Joliet Paint Store in Business for 140 Years Closes Its Doors

JOLIET, IL — A Joliet paint store that’s been in business for 140 years has closed its doors.

Meade Baltz Paints, formerly known at Peeling Paints when it was owned by George Peeling, closed due to a downturn in people looking for paint and competition with big-box stores, according to a report from The Herald-News.

Owned by brothers Mike and Brian Baltz, business continued to boom in the 1990s and early 2000s due to a robust housing market, but things began to go south when the housing bubble burst.

“I guess I always knew that me and Mike were going to be the last generation,” Brian told the paper. “Not to be negative, but this is one thing, I didn’t want to get my kids into the business – just because of the landscape of the industry.”

Despite the downturn in business, Brian and Mike told the paper that they think the store has been appreciated.

“It’s been a very emotional thing – more so than I thought,” Brian said in the article. “People will come in at the counter and tell stories of buying from Peeling’s on Bluff Street. Two coffees later, we’re still talking. It brings back a lot of memories.”

The store closed Oct. 29.