In the 1960s, it was bold psychedelic colours like sharp orange, intense teal, banana yellow, cyan blue and red.
[3] The chain won the painting and home decorating category of the Reader's Digest customer service awards in 2021, coming ahead of its rival Guthrie Bowron.
[7] Resene Automotive & Light Industrial is a specialist automotive paints manufacturer, producing products for cars, trucks, buses, planes, boats, diggers and machinery, and specialist waterborne light industrial products for machinery and furniture.
The paints are designed for the increased UV exposure, wind and salt spray and changeable weather conditions New Zealand experiences.
[2][8] The company also supplies products like fillers and bog, solvents, sandpaper, primers and topcoats and spray painting equipment.
[2] The company began as Anglo Santano in 1980, founded by a small group of entrepreneurs that spotted a gap in the market.
[2] Eastbourne builder Ted Nightingale established Resene from his garage in 1946, after being unable to find an akali-resistant paint to protect his concrete buildings.
[12] He began commercial production in a factory space in Tinakori Road to meet strong demand from local builders.
[11] A virtual technology software was introduced in 1999, which uses Adobe Flash to allow customers to test how different colours would look in their home or building.
[11] Resene reviewed all areas of its business in 2010, following two years of reduced revenues and profit margins during the Great Recession.
The company said it was left in a "tight and tenuous position", being effected by high fixed costs, fluctuations in the exchange rate for the New Zealand dollar and the rising price of raw materials.