Sherwin-Williams’ Big Year of Business Expansion and Economic Challenges

Last week was moving-in week at Sherwin-Williams’ new headquarters tower off the northwest corner of Public Square in Downtown Cleveland. So was last month. So it will be next month. And the month after that.

Indeed, every two weeks, another wave of several hundred workers migrates to the 616-foot, 36-story-tall glass tower that is Downtown’s fourth-tallest. The 1 million-square-foot campus with its parking garage and glassy pavilion is across West Superior Avenue from what was its first corporate presence, a two-story wooden structure that housed the company’s first offices and store in 1870, four years after it was founded.

Workers began migrating to the new tower on Halloween, and they will continue through spring. The move will be completed on the 160th anniversary of Henry Sherwin and Edward Williams joining forces to “Cover the Earth,” the company’s longtime slogan.

Moves have also been made to the new Morikis Global Technology Center (MGTC) at 6701 Miller Road in Brecksville. The company began moving about 900 research and development employees from the Breen Technology Center at 601 Canal Road in Downtown Cleveland and from Sherwin-Williams’ Warrensville Technical Center in Warrensville Heights on Sept. 22.

The move to MGTC is scheduled to be done by mid-December, Sherwin-Williams' vice president of global corporate communications Julie Young said in a release. There, the company will continue to innovate. One of its earliest innovations is what set it apart from other paint companies in the 1800s: selling a pre-mixed formula.

Both the new headquarters and MGTC are the result of Sherwin-Williams’ $860 million “Building Our Future” construction program. Between the two, 4,000 workers will move into more than 1.6 million square feet of new facilities.

Overseeing the Building Our Future program was a joint venture between Welty Gilbane, composed of Welty Building Company of Fairlawn, Ohio, and Gilbane Building Company of Providence, Rhode Island.

RELATED: Sherwin-Williams Ends Hybrid Work Model, Forcing Workers Back to the Office Next Year

The move Downtown will take longer. More than 3,100 employees and their desks, computers, documents and other stuff will shift from the company's headquarters of 95 years in the Landmark Office Tower at 101 W. Prospect Ave.

Also considered part of the headquarters are several hundred workers who have spilled over into multiple floors of the neighboring Skylight Office Tower. About 100 employees from Warrensville will move Downtown, too.

Meanwhile, about 325 workers in a flex office in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood and 480 workers in the Higbee Building on Public Square will not move to the new headquarters.

Despite rumors of a second headquarters tower planned at the northeast corner of Superior and West Sixth Street, Sherwin-Williams said nothing is in the works. Its website says, “Initial project plans included the option for a second tower to accommodate future growth of the company if needed.”

In 2020, when the company confirmed it would pursue a new headquarters, it anticipated office employment growth of less than 10%. Instead, it saw 25% growth in Cleveland office jobs following its 2017 acquisition of rival Valspar.

RELATED: Sherwin-Williams’ RTO Plan Could Give Downtown Cleveland Businesses a Boost

The company’s revenue growth is even more stunning. The year before it acquired Valspar, Sherwin-Williams’ gross revenues were $11.86 billion. Last year, it earned $23.1 billion.

Sherwin-Williams hit a rough patch in 2025. It saw weak sales, economic pressures and rising costs resulting from new federal tariffs. Also, the new Building Our Future program, to be completed at the end of 2024, cost $260 million more than its original estimate of $600 million. The company instituted voluntary layoffs and suspended its employer 401K match.

The company will return its workers to the office in 2026, an update that received mixed reactions from employees, while Downtown restaurant owners and merchants welcomed the news. The DiGeronimo Companies, developers of Valor Acres — a mixed-use lifestyle center built on the former Veterans Administration Hospital and anchored by the MGTC — welcomed it, too. 

“These world-class facilities support our culture of winning together while serving the needs of our customers,” Young said in a release. “Our employees have so much to look forward to, including modern, attractive workspaces that fuel collaboration and innovation, as well as world-class amenities such as fitness and wellness centers to support their health and well-being.”

Find More Year-End Reviews in Our 2025 CLE Wrapped Feature

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