Dunn-Edwards history

Initially known as the Consolidated Wallpaper Corporation, the new company did not offer paint until 1927, prompting a change of name to Consolidated Wallpaper and Paint Corporation.

In 1930 Smith sold his interest in the business to a man named Robert Evans, the same year that Dunn contracted tuberculosis, forcing him to take a leave of absence.

The fortunes of the company reached their nadir in 1933 when sales plunged to just $57,000 and most of the workers gave up hope and quit to look for other employment.

Because an area competitor was doing business as the Consolidated Paint Company, the business changed its name to Dunn's Inc. in 1936.

In 1938, he partnered with his friend Arthur C. Edwards, a former painting contractor and pigment salesman, to form the Dunn-Edwards Corporation.

With the basic formula for success in place, annual sales topped $200,000 by the end of 1940.

A Glendale store was opened, and in 1947 the company topped the $1 million mark in sales.

1957: Edwards becomes sole owner following Dunn's death.

He was followed in 1968 by the youngest son, Jim Edwards, who joined the firm upon graduation from high school.

During this period Dunn-Edwards moved into the northern California market with the opening of a store in Daly City in 1969.

In 2000 it formed a joint venture with Amazon Environmental Inc. to sell recycled latex paint in the southwestern United States.

In 2001 the ownership arrangement changed at Dunn-Edwards.