Roman Holiday

Executives from Pittsburgh Paints gathered in Cabo San Lucas Mexico in March, assembling with the preeminent customers of their company owned stores division.  To earn an invite required a 10% increase in purchases from Pittsburgh in 2024 with a minimum spend of $400,000.

Which despite the inconvenience of dealing with Pittsburgh, might have been worth it. 

At previous soirées PPG management sat with customers to hear their perspectives from the other side of the counter, an hour-long airing of grievances which this year went a bit longer. No surprise considering the current state of affairs at Pittsburgh.

This week Pittsburgh execs globetrot to Città Eterna, with as many as 100 of their US based independent retailers. Over pasta e vino Pittsburgh's leadership will hear from their dealers about the state of their affairs, and judging by the dealers I’ve been in touch with they’d better schedule more than an hour.

Because the Pittsburgh dealers I was in touch with who planned to attend intend to express their concerns for the brand directly with Pittsburgh's leadership; a first for most dealers since American Industrial Partners purchased the company late last year. 

On their lips of some dealers will be anger over lost opportunities due to slower response times and the new company’s failure to stay competitive when quoting large jobs. 

Plus, the one question which is on everybody’s mind. 

Consumer confidence fell more than eight percent last month. In that same time the Consumer’s Expectation for the Future Index, a measurement of the short-term outlook for income, business and labor market conditions, dropped 9.6 points, settling in at 65.2 out of 100. THE lowest score in more than 12-years.

And well below the score of 80 which likely portends a recession!

Early this week the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta lowered their forecast for GDP growth for the current quarter to negative 3.7%, which was not a typo but a shocking reversal caused by tariffs and a trade war only one person wanted. 

And it’s not just The Conference Board interested in changes in sentiment, in our own market segment macro-economic uncertainty and disruptions at Pittsburgh have boardrooms from Montvale to the Pacific wondering what dealers are thinking.

Including one stakeholder who recently engaged me to somehow measure a dealer’s heart.

Faithfully Yours

THE double-blind survey of will glimpse the paint dealer experience, though I maintain hopes for getting more than a glimpse! 

Finding it in their best interests to create more datapoints than we had originally planned I presented my client an extra, to significantly increase the number of dealers we polled.  If they agree, the output will be the most comprehensive measurement of dealer sentiment towards their brands, perhaps ever.

But it wasn’t extra dollars I was chasing when proposing that change rather their needs and my compulsion to see that data, to stare into the soul of paint dealers.

Because to a paint dealer, their identity is more than just the label on the can.

A paint dealer’s brand relationship can be as intimate as a spousal one, with clashes over finances and commitment as common in the store as they can be at home. 

A dealer’s paint brand is their tribe; a caste which allows limited transference, though there is some mixed breeding. Their brand is their culture, and caucus at the AllPro show. 

But while volumes have been written on the spousal connection little is known of THE dealer's heart for their manufacturing alignments.  Maybe they see those brands as partners, as manufacturers would have you believe? 

Of course the outcome will remain private, property of the client and I suspect they will not share. Though you know I'm going to ask.  

Because I know you'll want me to spill the tea if it turns out they’re unfaithful!

Dealers interested in participating click here to make that happen.  Particularly if you are unbranded, micro or regionally branded.