2014 Winwholesale Annual Meetings and Vendor Showcase, Grapevine, Texas
Family matters
WinWholesale COO Monte Salsman (left) and Chairman of the Board Rick Schwartz address a question during the media session at the 2014 WinWholesale Annual Meetings and Vendor Showcase in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
Clockwise from top left: WinWholesale’s executive management team of Jack Johnston (President), Monte Salsman (COO), Rick Schwartz (Chairman of the Board) and Steve Edwards (Vice President of Marketing) held an hour-long question-and-answer session with the media during the 2014 WinWholesale Annual Meetings and Vendor Showcase. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
A special WinWholesale model train was running in the Gaylord Texan resort’s signature train area during the 2014 WinWholesale Annual Meetings and Vendor Showcase in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
WinWholesale Vice President of Marketing Steve Edwards addresses a crowd of about 1,200 people at the company’s awards dinner and ceremony in suburban Dallas. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
“Dave From Texas” provided great musical entertainment during WinWholesale’s Annual Meetings and Vendor Showcase at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
WinWholesale Chairman of the Board Rick Schwartz addresses the crowd during the company’s awards dinner and ceremony. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
John Knab of Tampa Winsupply is all smiles after receiving the Best Turnaround Award at the WinWholesale Annual Meeting and Vendor Showcase in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
WinWholesale COO Monte Salsman presents Denver-based Northglen Winnelson’s Mark Mandarich with the Core Customer Growth Award at the WinWholesale Annual Meeting and Vendor Showcase in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
Baltimore Windustrial’s Vincent Brown gives a brief speech after being recognized for heroic actions in the wake of a massive explosion near Baltimore Windustrial’s facility. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
An emotional Chester Remington (Kansas City Winwater Works) addresses a crowd of some 1,200 after being named the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the WinWholesale dinner and awards ceremony in Grapevine, Texas. Photo by Mike Miazga/Supply House Times
WinWholesale held one heck of a family reunion recently.
The Dayton, Ohio-based company’s Annual Meetings and Vendor Showcase drew a crowd of about 1,200 to the Gaylord Texan resort in Grapevine, Texas, just outside Dallas.
The meetings brought together 540 WinWholesale local companies (477 Win-branded companies and 63 Noland Companies) as well as 193 vendors. A number of manufacturers reps also were part of the festivities. This was the 58th overall company meeting and the second time when the entire company was represented under one roof (the first was two years ago in Nashville, Tenn.).
In addition to face-to-face company meetings, attendees heard a variety of speakers, attended vendor training sessions and met one-on-one with vendor representatives. The Vendor Showcase portion of the show was a smash hit with the nearly 200 vendors displaying new products and technologies.
WinWholesale hosts Q&A
During the event, members of the WinWholesale executive management team held a one-hour question-and-answer session with members of the national trade media. Present for the session were CEO and Chairman of the Board Rick Schwartz, President Jack Johnston, COO Monte Salsman and Vice President of Marketing Steve Edwards.
Schwartz reported the company enjoyed a prosperous fiscal year (which ended Jan. 31, 2014) with revenues increasing from $1.94 billion the previous year to $2.2 billion.
“We had a fantastic year,” Schwartz said. “It was our best year since 2008. Our business model success is evidenced by the strength of each local company.”
WinWholesale opened 13 new locations and acquired three others in fiscal year 2013, which upped the company’s portfolio to 559 locations around the country. Salsman revealed WinWholesale local companies range in size from $750,000 in annual sales to $28 million in annual sales with the company average at about $4 million annually.
During the event, WinWholesale celebrated a milestone when the first order was shipped out of its new 256,000-sq-ft. Aurora, Colo., distribution center. The company has four DCs throughout the country.
During the question-and-answer session, a question was asked if any thought was given to changing company branding to a singular WinWholesale name and eliminating the other industry-specific titles such as Winair, Winnelson and Winwater Works.
“Our locations are very industry-specific,” Edwards said. “Windustrial, for example, sells more industrial-specific products so a name change would make a little less sense.”
Edwards added the name Winsupply has been bandied about and several new locations and some existing locations have adapted that name, but no overall company name change is currently in the works.
“Our brand is very important,” Edwards said. “It’s not about a name or a logo. Our brand was built on three pillars: dependable expertise, products when and where you need them and the ability to deal with a local decision-maker. That’s what we live by every day.”
WinWholesale honors vendors
After the Vendor Showcase, WinWholesale hosted its awards dinner and reception that honored its top-performing local companies and vendors. Among the winners were: Plumbing Company of the Year: Tulsa Winnelson (Chuck Johnson); Industrial Company of the Year: Newburgh Windustrial (Dean Lucas); Dan Burns Award: Dean Lucas (Newburgh Windustrial); Special recognition: Vince Brown (Baltimore Windustrial); Lifetime Achievement: Chester Remington (Kansas City Winwater Works).
HELPFUL LINKS:
