Miller Paint forms alliance with Kelly-Moore Paint.

Miller Paint Co., Inc. has announced that it will acquire the business operations and selected assets of 10 stores owned by Kelly-Moore Paint Company, Inc. The stores are all located in the Puget Sound, WA area. This alliance will increase Miller Paint's presence in the region from eight to 17 stores, allowing them to better serve their professional and retail customers. In addition, the deal will expand the exclusive distribution of Kelly-Moore's architectural paint products in the region through Miller Paint's current eight store locations.

Miller will maintain and operate nine locations, while a tenth Kelly-Moore location in Kent, WA will be closed and consolidated into Miller Paint's existing Kent store. Miller Paint will maintain and eventually expand the distribution of the full line of Kelly-Moore products throughout Oregon, Washington, and northern Idaho. Kelly-Moore's store operations, employees, and professional outside sales teams have been transitioned over to Miller Paint.

Kelly-Moore's President and CEO Steve DeVoe noted that "Now, our North-west customers will have the added convenience of finding Kelly-Moore products in more store locations than ever before. Ultimately, this strengthens our company. This partnership is specific to this market--it's not a new company direction overall or an indication of things to come in other markets." In the next two years, the company plans to add 13 new stores in its northern California market to complement the existing 141 Kelly-Moore store locations.