PPG Opens More Brazilian Paint Stores
Latin America
by Charles W. Thurston
Latin America Correspondent
thurstoncw@rodmanmedia.com
PPG Renner is adding 30 new retail stores to its Brazilian dis- tribution network this year, particularly in the South, adding to the
estimated 90 stores previously in operation across the country. The company has also opened its first store in
Montevideo, in neighboring Uruguay.
The company goal for Brazil is to add
100 new stores over the next three
years, according to a statement attributed to Rodrigo Schepf, the national
director of sales and marketing for
PPG do Brasil’s architectural paints, by
the Jornal do Comércio.
New stores may also be opened in other neighboring countries in the Southern
Cone, which includes Argentina, Chile and
Paraguay, as well as Brazil and Uruguay.
Cities in Rio Grande do Sul state gaining new stores include: Aratiba; Erechim;
Farroupilha; Passo Fundo; Porto Alegre;
Sapiranga; and Santa Cruz do Sul. Many
of the company’s existing stores are also
being redesigned. Sales from refurbished
and new stores in Brazil are expected to
help the company reach a growth goal of
seven to eight percent this year.
While many of PPG’s Latin American
stores are company owned, the concession-
aire model, including 700 in Mexico, is said
to be under consideration for future growth
in Brazil. Renner is a registered trademark
of Renner Herrmann S.A. and Renner
Sayerlack S.A., used under license by PPG.
At the same time more stores are be-
ing added, production capacity is grow-
ing. This year, the company opened a new
resins plant in Gravataí, in Rio Grande
do Sul. Last year, PPG Renner completed
a $40 million project to add on-site resin
production at its Sumaré, São Paulo state
coatings manufacturing facility. Other
South American countries with PPG
manufacturing sites include Argentina,
Colombia, and Surinam.
Within PPG Renner’s basket of mar-
keting strategies, soccer fans are now able
to purchase paint in special cans with the
colors of two leading teams: one version
of the Rekolor Pro architectural coating
can features a blue label and the Gemio
team logo, while the other has a red label
and the Internacional logo.
In an altruistic pro-
gram, PPG in July com-
pleted its first Colorful
Communities project in
Brazil, which helped to add
color to the new Children’s
Cancer Institute in Porto
Alegre. “The Colorful
Communities program
provides PPG volunteers
and products along with
financial contributions to bring color and
vitality to communities where the com-
pany operates around the world,” the
company says.
In April, PPG announced that Adriana
Macouzet was appointed vice president
for Latin America, and general manager,
protective and marine coatings ing Latin
America, effective June 1. She will pro-
vide regional leadership for PPG in Latin
America, excluding PPG Comex in Mexico.
Net sales for PPG in the Americas ex-
United States were down 9. 4 percent dur-
ing the first quarter of this year to $480
million from $530 million in the year-
earlier period, according to the company’s
most recent SEC filings. “Protective coat-
ings sales volumes grew versus the prior
year in all regions, led by the U.S., Asia and
Latin America, including benefits from ex-
panded distribution through the Comex
concessionaire network,” the Q1 reports.
PPG’s 2015 Annual Report, its latest, states that, “Demand in the Latin
American economies was bifurcated, with
economic growth continuing in Mexico,
aided by increased industrial production.
This was partly offset by economic contraction in South America, particularly in
Brazil, due to high inflation and unemployment rates. Also, weakening South
American currencies versus the U.S. dollar
were unfavorable to PPG net sales.” CW
