Sherwin-Williams is an American paints and coatings company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is primarily engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and sale of paints, coatings, floor coverings, and related products with operations in over 120 countries.[2] As of 2024, it is the largest coatings company in the world by revenue.[3]
History
Sherwin-Williams dates from 1866, when Cleveland bookkeeper Henry Sherwin invested in Truman Dunham & Co., a paint distributorship.[4] After the partnership dissolved in 1870, he formed Sherwin, Williams, & Co. with Edward Williams and A.T. Osborn.[4][5] For its first factory, in 1873 the company acquired a cooperage in Cleveland from Standard Oil.[4]
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.[4] The company grew through acquisitions and expansions in the late 19th and early 20th century.[4] In the early 1920s, the company became the largest coatings manufacturer in the U.S.[4]
Sherwin-Williams experienced a downturn in the 1970s, and Gulf and Western Industries unsuccessfully attempted to take over.[4][6] 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.[4][6] In 1995, it employed 18,000 people, including 3,200 in Ohio.[4] By 2002, the company operated more than 2,500 stores.[4]
In November 2024, the company was added to the Dow Jones Industrial Average.[7]
Global headquarters
In 1930, Sherwin-Williams moved its headquarters to Cleveland's Midland Building, where it would stay for over 75 years.[4]
In September 2019, the company announced that it would move its headquarters to a larger site,[8] and in February 2020, confirmed it would remain in the Cleveland area.[9] That month, the company also began work on a new R&D center in Brecksville, OH.[10] The new headquarters's location was clarified in March 2020, with the company committing to constructing a new building complex, also in Downtown Cleveland.[11] 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.
Corporate structure
Founded by Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams[25] in Cleveland in 1866, the company operates through three segments: The Paint Stores Group, Consumer Brands Group, and Performance Coatings Group.[26][2]
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.[26][27]
Controversies
Advertising
A billboard near the center-field fence of Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California 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”.[36] 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.[37][38]
In November 2020, the company fired employee Tony Piloseno, who'd amassed over 1.4 million viewers on his TikTok 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.
Awards and recognition
On June 20, 2011, Computerworld named The Sherwin-Williams Company the #58 Best Place to Work in IT.[60]
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.[61]
As of 2018, Sherwin-Williams was ranked 190th on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue.[62]
See also
- Lead hydrogen arsenate § Safety, depicts an ad for a now-banned Sherwin-Williams pesticide
- Pollution in Door County, Wisconsin § Soils and groundwater
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
References
- The Sherwin-Williams Company 2025 Annual Report (Form 10-K) U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, February 19, 2026^
- Organizational Profile - Sherwin-Williams sustainability.sherwin-williams.com, retrieved 2020-09-21^
- The 2024 Top Companies Report