At D.L. Richie Paint ’n Decorating Center in Bethel Park, Devoe paints have been sold for 50-plus years to several generations of do-it-yourselfers.

Though the brand — formerly owned by Dutch paints maker AkzoNobel — brought in customers from the same families for decades to his business on Brightwood Road, store owner David Richie isn’t worried that it’s being phased out.

The product’s new parent, coatings giant PPG Industries, has rebranded Devoe as PPG Pittsburgh Paints and that name has the potential to generate wider buzz — and possibly more sales — because it carries a hometown label, Mr. Richie said.

“My gut feeling is that it should be good because of the name recognition of PPG,” he said.

Besides a better-known name on its shelves, D.L. Richie could get an additional boost as a buy-local store through a partnership that Downtown-based PPG has forged with Independent We Stand, a nonprofit that promotes locally owned and operated businesses.

The Bethel Park store is among 700 to 800 PPG dealers in the United States that will join the Independent We Stand network and be exclusive carriers of the PPG Pittsburgh Paints brand.

“It’s a way to reinforce our message and support for independent dealers, and bring recognition to independent businesses,” said John Trenta, senior brand manager for PPG architectural coatings at its North American headquarters in Cranberry.

As part of the partnership, member dealers will have access to marketing, signage, mobile apps and other promotional materials that support the buy-local movement.

“It’s become apparent that there are a lot of small businesses that really need help to stand out from the big-box stores and chains,” said Bill Brunelle, co-founder of Independent We Stand, based in Virginia Beach, Va.

The nonprofit partnered with Devoe as its exclusive paint brand before PPG bought AkzoNobel’s North American architectural paints unit in 2013 for $1.05 billion. Since then, PPG has been consolidating Akzo’s product portfolio with its own and combined Devoe into a redesigned PPG Pittsburgh Paints brand for consumers and contractors.

Devoe sub-brands Wonder-Tones, Weather King and Wonder-Pro will be marketed as part of the line.

Some PPG brands that were part of the Pittsburgh Paints group — including Manor Hall and Sun Proof — will now be available under a separate PPG Paints brand that will be sold at 900 company-owned stores as well as by independent dealers.

With the Independent We Stand affiliation, PPG isn’t divorcing itself from national chains. Many of its brands will continue to be sold at major home centers, including Olympic products at Lowe’s and Glidden products at Home Depot and Wal-Mart.

PPG’s consumer paint brands are part of its performance coatings segment that generated $8.7 billion in revenues last year, up 10 percent from 2013.

Mr. Trenta, who formerly worked for Akzo as a brand manager for Devoe, said the connection with Independent We Stand raises the brand’s profile on social media outlets and through community service initiatives.

PPG’s independent dealers, located in all 50 states, will also benefit from the nonprofit’s member forum that allows them to participate in online networking and to share marketing tools, he said.

Independent We Stand was launched in 2010 as a cause marketing campaign for Stihl Inc., which makes chainsaws and other power tools.

The Germany-based company had made a conscious decision to sell through locally owned garden centers, hardware and tool shops, said Mr. Brunelle, and wanted a marketing campaign to educate consumers about the significance of supporting local businesses.

“Stihl was the inspiration and founding sponsor for our organization,” he said. “It’s ‘cause marketing’ that morphed into a movement of small, independent businesses.”

The nonprofit’s database now includes 126,000 U.S. businesses that range from “bowling alleys, motorcycle shops and tattoo parlors to everything in between,” he said.

First Published: April 8, 2015, 4:00 a.m.