Merry [REDACTED] Christmas!

Less than a week before Christmas, Sherwin-Williams told managers at 28 stores, eight of which were in the Southwestern division, that their stores would be closing permanently on February 20^th with their positions eliminated effective that day.

Merry fucking Christmas from CEO Heidi Petz, who could not find the compassion or few Pennie’s necessary to allow an estimated 50+ employees to enjoy the holidays before dealing with this bad news. A guilty plea to my charge of malfeasance.

After receiving the tip, I posted on the subreddit for Sherwin-Williams employees, hoping to connect with someone who could confirm the information.  Not long after the subreddit became viral with a conversation Heidi didn’t want her employees to have, resulting in my getting banned for 30-days violating the subreddit’s guidelines.

Which heretofore I would have thought impossible.

THE 30-day ban may as well be for life, as I can’t imagine the moderators will like my next post any more than they liked my last.  Within an hour the post was taken down, costing most employees the opportunity to see it, a frustrating censorship I cannot abide.  And considering how many Sherwin employees are now reading this blog, there’s no reason that I have to.   

I’m not sure if Heidi knows how the internet works, but I learned of the banning from Sherwin-Williams employees who, after noticing my absence, spent a moment on Google so they could let me know the news. And confirm the story I was working on, which is not exactly how Heidi drew that play up. 

Since she cut the 401(k) match, more than 2,500 of Petz’s employees have become followers of this blog or my profile on LinkedIn, with hundreds making the connection personally via text, DM and phone.  Most of those have come from store managers, still lamenting the circumstances of their employment.

The rest were spread across all channels and levels of the paint giant, with nearly all employees I have been in touch blaming Petz for what seems a worsening disposition towards employees. Many including employees in Cleveland question Petz’s competence, reasonable considering the poor judgment reflected in her two most recent actions.

Add in a severance below the national average and seems the Grinch, leaving hope that one day her heart will warm.

The Benjamin Moore manufacturing facility in Newark, New Jersey celebrated its 100-year anniversary last week, another party I was not invited to.  And I’d have gotten off the couch for one last tour through Newark, a building I share a 50+ personal history with.

The first time I toured Newark was as a young boy accompanied by my father’s Ben Moore rep Murray Harris, that day was spent in awe of the factory’s movements and sounds.  As I teen I would have that same experience at Newark, sneaking peaks behind the curtain each time I made a pick up while driving a truck for my father.

A compulsory and unpaid position until I was 18-years-old.

As a dealer I was often in Newark, primarily to make will-calls when I was the freest hand or wheels when the inventory ran short.  In an era before industrial security, I was often allowed to wander Newark, picking my own orders while marveling at the amount of inventory it contained. 

As an employee I was often asked to accompany dealers on tours of Newark, a popular destination for those with business in nearby Montvale.  Still gravity-fed, Newark blends their slurry on the third floor before it takes Newton’s plunge down to the second where it’s shaded and turned into a finished product before dropping to ground where the paint is canned and boxed.

Still cranking out millions of gallons per year; not bad for an old lady.

While celebrating Newark’s centennial, Benjamin Moore also celebrated another anniversary; 25 years under the Berkshire Hathaway umbrella.  The acquisition cemented that brand’s future as a paint manufacturer, which at the time was not assured.  And forever enshrined independent paint retailers as a player in this space.

That I’m accused of being a homer for Benjamin Moore would seem comedic to every CEO the company had before Dan Calkins, all of whom had been stabbed with my pen as I sought to change practices at my largest supplier. In my columns while a dealer I would often complain of unethical behaviors towards my clan, including many I experienced personally in retaliation for my writing.

But

I was terminated by Benjamin Moore in the middle of an engagement; and have a family member they terminated after they refusing to move their family; a policy I find imbalanced and wish the company would reconsider. 

But in both cases Benjamin Moore was fair in their dealings, though like Ronald Reagan I trust but verify.  So, when Benjamin Moore laid off 100 employees earlier this year I reached out to those impacted, some of whom had been co-workers during my tenure at that firm so I had no need to post any outreach before covering the layoff in a LinkedIn post and my blog that week.

Had my follow-up uncovered credible accusations of unfairness you’d have read about them here, but it didn’t so I moved on to other coverage with no intention of ever mentioning it again. But since you brought it up I’ll tell you what I did find. That each employee I contacted had been treated fairly at separation, similar to my own experience and that of my family member. 

In fact, had the Sherwin-Williams employee who shared their termination letter with me instead worked for Benjamin Moore, their severance would have been nearly triple with longer terms for COBRA. Because every billion dollar corporation has the money to be fair to employees at separation, and Sherwin chooses not to.

Epilogue

I hope your Hanukkah was well-lit and that your Christmas turned out merry, and that 2026 turns out to be the year we all need it to be.  I plan to take next week off from paint so won’t post on LinkedIn, though I do plan to tap something out.  If you want to read it you’ll have to be a subscriber, but don’t panic you can do that here.

Happy New Year!