BACK-GROUND INFORMATION:
Sherwin-Williams was founded in 1866, by Henry Sherwin and was joined 4 years later by Edward Williams. Sherwin Williams makes paints and coatings worldwide and has developed many new pigments, lacquers, and enamels. Today the company produces 130,000 products and has over $5 billion in sales. Sherwin-Williams operates over 2300 stores and has thousands of external customers, some of which include Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Sears as well as automotive and tire stores. The company also makes automotive finishes to wood sealers and paint brushes to rollers. They employee over 25,000 employees world wide and are the number 2 paint supplier in the world and number 1 in the United States.
Some of the major acquisitions include Pratt & Lambert, which entered Sherwin Williams into the Aerospace-coatings market. Thompson Minwax Holding Corp., which brought stains and varnishes into Sherwin-Williams wide array of products. Through other acquisitions they have acquired the brands of Dutch Boy, KYRLON, Formby', and Red devil.
PRODUCTS:
When most people think of Sherwin Williams they think of paint. From the big blue globe with the paint running down stating "cover the earth." Sherwin-Williams has been synonymous with paint. The over 2,300 hundred stores also sell wallpaper, brushes, rollers, carpet, tape, caulk, and most any other item that is needed for any painting project. Sherwin-Williams is also tries to be the leader in innovation and for coming up with better and new products. For example the EZ pour can (which is a new form of paint can made from plastic that reseal with a screw on lid), and the KRYLON Fusion (which is spray paint made for adhering to plastic). Most people do not know is that although Sherwin-Williams sales paint they also make a lot of other brand names that people are aware of just by the name.
KRYLON is a Sherwin-Williams product its ads on the television back in the 70's With no runs, no drips, no errors is famous and is now making its way back into the market. Sherwin-Williams is also responsible for Dutch Boy, which is sold at all Sears stores. Minwax and Thompson's Water Seal were recently acquired by Sherwin-Williams in 1996. All these products are made by Sherwin Williams and are brand recognizable with their name only.
Sherwin-Williams has always sold just the right products for its stores.
Established as the older company of the two, Lowe’s ranks forty-second as a Fortune 500 company. Established in 1946 as a small hardware business, Lowe’s has grown into a 40,000 product, global market enterprise that consist of 1,710 stores nationwide expanding into the countries of Canada, Mexico and Australia (Lowe's Internal, 2010) Home Depot, founded in 1978, is the fastest growing retailer in the United States. Ranked twenty-ninth as a Fortune 500 company, Home Depot continues to remain the number one do-it-yourself retail store in America. These two companies may sell products of the same nature, but comparing their Code of Ethics is their way of setting themselves apart. (Home Depot Internal, 2009)
Home Depot is the brainchild of Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank and came about after both men lost their job in the home improvement industry in 1978 (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot has acquired several smaller home improvement stores in both the U.S. and abroad through the years which enabled it to position itself as the world’s largest home improvement chain (Parnell, 2014). Home Depot focuses on the do-it-yourself segment of the market and sells sells tools, construction products and services. Marketing is a strong point for the company. They are able to maintain a competitive advantage by keeping themselves available to their customers at all times. Home Depot has been using both online and offline marketing efforts. The internet has become a very useful tool for the company and part of the reason that they are leading the market in DIY stores. Home Depot currently provides DIY videos on YouTube and Vine that cover current topics that consumers are likely to be interested in. They also have social media pages on Facebook and Twitter, where they have a huge following. They provide online communities where actual employees answer consumer’s questions and provide assistance on
The relationships with the mature company’s upstream suppliers have been built over many years. The same can be said for the downstream customers who have obtained the product for corporate use or resale. The biggest and most influential relationship that Sherrin has maintained is with the Australian Football League who has endorsed the Sherrin brand since the beginning.
Provides a unique atmosphere - Their large open stores, packed with designer brands, gives an elegant feeling, with light colored walls that can’t be found at your local drug store. Also, with a low-pressure sales strategy they provide a very relaxed shopping experience.
