Apr 19, 2018
Premier Paint Roller Co LLC of Richmond Hill, New York, is proud to announce a significant investment and expansion of its Made in USA products. Premier, a third-generation, family-owned business, is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2018 and is one of the oldest, independent, paint applicator manufacturers in North America. Premier has been located in NYC since its founding in 1968. This major investment in both machinery and upgrade of its Queens, New York, facility
represents a serious long-term commitment to the growth and longevity of the company.
“Premier has been manufacturing high-quality roller covers for decades and it made complete strategic sense for us to apply that commitment to high-quality paint brushes as well. We have been one of the largest importers of paint brushes for many years and used this knowledge to identify growth opportunities of various quality-levels of Made in USA brushes,” said Kevin Leichter, third generation and current CEO of Premier. “We are proud to partner with DuPont® who has been
extremely supportive of our initial roll-out with paintbrush filaments manufactured in their West Virginia facility. It has been great to partner with a large company that supports our quest to grow manufacturing in the United States, especially here at home in New York City. Additionally, as we begin to roll-out various products, our customers have also been extremely supportive and eager to commit to domestically made brushes.”
Premier Paint Roller’s corporate office is located in Richmond Hill, Queens. It has a new West Coast facility located in Phoenix, Arizona and recently opened a warehouse in Mexico City to assist in its Latin American expansion plans. Additionally, an office in Shanghai handles quality control and sourcing.
Please do not hesitate to contact Kevin Leichter at kevin@premierpaintroller.com or Sari Nathan sari@premierpaintroller.com with any questions.
Mar 30, 2018
When Harry Leichter founded Premier Paint Roller Co. LLC in 1968, he sought to create quality paint rollers. As the industry evolved, the company moved with it, shifting to synthetic roller fabrics and adapting to polyesters and wovens. One area of the business where Premier Paint Roller never wavered was in its commitment to working with independents.
“My grandfather started the business focused on the independent channel, and that continued when my father Morty took over after him,” says Kevin Leichter, CEO of the Richmond Hill, New York-based company. “Our business was built on the distribution model and independent retailers throughout North America. We’re continuing to focus on growing that channel.”
Today, through direct relationships and distribution groups, Premier Paint Roller supplies thousands of independent retailers and other industry retailers. In addition to a full line of rollers, the company now offers brushes, roller frames, extension poles, drop cloths, prep tools and more. To assist retailers, the company provides product catalogs and in-store displays that can be customized for larger customers.
As the company has expanded its product line, it also has expanded its facilities. In addition to the corporate headquarters in Richmond Hill, the company operates an office in Shanghai along with facilities in Phoenix and Mexico City. The Richmond Hill facility exceeds 200,000 square feet in total real estate.
This year, the company celebrates its 50th year producing applicator products. Helmed by the third generation of family ownership, Premier Paint Roller is embarking on a new expansion in its line to mark its longevity in the industry.
The business is reinvesting in manufacturing in order to bring a new line of products to market. In the past, Premier Paint Roller offered its own line of paintbrushes, but the company decided to shift away from that business segment. However, Leichter believes the company’s success with rollers can be focused on other applicators going forward.
“I said, ‘If we’re offering these independent dealers very high-quality and very competitively priced roller covers, why can’t we do it for them with a
100 percent DuPont™ Chinex® brush or a DuPont™ nylon poly paintbrush as well?’” Leichter says. “This is an over seven-figure investment with the newest and best equipment available from around the world. I’m confident we have a global team in place to execute this over the next few months, and we plan on growing this part of the business and offering the independent channel and our contractors a very high-quality brush at a very competitive price.”
Premier Paint Roller isn’t taking this investment lightly, Leichter says. As a U.S. manufacturer, he knows the paint and decorating industry is a competitive market. By offering new products and investing capital into manufacturing, Leichter hopes to make Premier Paint Roller a more comprehensive source for his customers.
Over the past five decades, Premier Paint Roller has experienced a lot of growth and change, something Leichter expects to continue for the next five decades and beyond. He and his sister, Sari Nathan, who serves as COO, are committed to growing the business.
As the third generation of the family to run Premier Paint Roller, Leichter and Nathan believe the investment in new products will help continue the business’s growth and ensure it remains as committed to retailers’ success in the future.
“Everything Sari and I do is always in the best interests of the company in terms of the long-term outlook,” he says. “There’s nothing we’d do for our business that is on a short-term horizon. It’s a very different model than a larger company that is publicly traded.”
That independent mindset is something Premier Paint Roller has in common with its independent customers. “Many paint and hardware retailers are family-owned businesses just like ourselves,” Leichter says. “There aren’t too many family-owned manufacturers left in the U.S. It’s very important to us.”
Click here to read the original article from March 2018 | PDR
Oct 19, 2017
One businessman is not waiting to see how discussions over the trade agreement shake out to expand in Mexico
Regardless of what happens to the North American Free Trade Agreement, Queens businessman Kevin Leichter is planning to expand in Mexico. Last week his Premier Paint Roller Co. of Richmond Hill announced the opening of an office and warehouse in Mexico City. The goal is to build relationships with customers there and throughout Latin America. If things take off as Leichter hopes, he might build a Mexican factory and start manufacturing south of the border. “It’s such a compelling opportunity,” he said. “It’s something we would do with or without NAFTA.”
Leichter’s attitude may well answer the question of what NAFTA ’s demise would mean to New York companies that export or manufacture throughout North America. President Donald Trump has long trashed the agreement with Mexico and Canada and now is reportedly planning to kill it altogether. But tearing up the deal likely wouldn’t damage the city’s economy in any meaningful way. Nor would it help restore upstate’s decimated manufacturing sector. The benefits of operating and selling across the border would still outweigh the costs even if those costs rise.
That said, Canada is the state’s top trading partner. If tariffs rise, Diamond District merchants who import precious metals could be hurt, as could dealers of agricultural products. But most of the city’s cross-border business is based on providing financial and other services to international clients, and those sectors probably wouldn’t be affected much if NAFTA were torn apart, said Robert Scott of the Economic Policy Institute. Scrapping the deal would be unlikely to stoke investment in factory towns, Scott added, because operating costs are far less in China and elsewhere overseas. “As for upstate manufacturing,” he said, “that ship has sailed.”
For Leichter, the facts are plain: Wages in Mexico remain much lower than for his unionized workforce in Queens. He doesn’t see that changing anytime soon, no matter how the trade winds blow.
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The original article can be found on Crain’s New York by clicking here
