This case is discussing the U.S. paint industry and especially the case of Jones Blair Company under the direction of Alexander Barrett. This industry contains almost 600 paints firms and is divided into three broad segments: architectural coatings, original equipment manufacturing coatings, and special-purpose coatings where each segment serves a specific need. Jones Blair Company produces and markets architectural paint and original equipment manufacturing coatings under the Jones Blair brand name. In addition to manufacturing a full line of architectural paint, the company sells sundries under Jones Blair brand name but not produced by their firm. Jones Blair Company divided the market, which contains more than 1200 outlets, into Dallas-Fort worth (DFW) metropolitan area, contains 600 outlets and non-DFW nonmetropolitan area contains the remaining outlets. The estimated dollar volume of architectural paint and allied products sold in Jones Blair was $80 million; DFW area contains 60% of this figure and the remaining percentages in the other areas. Therefore, the Jones Blair Company is succeeding in the DFW metropolitan area but having some problems in the non-DFW nonmetropolitan area.
This industry contains a high level of competitors in this market:
? Large number of companies produces the architectural coatings segments such as Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, the Glidden unit of Imperial Chemicals, PPG Industry, Valspar Corporation, Grow Group, and Pratt & Lambert. These producers market the paint under their own brand names and for retailers under private, controlled or store brand names such as WAL-MART.
? In addition, specialty paint stores, lumberyards and independent hardware stores that sell archite ...