SHW

Sherwin Williams Co.

The Sherwin-Williams Company, founded in 1866 and incorporated in Ohio in 1884, is engaged in the development, manufacture, distribution and sale of paint, coatings and related products to professional, industrial, commercial and retail customers primarily in North and South America with additional operations in the Caribbean region, Europe and Asia. Our principal executive offices are located at 101 West Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115-1075, telephone (216) 566-2000. As used in this report, the terms “Sherwin-Williams,” “Company,” “we” and “our” mean The Sherwin-Williams Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless the context indicates otherwise.

Basis of Reportable Segments

We report our segment information in the same way that management internally organizes our business for assessing performance and making decisions regarding allocation of resources in accordance with the Segment Reporting Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification (ASC). We have three reportable operating segments: Paint Stores Group, Consumer Group and Global Finishes Group (collectively, the “Reportable Operating Segments”). Factors considered in determining our Reportable Operating Segments include the nature of the business activities, existence of managers responsible for the operating and administrative activities and information presented to our Board of Directors. We report all other business activities and immaterial operating segments that are not reportable in the Administrative segment. For more information about the Reportable Operating Segments, see pages 5 through 7 of our 2009 Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference.

The Company’s chief operating decision maker (CODM) has been identified as the Chief Executive Officer because he has final authority over performance assessment and resource allocation decisions. Because of the diverse operations of the Company, the CODM regularly receives discrete financial information about each Reportable Operating Segment as well as a significant amount of additional financial information about certain divisions, business units or subsidiaries of the Company. The CODM uses all such financial information for performance assessment and resource allocation decisions. The CODM evaluates the performance of and allocates resources to the Reportable Operating Segments based on profit or loss before income taxes and cash generated from operations. The accounting policies of the Reportable Operating Segments are the same as those described in Note 1 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements on pages 44 through 50 of our 2009 Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Paint Stores Group

The Paint Stores Group consisted of 3,354 company-operated specialty paint stores in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Maarten and Jamaica at December 31, 2009. Each store in this segment is engaged in the related business activity of selling paint, coatings and related products to end-use customers. The Paint Stores Group markets and sells Sherwin-Williams® branded architectural paint and coatings, industrial and marine products, original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) product finishes and related items. These products are produced by manufacturing facilities in the Consumer and Global Finishes Groups. In addition, each store sells selected purchased associated products. During 2009, this segment opened 8 net new stores, consisting of 53 new stores opened (44 in the United States, 7 in Canada, 1 in Jamaica and 1 in St. Maarten) and 45 stores closed (in the United States). In 2008, this segment opened 21 net new stores (14 in the United States). In 2007, there were 172 stores acquired and 107 net new stores opened (81 in the United States). The loss of any single customer would not have a material adverse effect on the business of this segment. A map on page 10 of our 2009 Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference, shows the number of paint stores and their geographic locations.

Consumer Group

The Consumer Group develops, manufactures and distributes a variety of paint, coatings and related products to third party customers primarily in the United States and Canada and the Paint Stores Group. Approximately 51 percent of the total sales of the Consumer Group in 2009, including inter-segment transfers, represented products sold through the Paint Stores Group. Sales and marketing of certain controlled brand and private labeled products is performed by a direct sales staff. The products distributed through third party customers are intended for resale to the ultimate end-user of the product. The Consumer Group had sales to certain customers that, individually, may be a significant portion of the sales of the segment. However, the loss of any single customer would not have a material adverse effect on the overall profitability of the segment. This segment incurred most of the Company’s capital expenditures related to ongoing environmental compliance measures.

Global Finishes Group

The Global Finishes Group develops, licenses, manufactures, distributes and sells a variety of architectural paint and coatings, industrial and marine products, automotive finishes and refinish products, OEM coatings and related products in North and South America, Europe and Asia. This segment meets the demands of its customers for a consistent worldwide product development, manufacturing and distribution presence and approach to doing business. This segment licenses certain technology and trade names worldwide. Sherwin-Williams® and other controlled brand products are distributed through the Paint Stores Group and this segment’s 539 company-operated branches and by a direct sales staff and outside sales representatives to retailers, dealers, jobbers, licensees and other third party distributors. During 2009, this segment opened 18 new branches (8 in the United States, 1 in Canada, 6 in South America and 3 in India) and closed 20 (1 in South America, 15 in the United States and 4 in Mexico) for a net reduction of 2 branches. At December 31, 2009, the Global Finishes Group consisted of operations in the United States, subsidiaries in 14 foreign countries, 4 foreign joint ventures and income from licensing agreements in 16 foreign countries. A map on page 10 of our 2009 Annual Report, which is incorporated herein by reference, shows the number of branches and their geographic locations.

Administrative Segment

The Administrative segment includes the administrative expenses of the Company’s corporate headquarters site. Also included in the Administrative segment was interest expense, interest and investment income, certain expenses related to closed facilities and environmental-related matters, and other expenses which were not directly associated with the Reportable Operating Segments. The Administrative segment did not include any significant foreign operations. Also included in the Administrative segment was a real estate management unit that is responsible for the ownership, management, and leasing of non-retail properties held primarily for use by the Company, including the Company’s headquarters site, and disposal of idle facilities. Sales of this segment represented external leasing revenue of excess headquarters space or leasing of facilities no longer used by the Company in its primary businesses. Gains and losses from the sale of property were not a significant operating factor in determining the performance of the Administrative segment.

Employees

We employed 29,220 persons at December 31, 2009.