Kelly-Moore Paints

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Founded in San Carlos, California, in 1946 by former Glidden men William H. Kelly and William E. Moore, Kelly-Moore made paint for working contractors and homeowners alike. Moore bought out Kelly in 1952 but wisely kept the two-name banner, a durable bit of storefront Americana.

Under Moore and later employee ownership, the company built a network of company-operated paint stores and expanded through acquisitions, including Preservative Paint Co. in 1994, K-M Universal in 1995, and Ponderosa Paint Manufacturing in 2000. The operation shifted manufacturing to Hurst, Texas, in 2017—because paint, like ambition, needs room to dry.

Flacks Group acquired Kelly-Moore’s retail, distribution, and manufacturing businesses in September 2022. The headquarters moved from San Carlos to Irving, Texas, during 2023, although San Carlos remains the corporate home most associated with the company’s independent, decades-long story. On January 12, 2024, Kelly-Moore announced an immediate cessation of operations and an orderly wind-down.

Our Kelly-Moore Paints collection celebrates the cans, color decks, contractor counters, and no-nonsense neighborhood stores that brightened job sites for nearly eight decades. It is a salute to a company whose name stayed on the wall long after one founder left the paint room.