SHW
#<UNK>, as an ongoing basis we have never broken price mix gallons out.
What we try to do from an earlier question is we're saying that when you look at the 320 you have the Comex integration which was very positive for us.
We've taken their gallons and their footprint through our footprint.
I think also the increasing gallons of the Stores Group as well as the increasing gallons in the Consumer Group and also as we've always said that the Stores Group has the highest SG&A as a percent of sales.
So when you look at the operating margins that means that the gross margins are the highest as we sell directly to the end user.
As they become a bigger and bigger piece of the Company, that is going to create that mix.
And then there was raw materials in there.
Those are all the factors and what we said is if you look without ---+ raw materials really didn't drive this.
It was the other three factors that drove it.
Yes, <UNK>.
It looks very positive.
We commented on the call that the residential repaint activity has remained strong.
It's actually been strong for going on three years now.
And if you look at housing activity in general, there's a lot of reason to believe that the recovery is still in full swing.
Household formations have been very strong and have remained strong.
Existing home sales are up almost 8% year-over-year.
Pending home sales up almost 10%.
Average home values are pricing and continues to rise which is healthy for the industry.
And on the new construction side it's even stronger with new home sales up almost 20% and single-family starts up more than 10%.
Non-residential starts slowed a little this year, but the interesting thing this year there is that in 2015 despite it being down slightly from 2014, it's the second strong this year since 2008.
We have back to back to back strong years of starts in nonresidential activity which is going to drive commercial painting in the years ahead.
We are always looking for those opportunities.
That could be by customer or by segment and we keep a close eye on to those.
As you should expect, our teams on the ground are empowered and pursuing those opportunities as they present themselves.
Our operating margins in the consumer group were up 40 basis points in the quarter for the year.
I thought you were going to ask the other question.
We said that the Lowe's business is fairly neutral.
It's not accretive or dilutive this year.
How with all the sales could you get the operating margin up.
So I think you can imagine what kind of increase that has.
(laughing) I mean that's really where ---+ I think it's a great positive story that again that integration from Comex is creating that kind of value that the Lowe's business at close to zero operating margin is not affecting the total operating margins for the consumer.
In fact, remember, at the beginning of the year many people thought that the Consumer Group would go backwards on operating margins because of that Lowe's business.
Yes.
Well, actually no one has a product like this.
This is a very unique and exclusive and patented technology and it is a product that we are very proud of.
The market size that you asked, it's a little hard to define as we're finding more and more opportunities for this.
We look for the opportunities in schools, athletic facilities, in senior care facilities and hospitality settings, even in residential areas, wherever these infectious bacteria may exist we feel as though this product offers an application.
And in a nutshell what we have here is our Company has successfully suspended compound in a paint product that will kill bacteria.
It's very unique.
If you look at the issues, the hospital space, it's quite an issue.
The product that we have will kill 99.9% of staph, MRSA, E.
coli, and a couple of other bacteria that really pose a serious challenge to our hospital and these other areas that we mentioned.
To develop a product that does not just inhibit these microbes but actually kills bacteria is very unique and it's the first EPA registered product of its kind.
So, there might be other products, but nothing like this.
No.
And the way you go through this is very painfully would be my answer.
It took us a number of years and quite an effort on our team's part.
We are very proud of our team and the process that they went through.
So, it is a product that is, as I mentioned, EPA registered.
It's the first microbicidal paint that kills these bacteria.
It lasts up to four years.
We really believe this is a game changer in the industry.
We're very excited about it.
We had a wonderful launch yesterday and we're really looking forward to the opportunity that this product will present.
We just do not disclose that type of information.
We're very excited though, I will say that.
We're very excited.
That's fair.
I would say there was a little bit of a lag.
We didn't see it immediately, but it has accelerated recently.
Yes.
We don't break that out, but I will tell you the majority of that is actually in the Service Group.
There was no sell ---+ it was all selling out.
It was through.
There was no loading in.
We didn't see that.
On the SG&A line we've always said that a high percentage of our SG&A is fixed and we've always said that because we wouldn't open a store without a manager, assistant manager, the right staffing models.
When we open a store we consider a lot of that fixed and that's how we manage a company.
We say if we're going to open a store, probably when I sit there and look at it, the way we look at it, almost 90% of it is fixed, 10% is variable.
I think if you look at the way, and we're guesstimating here on these foreign currency, but if you remember, fourth quarter is when it really started to fall off.
If you think about the value of the dollar just jumped in the fourth quarter, so we did the comparisons get better, we don't think the currencies may get stronger, but just the comparisons get better.
So we're seeing that.
And just looking at the business and where we're at in the other areas.
Someone said it earlier, even though there was a lag we did start seeing some of the protective marine in the fourth quarter being negatively affected.
We think those are the reasons you see the 1/10 going up to the mid low single digits.
Again, this would be a better discussion for Lowe's.
Their pricing of that product is something that they determine.
In the automotive refinish business I'd say we do see some pressure there.
There's a great deal of consolidation that's taken on in that space.
We have found ourselves on the wrong side of some of the transactions that have taken place, so we felt a some pressure in our market share.
Well, every day we're trying to address that.
Our products and our services we think are good.
We are trying to align ourselves with the right customers and ensure that the introductions that we have of both new products and our people are in the right place doing the right things at the right time.
Thank you again, Carrie.
As always, I will be available for the balance of today, tomorrow, and throughout the coming week to answer your follow-up questions.
I would like to thank you again for joining us this morning and thanks for your continued interest in Sherwin-Williams.
