O-Gee Paint

Just prior to the holidays, Ben Moore announced that they purchased Insl-x paints makers of Insl-x paints and owners of Coronado paints, LenMar Lacquers and a variety of other brands. Insl-x and it holdings are now a complete subsidiary of Ben Moore. They will be run as a separate entity for the foreseeable future.

And just prior to the purchase, Insl-x announced the elimination of the Bruning brand. They also said that they were studying the Moore’s Aura products and gennex waterborne colorants to learn what they could from them prior to implementing their own prior to the 2009 nationwide voc enactment. Maybe they can share colorant systems and technologies.

Moore’s has let slip that they will be realigning their industrial products into more consumer oriented packaging – a smart move since the industrial labeling has not taken hold in the small shop/painter segment. My conspiracy/cynicism/spider sense leads me to believe that this is a stepping stone to eliminating the line and distributing Insl-x or Coronado’s extensive line.

Mergers and acquisitions abound in this industry it seems and like so many other industries the consolidations makes for some economy of scale in transportation, manufacturing and staffing but is sure messes up other things like variety and specialization.