Anti-Graffiti_Coating
Innovation
Joel Russell, Staff Reporter
Page 18
Excerpts from… “Keeping It Clean – SEI Chemical targets
do-it-yourself market with aerosol can version of anti-graffiti coating”
For Ross Sklar, graffiti is
a problem at the molecular level. His
company, SEI Chemical in
SEI’s first anti-graffiti coating was aimed for the
industrial and government markets. It
worked by preventing paint from adhering, so the spray would leave only streaky
drips. The product, still a major driver
of SEI’s revenues, sells for $300 per gallon.
But this month, SEI is launching a coating for the
do-it-yourself market. The product comes
in an aerosol can and is called Anti-Graffiti Barrier Coatings. It sells for $9.99, a price that represents a
major victory since Home Depot sets strict limits on retail prices.
……Rick Jones,
vice president of the chemical consulting firm ChemQuest, Group, said Sklar will have to
conform to Home Depot’s system to achieve success. The retail route “is fraught with peril,”
especially for warehouse stores that demand low markups and speedy delivery
from suppliers.
“They have an expectation for you to manage stock or
supply JIT (Just in Time). Their system
is to not carry huge inventories, but to sell what they have,” Jones said. So if they want two packs of product every
other day, they expect you to deliver that.”
“There’s an old saying: At times it’s cheaper to drill for oil on
Wall Street than in the sands of the desert,” Jones said. “In other words,
it’s easier to buy an oil company with proven reserves than to drill holes that
may come up dry. In chemicals, the
tendency is to buy companies with proven technology.”
(To
read the complete article…and more comments on “Keeping It Clean – SEI Chemical targets do-it-yourself market with
aerosol can version of anti-graffiti coating”………see Los Angeles Business Journal
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