DAILY MIX | ALLPRO TALKS
ALLPRO
TALKS With Patrick Smith, President, Regal Paint Centers Patrick Smith may be color blind, but that hasn’t stopped him from helping expand his family paint empire. Ever since he was a freshman in high school, Smith has been subconsciously preparing for his role as president of Regal Paint Centers. In addition to his day job, Smith is
Allp r o i n dependent : w h at wa s yo u r f i r s t j o b ?
Pa tr i ck S m it h : My first job was working in our paint stores. I was working in our Gaithersburg store on Saturdays when I was a freshman in high school. AI : W h at i nf l u e n c e d y o u t o wo r k i n t h e pai nt busi ne ss ? PS: I am the second generation. My dad and his business partner were painting contractors and bought a store in 1986. It used to be a company called Winslow’s, but the business was broken up and Benjamin Moore sold off a lot of the outlets to individual new store owners. We bought the location in Silver Spring - the store that my dad’s company had shopped at frequently. They felt like they had at least a proximity to the business and that it could be a decent opportunity for them. In about 1997, our neighbor down the road was looking to exit the business. After that, we started acquiring more stores. Instead of being a single paint store, it became a group of stores and we started to have some real opportunity for growth.
10 | January/February 2022 | ALLPRO INDEPENDENT
chair of ALLPRO’s NextGen committee, and a busy dad of soon-to-be two! We sat down to discuss his history in the paint business, goals for the future of NextGen, and how he spends his time when he’s not opening new paint stores.
AI: H ave you always wan t ed t o work in the pain t b u s in es s ? PS: I always had a suspicion that I would end up back here. I knew I really didn’t want to work in a formal office setting. I enjoyed the paint store environment and customer interactions. So yeah, I think part of me always knew I’d likely end up back here. AI: Regal Paint Centers are family owned and operated. Do you have advice when it comes to succession planning? PS: Succession planning can be tough. I’m still working through it myself. It can be a very tough conversation to have. It’s more than just selling a business, it’s a way of life. It’s almost like one of their kids - there can be a very emotional component to selling the business and fear that it won’t work out. Especially something that takes years and decades to cultivate. AI: Tell us about your involvement in NextGen. PS: It really started out as an opportunity for me to have more direct time with like-minded business owners or team members in their
