Ulan Ba-what?

Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, just north of China.

And don’t forget Novosibirsk. It’s in Siberia, closer to Kazakhstan – and closer to Ulan Bator, for that matter – than to Moscow. You can buy a gallon of Parker Paint there, as well.

Privately held, Parker was established in Tacoma in 1945 by painting contractor Bill Parker. He was having trouble finding a quality product, so he started his own company and made his own paint.

After a handful of ownership changes over the years, the company is now owned by Comex, a Mexican paint manufacturer and parent to six North American companies.

Comex is an international brand that honors its local brands, said Jeff Engle, Parker’s vice president of sales.

And it was Rankin Jays, a New Zealand native – now product management and marketing director at Parker – who finally visited Ulan Bator to seal the Mongolian deal.

So what you have is a New Zealander who worked to open a store in Mongolia that will sell paint made in Tacoma at a plant owned by a company with headquarters in Mexico.

“It’s still Parker Paint,” Jays said.

“The name Parker has stayed the same,” said Mike Morris, Parker’s area manager.

If you’re not familiar with the company, Parker primarily serves painting contractors. Eighty-five percent of sales go to contractors, and 15 percent derives from retail sales.

With 200 employees and 38 stores in the Pacific Northwest, Parker is the smallest of the Comex brands.

“We do Washington, Oregon, Mongolia and Siberia,” said Engle, earlier this month at the Tacoma plant.

“We take the time to pursue any opportunity to sell paint,” said Jays.

“There is quite a demand for American products,” said Morris. “Some people prefer American products.”

Such was the case with the Mongolian entrepreneur who happened to walk into Parker’s retail showroom along South Tacoma Way. He asked the woman behind the counter about expanding into Asia, into a city about as far away as possible from anywhere else.

She referred him to the corporate office, just up the street.

“We get e-mail daily from anywhere,” Jays said. “We take the time to weed through them. This was especially random. He was looking for a business opportunity.”

The first shipment went out a the end of 2006, oils and latex, two containers, maybe 7,000 gallons.

This year, Parker will ship eight containers to Mongolia.

The entrepreneur “established a paint store,” Jays said. “It’s 4,500 square feet. It looks like a paint store. It’s called ‘The House Center.’”

Jays visited in 2007.

His hotel offered intermittent elevator service and intermittent plumbing, but the people were nice.

“There is the Gobi Desert, and there is the rest of the country. Downtown Ulan Bator is what you would expect from a developing country,” he said.

It’s where Ghengis Khan – the most feared warlord in history, the man who conquered all of Asia and most of Europe – was headquartered.

It’s a place where you can stay at the Ghengis Khan Hotel and drink Ghengis Khan Beer at the Ghengis Khan Irish Pub.

“There is now a lot of foreign investment in commercial construction,” Jays said. “They’re obviously looking for products with a reputation.”

Such as Coca-Cola. There’s a new Coke plant in Ulan Bator – and the floor of that Coke plant is covered with a Parker Paint product. Parker Paint graces the National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet. So too the stock exchange in Sukhbaatar Square.

“Interior and exterior latex is a staple,” said Jays. The preferred colors for Mongolian customers are “the more vibrant, the better.”

The Asian market represents less than five percent of sales at Parker.

As for domestic growth, Engle said Parker will concentrate on the Interstate 5 corridor.

“We may go to Eastern Washington someday,” he said. But for now, “we’re hunkering down, like everyone.”

The company is developing a new line of premium exterior paint, and an exterior paint with a lifetime guarantee, and several clean-air products. Over the next few years, look for a heat-sensitive paint that changes color with the temperature.

The company manufacturers maybe 1,600 standard paint colors, plus coverings of one sort or another. Parker products are used in shipyards and at pubic-works projects as well as at home sites.

“People want to buy from their friends, whether they’re halfway across the world or in Tacoma,” said Morris.

“We market thorough personal contacts. We develop personal relationships with customers,” said Engle.

Jays – who appeared as an extra in the Francis Ford Coppola epic “Apocalypse Now,” which is another story altogether – will return to Russia in April to attend Moscow’s International Builders’ Show. In July or August, he’ll head for Mongolia.

Where he will surely visit the only paint store in Ulan Bator.

C.R. Roberts: 253-597-8535

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