Kelly Moore Paints halts operations and is closing all of its stores

Kelly Moore Paints, founded in San Carlos in 1946, has abruptly decided to go out of business by halting all operations and closing every one of its stores after failing to secure a cash infusion to help the retailer escape a financial quagmire. The shutdown affects more than 60 locations in the Bay Area, including several in San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco.

“All the company’s facilities (other than a distribution center in Union City) will be permanently closed effective immediately, including Kelly Moore’s manufacturing facility in Texas, and its retail stores,” the company said in a prepared release. The Union City complex is being kept temporarily open to help Kelly Moore Paints fulfill existing orders.

“The company and its advisors conducted an exhaustive process that included pursuing opportunities for new capital investment, a potential sale, merger or reorganization,” the retailer said. Kelly Moore Paints said its finances have been eroded by three decades of asbestos claims. “Largely due to the asbestos litigation overhang, it was impossible to attract any additional funding or interest to recapitalize, restructure, or reorganize the business,” Kelly Moore Paints stated..