he has been with sure when williams for 38 years. -- sherwin williams. he can answer questions about their specific operating. i will turn it over to gary. >> thank you. sure wsherwin williams is an american company founded in 1877. our sole business is the manufacturing and distribution of paint. we manufacture paint for very -- various business segments. however, the primary purpose of the polk street vacation is the do-it-yourself consumer. we find a professional painting contractors, the property maintenance painter, the painter who does regular maintenance on apartments and condos and the small commercial painters, those individuals who specialized in painting office buildings and health-care facilities. now, i have been asked several times why we would want a paint store on polk street when there are other suppliers there, the other suppliers as have been noted are all in that vicinity. however, we have done it research, market research, and what we have found is there is approximately a $36 million retail gap between the need for a building product

they're saying is there a half-dozen other brands that are located in the area, and there is no sherwin williams, and by bringing them in a basically dilutes the paek store sales at other stores and puts a foot . i would like you to consider turning down this project based on the formula retail in keeping locally-owned businesses active and alive in the city. thank you. president olague>> hello, i ow's hardware, a store that has been there since 1905, part of the merchants association. formula legislation was brought to us because we had a proliferation of video stores in san francisco. that is why it came in. that is why we had it. some of the formula legislation has had problems. this particular case is exactly why it was brought in. sherman williams wants to dominate san francisco with paint stores. it seems clear to me that the legislation says look at the ncd and do a survey of it. polk street is 14 blocks along with various widths. having asserted that stops a half a block from where the store is going in is ridiculous to me. if you had 14 blocks, u.n. more paint stores, more hardware stor