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Featured Business Review: Swing Paints – Wood Finishing Products that are Primed for Success
  by:  |  Aug 13, 2010
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Last updated on September 8th, 2017 at 07:27 pm

Swing Paint LogoA fresh coat of paint does wonders to add some pizzazz to a room or a piece of furniture. The concept may seem basic since almost everything gets a sprucing up that we barely even notice it. If a room is designed using the best materials and the proper colors, the results spell amazing. These principles must have been running through Phil Chaimberg’s mind when he began his paint company back in 1965. Chaimberg’s Swing Paints is a family-owned business that originated in Montreal, Canada and expanded to include about 20-25 retail paint & wallpaper stores in the region. However when the market started to evolve, ever-the-consummate entrepreneur, Phil decided to branch out into a niche that the marketplace lacked: wood finishing and antique refinishing. With this development, Swing Paints also developed paint & varnish removers, wood stains and high-end oils under the Circa 1850 name. All of these products are made for consumers so that weekend-do-it-yourself-ers, advanced enthusiasts and professional contractors can use them with ease.Circa Prize Kit Phil’s sons, Mark (with a PhD in Chemical Engineering from UCLA) and Eric Chaimberg (with a Master of Science in Direct Marketing from NU) work together running what is now considered to be Canada’s largest manufacturer of wood finishing products. Phil’s legacy of being motivated, and being curious enough to develop new products, has been passed on to his sons and is still a driving force in Swing Paints. Some of the company’s newer products under the brothers’ leadership are the environmentally friendly Terra Nova line, the Stripping Kit for Dummies™, and the Super DeGooper™,. The Circa 1850 Terra Nova line features non-toxic products that are packaged to look as if they were just freshly brewed at the apothecary. This series includes items like the the Metal Restorer, Liquid Pumice Stone, and NaturOil ( a food-safe oil ideal for nourishing butcher blocks and cutting boards and preventing them from drying out) among others. The environmentally-conscious items coincide with the company’s hope to “formulate and implement actions leading to a compatible balance between human activities and the ability of natural systems to support life”. The Stripping Kit for Dummies™, on the other hand, is a complete kit that includes everything one will need to effectively remove old paint, varnish, polyurethane, and lacquer. The kit includes the following:

  • Circa 1850™ brand Stripper
  • Stripping Tools (a Maple Scraper and Specialized Stripping tool)
  • Gloves and Pads

All come with easy-to-follow directions in 3 languages. For this wood stripping set, Eric and Mark partnered with John Wiley & Sons, who publish the popular “Dummies™” series to license the name for the kit. Finally, the Super DeGooper™ is a creatively-named product that quickly gets rid of glue, stickers, ink, tar, gum and other kinds of “goop”. The name is the result of a free flowing discussion that occurs in the Swing Paints offices when the Chaimbergs brainstorm over everything from product names to packaging. To date, the Super DeGooper™ is still one the company’s bestsellers because of its affordability and ingenuity. If there’s one thing to be said about the Chaimbergs, they know what the market needs. This was the case with their entry into the antique SwingPaints-photo-circa195refinishing niche. The company also recognizes the value of great customer service. Swing Paints takes pride in the fact that, as a smaller business, they are able to provide personalized attention to their client’s needs – a rarity these days. Swing Paints also knows how to build customer relationships, and boy, do they build them early. Swing Paints was a proud sponsor of Kids Corner at the Canadian Home Workshop Show. Eric, the company VP says, “the idea of being able to work with kids and show them how they could successfully finish a project is very gratifying. The young woodworking enthusiast of today is tomorrow’s loyal customer.” Aside from young refinishing fans, Swing Paints also attracts corporate buyers and consumers alike through their marketing materials. For two years now, Swing Paints has had UPrinting produce their business cards, brochures, and flyers. Eric Chaimberg, who also leads the company’s marketing undertakings says “I’ve been very happy with the quality of product, the attention to detail, and the willingness to go the extra mile from UPrinting’s managers and customer service personnel.” Swing Paints’ appreciation for UPrinting’s attributes seems to come from their similarities. The Canadian-born paint company is, after all, known for creating high-quality products which differentiates them from the competition. By concentrating efforts towards great products, eco-friendly items, and excellent customer service, it is without a doubt that Swing Paints will find loyal followers outside North America and the UK over the coming years.


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