03/23/12 Venerable Darien-Based Home Improvement Supply Company Opens Stamford Store, Has Plans For Westport, West Haven And Fairfield

PHOTO: A customer shops at the Ring's End paint and design center on at 149 Westport Ave. in Norwalk. The company has been undergoing a rapid expansion over the last couple of years as the recession made commercial rents more affordable.

Darien-based Ring’s End has opened a paint store at the former Brandman’s location at 921 High Ridge Road, where it has a full-time staff of four and plans to add more employees.

It also signed a lease to open a paint store at 879 Post Road East in Westport in May and expects to open another in West Haven in June.

The opening of the 2,700-square-foot Stamford location and planned opening of the two others follows the establishment of a paint center at 87 Harvard Ave. in Stamford, the purchase of the Benjamin Moore Paint Center at 1640 Post Road in Fairfield, and the opening of a 10,000-square-foot space at 149 Westport Ave. in Norwalk — all in the past two years.

The company was able to expand during the economic downturn and position itself for more growth because of its strong fiscal status says company management.

The family owned chain is reported to be well capitalized.

Ring’s End was able to obtain affordable rents because landlords were willing to negotiate.

The expansion has created 35 jobs.

The company has 12 locations in Fairfield, Litchfield, New Haven and New London counties and Lewisboro, N.Y. The paint stores specialize in Benjamin Moore products.

The Westport location fills a void for Benjamin Moore in the area, he said, noting that Ring’s End is the largest Benjamin Moore retailer in New England in terms of sales volume. It will have four employees.

Ring’s End plans to move its Fairfield store in June from 1640 Post Road to a 5,200-square-foot space in a shopping center at 1139 Post Road, which will be renamed Ring’s End Plaza.

The company has benefited by being headquartered in affluent lower Fairfield County.

It is smart to expand its paint business during the downturn because updating a home with fresh paint is less costly than taking on an addition or renovation project.

People still want their houses to have good curb appeal.

03/23/12 The Raw Darien News Feed

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