The Briefing Room
State Chapters => California => Topic started by: rangerrebew on January 14, 2024, 06:39:33 pm
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Bay Area paint giant Kelly-Moore shuts down, closes every store
By Katie Dowd
Jan 14, 2024
After 78 years in business, Bay Area paint giant Kelly-Moore announced it is shutting down and closing every store nationwide. In a statement, the company said Chapter 11 bankruptcy was not a viable option, and that after fulfilling existing orders, Kelly-Moore will cease operations permanently.
"I'm extremely disappointed and saddened by this outcome, as the entire Kelly-Moore team made incredible efforts to continue innovating and serving the unique needs of professional painting contractors,” CEO Charles Gassenheimer wrote in a statement. “... Sadly, no matter how great the Kelly-Moore team, products and reputation for service, we simply couldn’t overcome the massive legal and financial burdens that have been weighing on the Company for many years."
Kelly-Moore’s current ownership group, Pleuger Chemicals, bought the brand in 2022. But with the acquisition came heavy legal debts incurred over three decades of court battles over asbestos use in its cement and texture products. Although asbestos was phased out by 1981, the company claims, “ever-continuing case filings” have cost Kelly-Moore $600 million in settlements.
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/bay-area-paint-giant-kelly-moore-shuts-down-18607798.php
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Dang... that went under the radar for me. I can remember when they were huge in the paint business.
Reading up it appears that they have been under recievership since '22. And in that wild world of speculative business, if you don't turn it around, you get sold off like parts off a junker at the junk yard.
RIP Kelly-Moore