Why Did Kelly-Moore Close?

Monte Lewis says Kelly-Moore closed after years of financial strain and management trouble, while the name, the market position, and the people were still strong. When he joined Dunn-Edwards in 2009, asbestos litigation was already a financial drag. Over the next decade Kelly-Moore did sale-and-leasebacks on properties to raise cash for the settlement. Progress for Dunn-Edwards in Northern California stayed marginal.

In October 2022 the Flax Group bought Kelly-Moore. CEO Carl Altercott knew buyers who try to turn distressed companies around, so the team expected Kelly-Moore to change. By early 2023 Dunn-Edwards planned a harder push into Northern California commercial work and hired a couple of talented people out of the turmoil. By mid-year, product and sundry shortages were obvious, along with rumors from the plant. He heard Kelly-Moore had stopped making paint as early as July, or had at least stopped making it regularly. Mark Lipton notes the stores would then have had to operate for about another five months. A paint company not making paint sounded unbelievable. It was true.

Dunn-Edwards had expected a bankruptcy, chapter 7 or maybe chapter 11, and a gap to step into, not an orderly wind-down. Mark Lipton says the wind-down still worked like a chapter 7 on the Dunn-Edwards side: Kelly-Moore ceased to operate.