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Quality, Service, and Partnership.

Family-owned and built on a legacy of partnership, commitment,
and integrity, we are setting new standards for client satisfaction.

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The Zack Mission

For the next 100 years, our mission is to extend the legacy of the Zack Painting Company and create even greater client and business relationships and success built on trust, value, and performance.
In achieving this mission, we will expand and maintain our policy of owner-directed, hands-on supervision in our day-to-day operations as of one of New Jersey’s leading resources for painting, wallcovering, and other related contractor services to the commercial, industrial, institutional, and academic communities.

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The Zack
Core Values

> QUALITY
> PROFESSIONALISM
> COMMITMENT
> PARTNERSHIP
> FAMILY

Zack Painting History

1923

The Year it All Began

It’s the Roaring Twenties, Calvin Coolidge becomes the 30th president, succeeding President Warren G. Harding. Ford sedans, selling for around $400 each, are available in the color of your choice as long as it is black. Americans are dancing the Charleston amid a craze for dance marathons, and mah-jong captures the country’s fancy. Fans flock to just-opened Yankee Stadium to watch Babe Ruth lead the Bronx Bombers to their third straight pennant. Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton are two of the burgeoning film industry’s biggest stars, along with Harold Lloyd, whose zany antics hanging off a building in “Safety Last,” make the film one of the hits of the year. Time Magazine debuts. And in Fords, New Jersey, Zack Painting is born when newly married Philip H. Zack leaves his father’s painting business to open his own paint store at 1020 Amboy Avenue, and begins a contracting business with one employee.

1927

The Biggest Job to Date

Phil Zack wins a contract to paint schools in Long Branch, and the business is on its way, with additional painters hired to handle the increased workload. The job permits Phil to move to a house on Jefferson St. that also serves as the painting operation’s new offices.

1929

Stock Market Crash is a Downer

The Great Depression following the Crash brings difficult economic times for the Zack painting business as well as the family. After several years of struggle, in 1933 the house is lost and the family and the painting operation moved to an apartment house with one garage in Perth Amboy. The rent is $35 a month plus the use of young Jules to shovel coal for the hot water furnace! To supplement income from painting, Phil Zack takes a job as a foreman for the WPA, earning the princely sum of $11 per week. His painting clients are small retail shops, most of whom pay in merchandise from their stores, rather in cash.

1939

Hooray for HoJo

The first major contract the business receives is painting the newly built Howard Johnson Restaurant in New Brunswick, and the job has unexpected benefits. The client is so pleased with the performance and quality of the work that Phil Zack is rewarded with a free, extended weekend for his entire family at Howard Johnson’s home base restaurant in Springfield, Mass. The painting bill is paid in full, and the family of six enjoys their first real vacation and being wined and dined for four days. The following year, 1940, the business and family move to Park Ave. in Perth Amboy.

1946

Zack Catapults to Industrial Clients

Will Zack returns from the U.S. Army and brings a new dimension to the company, adding the first industrial business to Zack’s growing client list in the years just following World War II. The first of these jobs, at Lakehurst Naval Station, entails painting ground-installed catapult test equipment used by the U.S. Navy to propel aircraft aloft from the decks of aircraft carriers. Roscoe Engineering of Washington, DC, is the catalyst for the job, extending Zack a line of credit to buy the necessary equipment. The contract for $200,000 (equal to perhaps $2,000,000 today) is very profitable for Zack and the project provides the qualifications for other industrial jobs. Reichhold Chemicals, Raritan Arsenal, and Agrico, among others, soon join the growing list of industrial clients. In addition, Zack increases its range of services offered and expands its coverage area. The name of the company is now Philip H. Zack & Son.

1948

Zack Celebrates Silver Anniversary

America enjoys a prosperous year, and President Harry Truman upsets the pollsters and stuns the Republicans by defeating Thomas Dewey. The UN partitions Palestine and the U.S. becomes the first country to recognize the new state of Israel. Airwaves are filled with the songs of Bing Crosby and Buddy Clark, and Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy” is the year’s big hit as 33½ LP records debut. TV captivates America and the country falls in love with Howdy Doody and Milton Berle’s comedy antics. New Jersey mirrors the strong national economy and Zack’s painting business continues to flourish as the family and the company move to a new location on State Street.

1962

The Company’s Founder Passes On

On July 3, 1962, Phillip H. Zack succumbs to a heart attack at the age of 62. The company had been his life’s work, and his perseverance had guided Zack Painting through nearly four decades of dedicated service. Phil had lived to see the business move to its permanent home and thrive under the direction of Will Zack. The year following, the business adopts a new name that is more reflective of its present stature – Zack Painting, Co., Inc. One year later, Jules leaves the oil business and joins the company as Vice President.

1965

Zack Goes to Greenland and Bumps the Military

Greenland’s Thule Air Force Base is a far cry from Fords, NJ. But not too far when Zack’s expertise is called upon for a special job, such as painting the Radome, part of the U.S. Air Force’s early-warning system housing sensitive radar equipment. Although it is summer, the temperature is just 35 degrees and the 10-man Zack crew labors around-the-clock (there are 24 hours of daylight) under inhospitable weather conditions. The contract calls for the crew to be on-site for 10 days, and Zack is protected by a penalty clause should it be necessary to remain in Greenland beyond this period. While 150-knot winds make painting impossible for three days, Zack’s professionalism and commitment to performance enable the job to be completed on the 10th and final day. However, there are no available seats remaining on the one flight out. But the Air Force, determined to avoid the penalty clause, bumps a livid colonel and nine other unhappy military personnel to make way for 10 Zack painters!

1973

Zack Turns Golden at 50

President Nixon faces possible impeachment or resignation as evidence mounts over the break-in at Watergate. At the half-century mark, Zack Painting, fueled by its well-earned reputation for superior service and timely, quality performance, continues its growth.

1975

A New Generation Comes on Board

Avid skier David Zack, working in a ski shop, switches careers and joins the company. In 1980, as Jack Nicklaus wins the U.S. Open golf tournament, golfing enthusiast Robert Zack becomes a member of the Zack Painting team. The company now boasts four “Zacks of all trades.”

2000+

Then, Now, and Tomorrow

The world has changed since Phil Zack went out on his own many years ago. From a local, two-man shop, Zack has grown to one of the largest painting companies in New Jersey, providing services across the country for special products. Many of our services didn’t exist in 1923 and today we employ state-of-the-art painting techniques unknown in that day. What remains unchanged over the years is our expertise, dedication, timely performance, and competitive pricing. This has enabled us to earn a reputation for high quality, reliability, and overall professionalism, leading to long-term relationships.