Chattanooga Times Free Press

Wholesale Supply Group marks milestone, celebrates growth

- BY MIKE PARE STAFF WRITER

CLEVELAND, Tenn. — In a nation of big-box stores and conglomera­tes, Wholesale Supply Group gives more of what its competitor­s can’t or won’t — customer service, its executives say.

“We’ve got a lot of people who’ve been here 25, 30, 40 years,” said Lloyd Rogers, chief executive of the Cleveland-based plumbing, electrical and heating, ventilatio­n and air-conditioni­ng equipment supply business. “They value the customer.”

Rogers, 78, who on Tuesday marked the company’s 75th year, is himself a 59-year veteran of the business.

Wholesale Supply has

grown from one location in 1942 started by Roy Higgins and Gene Davis to 34 stores in six states selling both retail and wholesale.

The family-owned business with about 220 employees and more than $40 million in sales last year is looking at opportunit­ies for more growth. Rogers said that some 60 percent of sales are residentia­l,

another 30 percent commercial and the remainder is industrial.

Jeff Rogers, Wholesale Supply’s executive vice president, said the business expanded first into small towns. Much of the company’s growth came from buying out other similar businesses, said Rogers, the 55-year-old son of the CEO.

He said the company handles distributi­on out of Cleveland, and it has tried to keep that geography in mind as it expanded.

Also, the vice president said, most of the company’s leadership “started out in the back” of its operations and learned the business from the ground up.

“They’ve got a whole complete idea of the business,” he said. “You learn the system and catch on more quickly. Dad’s been handson. He wouldn’t ask anyone to do anything he would do himself.”

Like his father, Rogers, too, said that Wholesale Supply prides itself on customer service.

“It’s about relationsh­ips,” he said. “We still have places where that makes a difference.”

Joshua Rogers, the company’s marketing director, said Wholesale Supply is a “Christ-centered” business.

“It’s doing things ethically,” he said.

Also, he said customers can walk through the door of the company’s Keith Street headquarte­rs and talk to his grandfathe­r, Lloyd, or father, Jeff.

“You can’t do that in a big box,” he said.

Jeff Rogers said the company

has no plans to sell the business and officials are keeping their eyes on expanding as they continue to look at buying opportunit­ies. The company owners also expect to benefit this year from a growing economy and the possibilit­y of lower federal taxes helping people continue to build at the commercial or residentia­l level.

Lloyd Rogers joined the business in the late 1950s when it then offered building

supplies. Plumbing, and later electrical, supplies were added and each operated as standalone businesses for several years.

In the early 1970s, the building supply division was closed and the other segments were brought under the Wholesale Supply Group umbrella.

Since 1987, 29 new branches have opened.

Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreep­ress. com or 423-757-6318.

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 ?? STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG STRICKLAND ?? Ken and Sandy Blankenshi­p look at light fixtures in the showroom at Wholesale Supply Group in Cleveland, Tenn. The company marked 75 years on Tuesday.
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG STRICKLAND Ken and Sandy Blankenshi­p look at light fixtures in the showroom at Wholesale Supply Group in Cleveland, Tenn. The company marked 75 years on Tuesday.
 ?? STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG STRICKLAND ?? CEO Lloyd Rogers talks in his office at Wholesale Supply Group in Cleveland, Tenn. Rogers has worked 59 years at the company.
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG STRICKLAND CEO Lloyd Rogers talks in his office at Wholesale Supply Group in Cleveland, Tenn. Rogers has worked 59 years at the company.

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