Running distribution like restaurant

COMPANY

Apollo Supply, started by Jerry Bednarcik, is a full stocking dealer and independent wholesale supplier of all building supplies. The wholesaler provides products to contractors, re-modelers, builders and homeowners. Family run by Jerry and his daughter Avalon, the company has locations on the east and west side of Cleveland. Apollo Supply’s exponential growth has enabled it to be featured on the Lake-Geauga Fast Track 50 list for five consecutive years.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED?

Adam Sonnhalter: Jerry, could you give us a little bit of background on your business, about how it got here today?

Jerry Bednarcik: We opened Apollo Supply in 1996 on Apollo Parkway in Willoughby. Basically it was a siding and window house when we opened. I’ve had approximately 34 years experience in doing home improvement, then supplying siding and windows direct to contractors and finally entering wholesale distribution.

Originally, we had installed siding, engineered wood products, windows and roofing. About seven years ago we went into distribution of shingles, and now we distribute all exterior building products.

OUR BIGGEST SUCCESS

Sonnhalter: So as you look back on the last 20 years of being in business for yourself, what are some of the most notable successes you’ve had?

Bednarcik: We’ve survived and spread our scope. We’re actually one of the last independent wholesale distribution companies. Well, actually the last one in Northeast Ohio. But we’re the only one actively growing. So east and west we’re the closest to Cleveland proper on both sides of town by design. There are really no wholesale distributors of exterior building products closer to the inner ring.

Our eastern location serves customers all the way to the Pennsylvania line and just north of Akron. And our west side location reaches all the way out to Lorain County and down into Medina County. So we’ve been able to figure out how to succeed across all of Northeast Ohio.

THE KEY TO YOUR SUCCESS

Mencini: Well, what do you think the key to your growth is?

Bednarcik: See, I run my business like a restaurant. I don’t like anybody leaving unhappy. It doesn’t matter whether a customer buys steak or chicken wings every Friday. You still need to cook both dishes well and deliver them so that they are appetizing to the customer, no matter what the price is or how much is ordered.

To me, it doesn’t matter if a customer is the biggest builder in town or the smallest contractor. I have to give them both great service. Great service. Not, you know, select service. A lot of my competitors give out selective service.

If you’re a large player in construction, you get a lot better service from the nationals than if you are a small contractor.

Nothing is more irritating than going into a restaurant and the food is only good if you buy the expensive stuff, yet the less expensive dishes are horrible. Why would you go back?

A lot of my competitors want to go to an order and fulfill model. That’s almost like a catalog. They want the contractor to order material a week to two in advance, they have to back-wait all orders with manufacturers. Our industry doesn’t really like it that way.

Roofers and siders are a little different. When they need a product, they need it now. A lot of siding manufacturers make up to 30 colors. We try to stock as many colors as possible, and stock the total line. So it’s always on the shelf.

That way, when the customer needs their product on Tuesday, we have it on Tuesday. It lets us also sell parts of the line by the piece.

Most of my competitors will make customers purchase it by the full carton and not take the returns on it. If my customer is over by a couple bundles, we’ll restock it. So it’s something where he can buy one bundle if he needs it.

The customer doesn’t have to buy 20, 30 square. If he only needs 13 square, he can buy that, or if he only needs one bundle.

The key is, I serve up my “dishes” the way my “restaurant” customers want them.

Mencini: That’s my idea of customer service. It gets a little expensive with inventory, too. You’re focused on delivery and quality and timeliness. You’ve got somebody who needs product now; price is just not an issue.

How do you get that balance of carrying a full store all year round then? Bednarcik: Yeah, in wholesale distribution, it’s very price sensitive, but I think you — if you do have the stuff contractors want at a reasonable price, they’ll purchase it.

There are always people who will love you for a dollar; they’ll love you for a dollar fifty, but they don’t love you for five bucks, so you can’t be that much higher. For a dollar more, it’s worth it to them to have their stuff when they want it and how they want it.

Some people like their eggs sunny side up … some like their eggs scrambled.

Bednarcik