Columbia Paint becomes Sherwin-Williams

After five years of ownership, Sherwin-Williams will officially put its name on the Columbia Paint and Coatings store in Moscow.

Jon Lang, local Sherwin-Williams sales representative, said Sherwin-Williams bought Columbia Paint after a long competition for local business.

"Columbia was a thorn in Sherwin-Williams' side for 30 years," Lang said.

He said the merger happened when Sherwin-Williams realized it couldn't compete with Columbia's local brand loyalty, and it decided to buy the Spokane-based company. In the merger, Sherwin-Williams gained 38 stores previously owned by Columbia Paint.

"Columbia did an excellent job targeting smaller towns, and Sherwin-Williams didn't do as well," said Darren Tintle, manager of the Moscow store. "Columbia was more of a 'ma- and pa-type of store' where they knew your name when you walked through the door, while Sherwin-Williams was this big corporation and was kind of disconnected with its customers."

Lang said the plan was to slowly phase out the Columbia presence in order to ease the pain of locals who are loyal to the brand name.

"It's been a good thing for the Columbia employees who stuck it out, and we've been very happy," Lang said. "Columbia Paint is now a brand name that Sherwin-Williams owns."

Tintle said the store tried its best to keep the Columbia brand.

"We wanted to keep it because there is still a loyal connection to that Columbia brand, and we want to make sure people aren't upset with the big corporation taking over," he said.

Lang said the interior of the building is now completely remodeled to be Sherwin-Williams. He said exterior signs are on order for the street and front of the store, and they should be arriving within the next few weeks.

Lang said Sherwin-Williams was located at the Palouse Mall before the merger. It closed in late April.

"The lease was up, and the mall had a tenant ready that was willing to pay a lot more money, and it made sense for us, since both stores were now Sherwin-Williams, to move one to Pullman," Lang said.

Tintle said business over the past year has been good - sales are up 90 percent.

Both Moscow and Pullman Sherwin-Williams stores are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m weekdays, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays.

The Moscow store is located at 610 W. Pullman Road, and the Pullman store is at 1650 S. Grand Ave.

Erik Fink can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by e-mail to fink7635@vandals.uidaho.edu