Home Depot was founded in 1978 by Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank in Atlanta, Georgia. With their store, Marcus and Blank revolutionized the do-it-yourself home improvement market in the United States. Home Depot began as a very basic store, operated in a large, no-frills warehouse. Home Depot carries over 35,000 products, with national brand names along with the Home Depot brand. At the start, Home Depot was able to offer exceptional customer service with knowledgeable employees who could guide customers through home renovation projects. Since its opening, Home Depot has experienced incredible growth, and today is North America's second largest retailer, and the largest home improvement retailer. Internationally, Home Depot has expanded into Canada, Mexico, and is beginning to operate stores in China. Home Depot's competition includes Sears, Ace Hardware and Lowes (the main competitor).
There are a number of smaller players but lack the public existence and retail footprint of their larger counterparts. With such high levels of market absorption, both HD and LOW enjoy high bargaining power with suppliers of goods. The two companies vary significantly in terms of the strategies they employ to compel consumer traffic. Home Depot centre of attention is customer service, while Lowe’s offers discounts to improve sales. Home Depot has determined on customer service as a driver to grow customer traffic and sales, Lowe has battled mainly on the basis of lower prices. Home Depot has a status for lesser prices and more pro-friendly impression where Lowe’s is trying to capture the traditional do-it-yourself customer by trying to appeal the female customer, who the company declares, is responsible for eighty percent of home improvement
The Home Depot organization has generated quick growth throughout its operating years. From the first store openings in 1979, the firm has created an exceptional growth pattern, opening their 100th store in 1989 and continuing on into the global market. The company feels that their unique culture and values are what gives them their competitive advantage in the marketplace. Their strengths are in the strong position they have with professional
Gaughan, P. A., 2002. Mergers, Acquisitions, and Corporate restructuring. 3rd ed.New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
...n the Younger and has supplied artists since the 1930s. It is one of the largest manufacturers of professional art supplies and has an exceptional range of unique colors.
Today I worked with Jared out in the Cropsey Home Depot. Our original game plan today was to focus on set integrity, until we noticed Dewalt was having a Demo event in the store. The gloves were thrown down, and the game was on. We held a Ridgid Demo and interacted with every customer that walked in the tool coral, and converted every customer over to R2. At the end of the day Dewalt sold $0, while our demo generated over $3,100 in sales! We promoted the demo through social media, via twitter, and received multiple likes and retweets. We also gained 5 Ridgid Contacts to help jump start Jared R2 CRM list, and PK'd his Pro Desk on New Ridgid Product, Hyperdrive, and Promos.
The LVMH business portfolio began to take shape in 1987 with the merger between Louis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy which was a four billion dollar merger. Over the course of time, LVMH has acquired over 50 luxury brands, such as Donna Karen, Fendi, and Sephora. They called it, “a collection of star brands and rising stars.” LVMH found this industry to be timeless and modern, highly profitable, and very rapid growing.
IKEA is more than a furniture store they are a company driven by values (IKEA, 2014). The company seeks to make their consumers lives easier by providing them with modern, innovative, inexpensive products which they use to tackle daily home activities. IKEA Group has 298 stores in 26 different countries (IKEA, 2014). The company’s vision is “to create a better everyday life for the many people” (IKEA, 2014, para 1). Using innovative techniques for creating, producing, and marketing their products IKEA can provide consumers with durable products for reason...
...ials to make their products rather than using materials that carries hazardous materials. There widespread of products help expand the company all around the world, and inspire the world with great performance and design.
Charles and Keith uses synthetic materials and polyurethane to ensure affordable prices of their products (Singapore Press Holding, 2009). However, the qualities of the products are not compromised despite its inexpensive prices. The managing director Charles Wong reassured the customers that although the ...
Weekly Corporate Growth Report, “Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand to Merge.” http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3755/_is199709/ai=n8768518 (5 Apr. 2008).