Type Subsidiary Area served North America Website glidden.com Founded Cleveland | Industry Paint Revenue $1.5 billion (2011) Headquarters Strongsville Motto "Glidden gets you going" | |
Products Paint, Home improvement products Founder Francis Harrington Glidden Parent organizations PPG Industries, Imperial Chemical Industries | ||
The Glidden Company is a division of PPG Industries, which is one of the largest paint manufacturers in North America. Its products are marketed under the brands "Glidden" for professional and consumer paints, "Flood" for wood stains, and "Liquid Nails," which is a contact adhesive. Glidden also manufactures paints under the brand names America's Finest, Speed-Cote, and Ralph Lauren. It is the third largest maker of paint in the United States.
Glidden was purchased by British conglomerate ICI in 1986, which in turn was later acquired by Dutch conglomerate AkzoNobel in 2008. PPG Industries announced an agreement to acquire Glidden from AkzoNobel for $1.05 billion on December 14, 2012. The transaction closed April 1, 2013. Following the deal, PPG will be the second largest paint manufacturer in North America, behind Sherwin-Williams. The Glidden subsidiary is headquartered in Strongsville, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
History
Glidden was started in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1875 by Francis Harrington Glidden, Levi Brackett and Thomas Bolles. It began making varnishes for furniture, pianos, carriages, and wagons. It expanded greatly, opening a 17-acre varnish factory in 1908 which was claimed to be the largest in the world.
It was initially named the Glidden, Brackett & Company and was renamed later to the Glidden & Joy Company, and in 1890 incorporated as The Glidden Varnish Company. Francis Glidden retired from the business at the age of 85, turning the company over to Adrian D. Joyce and his associates after a public sale. Joyce became president when Glidden was incorporated in 1917, a title he would retain until 1950, when his son, Dwight P. Joyce, succeeded him. Joyce rolled up ten paint and varnish competitors in his first two years at the helm.
During the Roaring Twenties, Joyce greatly expanded the company by integrating vertically through the acquisition of chemical and pigment companies, and creating The Glidden Food Products Co. in 1920.
In 1967, Glidden merged with SCM Corporation and became the Glidden-Durkee Division of that company. In less than 10 years, the division became responsible for two thirds of SCM's sales. SCM was acquired by Hanson Trust, PLC, in 1986; Hanson sold the Glidden Division (retaining Durkee foods) to Imperial Chemical Industries. ICI was bought by the Dutch company AkzoNobel in 2008; Akzo Nobel's american decorative paints business was bought by Pittsburgh's PPG in 2013.