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Charlotte Amalie
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@Work: Paint Depot

Oct. 1, 2004 – When you walk into Paint Depot looking for help, chances are good the staff will greet you by name. Chances are also good they know what project you're planning to paint or seal. Maybe someone's even made a house call to tell you what you need to do. But don't press your luck—they draw the line when it comes to choosing a color for your walls.
"That’s tough. It's so personal," owner Mike Perron said, shaking his head. "What colors do you like? What will make you happy? I don't want anyone coming back saying the hot-pink paint we recommended didn't work."
So Perron and crew do the next best thing – instead of giving customers tiny paint chips to test colors, they give them the whole fan deck. The paint selection is rounded out with roof coatings, car paint, and any other kind of coating that exists. "People call us up and say, 'I have this problem, how do I solve it?' We take a look and tell them what they need to do. We do a lot of house calls, but it's basically just paint," said Perron.
Mark Barczyk and Kirsty Aitken are partial owners of Paint Depot and work as store manager and office manager, respectively. They, along with Perron, make up half of the staff.
Attention to these seemingly small details has kept customers coming back, and, in Perron's case, the small things add up to big business. Whether the customer is a homeowner, hotel executive or contractor, "it's all about service," Perron said. "If you're in that business, you can't help but make money if you're service oriented. It's not complicated."
Perron, a former paint contractor, opened Paint Depot in the spring of 1995. When Hurricane Marilyn tore through a few months later, he did the unthinkable. "We put a big sale on roof coating. That’s a time when you can get full price for everything," said Perron. While he risked taking a hit short-term, it was just the right move to get customers to come into his store. "People still remember that. It just seemed the right thing to do. Business is building up customers one at a time. It takes a lot of work to get someone to switch. But once they switch, you've got them for life. We definitely sell more paint than anyone else."
Another thing Perron does better than anyone else is write his own advertising copy. Over the years he has produced 150 different headlines for the Paint Depot ad campaign, many of which are displayed in his office. His creativity has won him a dozen awards from the Ad Club of the Virgin Islands. Perron's personal favorite? "An ad for Preparation H," he said with a laugh. (That's H as in 'hurricane.') "You're not going to think about buying a tire unless you have a flat. You’re not going to buy paint unless you have something to paint. If you read the ad and have fun, you're going to remember me when it's time to buy."
Many things have changed on the island since Perron hung his first shingle, one of the most notable being that big discount chain that took up residence across the street from his store last year. Perron wasn't willing to see years of hard work compromised. "At first I didn't know what to expect. But then I started calling paint stores in the states directly across the street from Home Depot and they said don't worry," Perron said. In fact, business is so good, Paint Depot will be expanding in the next few weeks, taking over more space in their existing building. "We started doing an ad campaign comparing prices with Home Depot—everything we sell is less money. They have a perception of low prices. So our business hasn't been affected one dollar."

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