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Sherwin-Williams is an American
paint Paint is a material or mixture that, when applied to a solid material and allowed to dry, adds a film-like layer. As art, this is used to create an image or images known as a painting. Paint can be made in many colors and types. Most paints are ...
s and
coating A coating is a covering that is applied to the surface of an object, or substrate. The purpose of applying the coating may be decorative, functional, or both. Coatings may be applied as liquids, gases or solids e.g. powder coatings. Paints ...
s company based in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...
. It is primarily engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floorcoverings, and related products with operations in over 120 countries. As of 2024, it is the largest coatings company in the world by revenue.


History

Sherwin-Williams dates from 1866, when Cleveland bookkeeper Henry Sherwin invested in Truman Dunham & Co., a paint distributorship. After the partnership dissolved in 1870, he formed Sherwin, Williams, & Co. with Edward Williams and A.T. Osborn. For its first factory, in 1873 the company acquired a cooperage in Cleveland from
Standard Oil Standard Oil Company was a Trust (business), corporate trust in the petroleum industry that existed from 1882 to 1911. The origins of the trust lay in the operations of the Standard Oil of Ohio, Standard Oil Company (Ohio), which had been founde ...
. Sherwin-Williams was incorporated in Ohio on July 16, 1884, two years after Osborn sold his interest in the company while retaining the retail operations. The company grew through acquisitions and expansions in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the early 1920s, the company became the largest coatings manufacturer in the U.S. Sherwin-Williams experienced a downturn in the 1970s, and
Gulf and Western Industries Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. The company originally focused on manufacturing and resource extraction, but it began purchasing a number of entertainment companies beginning in 1966 ...
unsuccessfully attempted to take over. The company recovered by fending off the raid and undergoing a series of acquisitions in the 1980s and 1990s, as well as divesting its non-coatings businesses. On July 5, 2011, Sherwin-Williams acquired Leighs Paints based in Bolton UK, a manufacturer of intumescent paints and high-performance coatings. In 1995, it employed 18,000 people, including 3,200 in Ohio. By 2002, the company operated more than 2,500 stores. In November 2024, the company was added to the
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.


Global headquarters

In 1930, Sherwin-Williams moved its headquarters to Cleveland's Midland Building, where it would stay for over 75 years. In September 2019, the company announced that it would move its headquarters to a larger site, and in February 2020, confirmed it would remain in the Cleveland area. That month, the company also began work on a new R&D center in Brecksville, OH. The new headquarters's location was clarified in March 2020, with the company committing to constructing a new building complex, also in Downtown Cleveland. The downtown HQ was originally projected to open in 2023, but a construction pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the projected opening until 2024. The company is investing $600 million (US) in its new facilities, providing working space for 3,500 employees.


Notable innovations

In 1875, Sherwin-Williams started selling ready-mixed paint. Previously, consumers bought paint ingredients that they themselves would mix together. In the 1940s, Sherwin-Williams introduced Kem-Tone, a water-based fast-drying interior paint. In 1996, the
American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all ...
named the product a National Historic Chemical Landmark. In 2016, the first paint registered as microbicidal with the
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it began operation on De ...
was brought to market by Sherwin-Williams.


Other Acquisitions

In 2004, Sherwin-Williams acquired Paint Sundry Brands for $295 million and Duron Inc. for $253 million. In June 2007, Sherwin-Williams announced that it had completed an acquisition of M.A. Bruder & Sons, a manufacturer and distributor of paints and coatings. On July 6, 2011, Sherwin-Williams acquired Leighs Paints, based in Bolton UK, manufacturers of intumescent and high performance industrial coatings. On June 4, 2012, Sherwin-Williams acquired Geocel Holdings Corp for an undisclosed amount. Sherwin-Williams acquired the Valspar Corporation on March 20, 2016, for $11.3billion. In April 2022, the company announced that it had completed an acquisition of the European industrial coatings business of Sika AG. In June 2022, the company agreed to acquire Gross & Perthun GmbH. This Germany-based distributor primarily manufactures and distributes coatings for the heavy equipment and transportation industries. Sherwin-Williams has created more than 35,000 color names for paint over its history, and as of 2023, it has nearly 200 distinct shades of white classified as either warm or cool.


Corporate structure

Founded by Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams in Cleveland in 1866, the company operates through three segments: The Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.


Paint Stores Group

Paint Stores Group, formerly the Americas Group, was the first section of the company to be established, in 1866. These stores market and sell Sherwin-Williams branded architectural paints and coatings, industrial and marine products, floorcovering, and related equipment and supplies. As of the end of 2019, Paint Stores Group had expanded to 4,758 stores, including more than 135 floorcovering centers.


