced retirement.[5]

Joseph P. Cristiano took over as CEO of Kelly-Moore in January 1985, six months after William Moore retired.[5] During those months, he spent shadowing sales representatives to learn the ropes.[5]

In 1994, Kelly-Moore Paints expanded its presence in Alaska and Washington by acquiring Preservative Paint Co. of Seattle.[5] 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.[5]

In 1995, Kelly-Moore acquired K-M Universal, expanding its presence in the Southwest by adding a factory in Tempe, Arizona, and a number of retail outlets in the state of Arizona and the state of California.[5] A year later, Kelly-Moore expanded its new subsidiary by absorbing another acquisition, the paint division of Island Equipment Co., situated in Guam.[5]

In 1998, Moore and his wife set up an ESOP, which provided both a retirement and stock ownership plan for eligible employees.[5]

In 1999, Kelly-Moore partnered with M.A. Bruder & Sons, a Pennsylvania-based company with a business model and customer base comparable to its own, in an effort to strengthen both firms' positions in the marketplace.[5] They were both able to serve national accounts since their regions did not overlap; M.A. Bruder handled projects on the East Coast, while Kelly-Moore handled those on the West Coast.[5] As a result of the collaboration, both businesses were included beside each other in the American Institute of Architects' MasterSpec Finishes directory, which is used by some 5,500 architectural and construction firms.[5]

In 2000, Diamond Vogel Paints and later Dunn-Edwards joined their alliance which was known as Paints America.[5] In the same year, Kelly-Moore Paints acquired Ponderosa Paint Manufacturing.[5]

In January 2003, Herb R. Giffins replaced Cristiano as the new president and CEO of Kelly-Moore Paints.[5]

In April 2022, Kelly-Moore Paint Company received the governor's Texas Environmental Excellence Award in Pollution Prevention category.[6]

In September 2022, Kelly Moore Paints was acquired by Flacks Group, a Miami, Florida-based investment firm that holds more than $2 billion of total assets. Flacks Group bought the paint company’s retailing, distributing and manufacturing units.[1] After the acquisition, Charles Gassenheimer, managing partner of the Flacks Group, is the new CEO of Kelly-Moore Paints.[7]