Blog Mark Lipton: Mark My Words

Another Area of Expertise

Last week paint makers AkzoNobel and Axalta Coatings Systems announced that the companies would be merging to create an enterprise with combined revenues of more than $17 billion. THE planet’s second largest coatings manufacturer after Sherwin-Williams now that PPG has divested . I plan to add coverage of the merger as it seems likely to impact the US market but don’t worry, I won’t start that today. I Redditt An employee at Pittsburgh Paints created a new sub

Nov 26, 20252 min read

Tell Me I'm Wrong

My reporting on a price increase at Pittsburgh Paints last week shifted the demographics from Cleveland to Cranberry, though it was not the price of paint which Pittsburgh's employees were looking to discuss. Like the 7% price increase announced by Sherwin-Williams Pittsburgh’s increase reflects the changing priorities of the largest paint retailers, coveting profits more than revenue in a stark reversal for both brands which are known by dealers to use their scale to

Nov 18, 20253 min read

I Did Hear That

Stamford, Connecticut based internet service provider Frontier Internet wants my hometown to know that if you sign up for their five-gig service you get a free $300 Visa gift card. So excited are they to share the news that a representative of Frontier shouted it through my door last week, after I had refused to open it. THE reverse ding-dong-ditch had me back at my desk in less time than my father would have needed to throw out a sales rep who came into the store withou

Nov 11, 20253 min read

Watch What You Call Me!

When paint manufacturer Kelly-Moore was shuttered during the Charles Gassenheimer affair the victims were spread across paint’s landscape, the vendors and employees of that company who had become incidental to Gassenheimer’s greed. And amongst the employees was a special class of victims, ones who lost more than just their jobs when Kelly-Moore was exploded. In the months leading up to Kelly’s demise field reps whose vehicles came off lease were instructed to acquire th

Nov 4, 20253 min read

THE Outsider

A week off the Sherwin-Williams beat helped lower the temperature of the beef I was sharing with the trolls I've attracted on a sub-Reddit for Sherwin-Williams employees since I began investigating wage theft at that company. Though they're still serving it well-done. In an effort to find cost reductions Sherwin-Williams is piloting a new position in the field, that of a Multi-Store Manager who as the name suggests will, “oversee the operations of multiple stores wi

Oct 28, 20253 min read

Where Italy Says Goodnight

There’s more you can do to affront an Italian than just speaking to them in English and ordering a cappuccino in the afternoon , though both of those would do the trick. You can eat your spaghetti with a spoon or take too long to give way to a Beemer serpentining the Autostrade , either of which might garner a hand gesture from the offended native. One you won’t need Tony Soprano to translate . But breach protocol for food and you risk more than a side eye or hand gestu

Oct 22, 20253 min read

Take the Week Off

One of my trolls on the sub-Reddit for Sherwin-Williams employees believes I’m a shill for the competition, only investigating wage...

Oct 7, 20253 min read

Sounds Like Something She Would Say

On Monday Pittsburgh Paints eliminated operations managers from their paint stores division costing 75 people their job. Predictable...

Oct 1, 20253 min read

They'd Have Plenty to Talk About

It seems likely that in the three weeks since Sherwin-Williams chief executive Heidi Petz announced that her company would no longer match their employee’s 401(k) contributions that I have spoken to more Sherwin employees than the company’s chief executive. But if she wants to know what they’re saying, she can read about it here. Since that news broke I have been contacted by several hundred employees at Sherwin-Williams with titles ranging from Vice-Presidents in Cleve

Sep 23, 20253 min read