Sherwin Williams questions!

Deanna8991

I am conducting a market research project while doing my internship at Sherwin Williams, and I am trying to gather information about the paint market. If you guys could answer these few questions, or place in your opinion about anything regarding paint.... please feel free to!


1) Are you a contractor, or do you DIY
2) Place the following in order from which you feel is most important to the least important : Service, Price, Convenience, Quality
3) Where do you shop for paint, and why?
4) Where don't you shop for paint, and why?
5) How do you feel about big box companies, such as Lowes, and their paint products?

Leah Frances

Answers embedded in quote.

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Gymschu

1) Contractor
2) Quality, Price, Service, Convenience
3) SW stores, Lowes, Home Depot.......SW for their quality products.....Lowes, HD for convenient middle of the road products.
4) Ace Hardware stores......just too expensive.
5) Big Box is ok if you know what you want. Some of their paint products are decent, but, not high end.

jarheadoo7

are you in cleveland?

1. contractor
2. price, quality, convenience, service
3. usually a "paint" store..unless the customer only has a box store $$ card.
4. wal mart....do i really need to answer?
5. They are coming up fast in the market.. decent quality (in some products) for a reasonable price (again in some products) add the convenience of picking up paint, cleaning supplies, light bulbs, groceries and you have the "wal mart" mindset of everything in one place saving consumer time and exchanging quality for convenience.

Matthewt1970

1) Contractor
2) The right quality for the right price. Convenience it think comes with quality.
3) BM, SW.
4) Where don't you shop for paint, and why? - Anywhere else.
5) Big box companies may not give you what you think you are getting. They have the pull with manufacturer to alter formulas and parts and keep the same brand labels.

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Deanna8991

I really appreciate this all feedback! How do you guys feel about the customer service at Lowe's? Is it as personal as stores such as Glidden, SW, or BM?

jarheadoo7

it depends on who is behind the counter.. its not like the old days where "john" was always behind the counter 9-5 and "joe" was there 4-8.. with the job market and companies taking advantage of the hiring pool its usually a different group across the board..

in general its ok for having htem mix your paint.. but be careful of questions you might not get the best answers.

Deanna8991

^^ This is true. And I'm actually in SC to answer your earlier question.

What I'm really trying to get to is why do these bug box stores, who lack quality, and sometimes service, still get our business...

jarheadoo7

because they are convenient.. when you have been sitting in 5oclock traffic for 45 minutes and you need to get a can of paint and your kids lunch for tomorrow are you going to want to stop at the grocery store get back in traffic and sit more to get to the paint store? or are you going to wal mart and buying their best 25 dollar can of "pro-cover" and the lunch goodies.... same with us contractors.. I do more then just painting so if im going in for threaded pipe and i need to get back to the job site and get over to the next job the same day imma get me a can of valspar to save 30 minutes, sure the quality isnt as good but the cost looks good to the customer and it seems no one cares about quality when it comes to opening their wallet.

Gymschu

Big Boxes have a nice niche, especially with pricing. I have found that Valspar mid-grade paint is equal to SW's A-100 but is at least $10 cheaper. Now maybe you don't trust them to mix paint, but, if you need 8 gallons of WHITE satin exterior, well, you just saved $80! Also, the big boxes have way better pricing on sundries. I can get drops, goof-off, rags, roller sleeves, and brushes sometimes for as much as 50% off compared to SW or BM. That's their biggest advantage over regular paint stores IMO.

Deanna8991

After reading a few responses, I’m seeing that price and convenience is a big factor. Are you guys willing to risk quality to make up for one of the two?

chrisn

The professionals will not risk quality for anything, let alone convenience and price.( I am betting this is true, I could be wrong)

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jarheadoo7

while i agree quality is hard to give up.. its the customer who pays the bills and if they want big box paint.. they get big box paint..

I would only use a quality paint when painting my own house but people have reason why they want to save a buck and cut the corners they choose to cut, with that said would i want to give up quality for convenience and price? that is a loaded question with too many variables to give a blanket answer

chrisn

yes, the customers would deter from quality products ( not mine, because I would never let them supply product.) but it sounds like we are sort of saying the same thing, you would still do a quality job, no matter what product

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Gymschu

I've been in the business for 35 years. I compare products by their performance out in the field. Remarkably SOME, I say SOME of the lower priced paints fair as well as the high priced paints from the paintstores. I painted a church several years ago with SWP from SW.......ran out of paint and used Glidden from Lowe's to finish up. The Glidden, after 5 years is glossy and white whereas the SWP is dull, peeling, and yellowed. Paint was used on the same side & under the same conditions. I see similar results with interior paints. Valspar mid-grade holds up fairly well to SW's SuperPaint. And, when you walk into SW and Exterior Wood primer is 42 dollars a gallon.......well, that's about double the price of good Valspar primer at Lowe's. Just sayin.