Consumer Brands Group

The Consumer Brands Group develops, manufactures, and distributes various paints, coatings, and related products, under the brand names of Anthony Angelillo, Bestt Liebco, Cabot, Dupli-Color, Duron, Dutch Boy, Frazee, Geocel, Guangdong Huarun Paints, H&C, HGTV Home, Kool Seal, Krylon, MAB, Martin-Senour, Mautz, Minwax, Pratt & Lambert, Purdy, Ronseal, Thompson's WaterSeal, Uniflex, Valspar, and White Lightning to third party customers in addition to overseeing the operations maintained by the Paint Stores Group. On August 28, 2007, Sherwin Williams purchased Columbia Paint & Coatings. On July 6, 2011, Sherwin-Williams acquired Leighs Paints, based in Bolton UK, manufacturers of intumescent and high performance industrial coatings. In late 2012, Sherwin Williams began the process of purchasing the Comex Group. Comex was the 4th largest paint manufacturer in North America. After Mexican antitrust regulators voted against the deal twice, Sherwin-Williams bought Comex's US and Canadian divisions for $165 million on September 16, 2013. PPG, US-based paint and coating company, acquired Comex's Mexican division for $2.3 billion. In March 2016, it was announced that Valspar would be acquired for $9.3 billion. The merger was finalized 1 June 2017.


Performance Coatings Group

The Performance Coatings Group sells coatings and finishes to industrial, wood furniture manufacturing, marine, packaging, and automotive markets in more than 110 countries. The Group also contains Valspar's automotive refinishes business.


Controversies


Advertising

A billboard near the center-field fence of Angel Stadium in
Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...
featured a giant paint can. In 2014, the owner of the billboard offered to donate $1 million to the Angels Baseball Foundation if a home run ball landed in the can on the fly, though the requirement the ball land on the fly was not noted on the billboard as the billboard simply stated “Angels home run in the can $1,000,000”. On September 19, 2017, a home run ball landed in the can after bouncing. Some commentators were upset that a donation wasn't made "due to a lame technicality", causing a public relations embarrassment. In November 2020, the company fired employee Tony Piloseno, who'd amassed over 1.4 million viewers on his
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
paint mixing channel, ''Tonesterpaints'', for alleged misconduct. The company was criticized for their perceived mishandling of the situation with critics believing the company failed to realize the marketing opportunity they'd just lost. Piloseno received multiple offers of employment from Sherwin-Williams' industry rivals and took up a position with Florida Paints where he will have his own art studio and develop his own custom range of paints. Commentators pointed out the differing reaction the company had after going viral when compared to other companies such as Ocean Spray, who had positively reacted to going viral on the TikTok platform.


Lead paint

In January 2014, the Santa Clara County Superior Court ruled that Sherwin-Williams, NL Industries and ConAgra were jointly and severally liable for $1.15 billion, to be paid into a lead paint abatement fund to be used to remove lead paint from older housing. The judge ruled that the paint companies manufactured, marketed, and sold lead paint without disclosing the health risks to the consumers in spite of "actual and constructive knowledge that it was harmful". In March 2014 Sherwin-Williams was denied a new trial. In July 2019, a $305 million settlement was reached. In 2018, multiple counties in Pennsylvania sued Sherwin-Williams over lead paint matters. Sherwin-Williams attempted to counter-sue, but that attempt was denied in October 2019, and the denial was upheld in July 2020.


Pollution

On April 9, 2018, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and representing attorneys uncovered that Sherwin-Williams tried to "shift the blame to contaminated water in an effort" to avoid having to pay tens of millions of dollars in settlements. Almost 170 children had been affected by the potentially fatal
lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, infertility, numbness and paresthesia, t ...
. In December 2019, Sherwin-Williams was sued by New Jersey for discharging industrial waste from three sites and failing to disclose the pollution to the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staf ...
.


Underpayment

In May 2020, Sherwin-Williams agreed to pay $3.6M to settle a lawsuit brought by workers in California alleging underpayment of wages and failure to provide obligatory meal or rest breaks. In July 2020, Sherwin-Williams was sued in Ohio for breaching the Fair Labor Standards Act by underpaying staff. The case was dismissed in December 2020.


Water-based paint

Starting in 2008, businessman John Tyczki entered into an agreement with Sherwin-Williams on the basis of assurances provided by Sherwin-Williams about its water-based paint products. When the products failed to live up to these assurances, causing ongoing problems for his business, Tyczki sued Sherwin-Williams and was awarded $2.88M.


Carbon footprint

Sherwin-Williams Co reported Total e emissions (Direct + Indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2021 at 621 Kt (-14 /-2.1% y-o-y) and plans to reduce emissions by 30% by 2030 from a 2019 base year.


Awards and recognition

On June 20, 2011, '' Computerworld'' named The Sherwin-Williams Company the #58 Best Place to Work in IT. In 2015, Sherwin-Williams was recognized as the most used brand as well as the winner for brand familiarity and quality rating in the Paints category by ''Builder'' magazine. As of 2018, Sherwin-Williams was ranked 190th on the
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. In 2023, Sherwin-Williams was recognized as supplier of the year by Our Services, LLC of Michigan.


See also

* Lead hydrogen arsenate § Safety, depicts an ad for a now-banned Sherwin-Williams pesticide * Pollution in Door County, Wisconsin § Soils and groundwater


References


Further reading

*
The Sherwin Williams Home Decorator and Color Guide (1939)
Kenneth Franzheim II Rare Books Room, William R. Jenkins Architecture and Art Library, University of Houston Digital Library. *


External links

* {{Authority control 1866 establishments in Ohio American companies established in 1866 Chemical companies established in 1866 Companies based in Cleveland Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average Companies in the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Manufacturing companies based in Cleveland Paint and coatings companies of the United States Retail companies established in 1866