SEPTEMBER 2010 VOL 65, NO. 9 News of Plumbing • Heating • Cooling • Industrial Piping Distribution Northeastern Working hand in hand Supply acquires Standard Supply and Equipment FRonT RoYal, Va. — on July 26, northeastern Supply opened its 33rd location by acquisition of Standard Supply and Equipment, 501 E main St., Front Royal, Va. Former owner gary hickerson will continue to work with northeastern to help provide a smooth transition and new services and products to cus- (Turn to Acquisiton, page 26.) HARDI and JP Morgan partner on HVAC survey ColumbuS, ohio — haRDi recently completed the second annual mid- season hVaC Distributor Survey in partnership with JP morgan Equity Research. more than 100 haRDi hVaC equipment distributors reported a strong 2010 thus far, driven largely Jason Veal (left) of Tallman Company, a member of Affiliated Distributors, and Anthony Crouch of Crouch & by weather, continued momentum Sons Plumbing were instrumental in getting the Noritz commercial tankless system specified for The Residence from the $1,500 residential tax cred- Inn in Florence, Ala. The high-efficiency, multi-unit condensing tankless solution features an innovative common its and pent-up demand from last venting setup to minimize exterior wall penetrations. The tankless system supplies 130 guest rooms, along with year’s weak replacement sales. the dining and laundry rooms, with never-ending hot water. (See feature on page 42.) (Turn to HVAC survey... page 26.) Small gains but encouraging ASA distributor members report first positive quarter since 2008 ChiCago — The american Supply associ- heating, cooling, and industrial and me- year with a 2.8% improvement, although ation distributor members reported a 2.3% chanical pipe, valve and fitting distributors the month remained 14.1% behind 2008. improvement in revenues during the sec- are still behind last year by 1.4% For the second month in a row, ond quarter 2010 as compared to the same and behind by 15.2% as compared one-third more distributors reported quarter in 2009. Year-to-date the plumbing, to 2008. For the month of June, the improved margins in 2010 as com- wholesalers re- pared to 2009. on a year-to-date ported only the third im- basis, the number of distributors reporting proved month in the last improved margins is equal to the number 18 months over the same reporting reduced margins. interestingly, periods of the previous (Turn to A better year... page 26) See contact information on page 86 Winning combinations. Choose any combination of our thousands of SKU’s and you win. We are the nation’s leading supplier of code-compliant, globally sourced plumbing and PVF products for residential, commercial, and industrial applications. Our quality plumbing and PVF products are priced right and we maintain local stocking and reps to serve you. Simply put, we’re the best in the game. Global sourcing. National compliance. Local service. Brewster NY P: 800-431-2082 F: 800-640-2252 Houston TX P: 800-935-5456 F: 800-683-4247 La Palma CA P: 866-532-8306 F: 866-532-8307 Americus GA P: 800-433-7526 F: 800-533-5134 www.matco-norca.com t [email protected] See contact information on page 86 4 • INDUSTRY NEWS •THE WHOLESALER® — SEPTEMBER 2010 TSC’s Litco Supply opens new showroom WaTERbuRY, Conn. — The new litco Supply Company luxury bath Cen- ter showroom in Torrington, Conn., showcases bath, kitchen, tile and stone, serving both retail and trade customers. litco Supply hosted a grand open- ing event, “a Treasure is among us” for its trade customers on June 24. additional business for both trade and The theme was selected to display to retail customers. customers that they truly are a treas- Even though the economic land- Among the key people involved in the Grand Opening of TSC/Litco Supply’s ure to litco Supply and that the com- scape is soft and some companies are new showroom were (from left) Dawn Corbo, Luxury Bath Center designer and pany hopes the new luxury bath reducing expenses, TSC Distribution showroom manager; Melissa Pressmar, Luxury Bath Center designer; and Center will be a treasure for them. group is forging through this market. Nancy Becker, Luxury Bath Center sales division leader. along with product displays and it understands that focusing energy tours of the impressive luxury bath and dollars into rebuilding its luxury project would not have come to setting that is attractive, functional center, customers enjoyed an exciting bath centers and other key areas of fruition. and draws in the customer based on time with colleagues and employees litco Supply now will better position “Everything is coming together style. along with our new showroom, from litco Supply and Torrington the company in the near future. nicely and now we can provide a pos- we’re offering a clearance corner that Supply. litco Supply is undergoing Jen black of litco Supply has been itive shopping experience for both is available to both retail and trade redesigns of all three of its show- the pioneer in the entire rebirth of the trade and retail customers,” she said. customers.” rooms, ultimately hoping to generate luxury bath Center. Without her, this “Product can now be displayed in a Visit www.torringtonsupply.com. questions and learn more about the PACE Supply hosts vendor fair specific product lines PaCE offers. SanTa RoSa, CaliF. — on april 29, ideal opportunity for PaCE’s sales This highlighted the importance of PaCE Supply Corp.’s Santa Rosa force, management and the manufac- networking between wholesale dis- branch hosted a commercial vendor turers to promote stocked products tributors, vendors, specifiers and cus- fair with 13 manufacturers who dis- supported locally in Santa Rosa. tomers for building new business and played their products at Santa Rosa’s The event offered business owners for obtaining product specifications largest event center, the hyatt Vineyard of key accounts, local builders and for future projects in targeted areas. Creek hotel & Spa. This provided an engineers the opportunity to ask PaCE Supply Corporation is an employee-owned company that oper- ates 11 wholesale branches through- out northern California, plus a consumer-oriented Premier bath & Pacific Plumbing Kitchen showroom in Santa Rosa. Supply launches F.W. Webb showroom for sponsors NASCAR event bEDFoRD, maSS. — bedford-based radiant products plumbing and heating distributor F.W. Webb is the title sponsor for the SEaTTlE — Pacific Plumbing Supply naSCaR Whelen modified Tour Co. llC has opened a new radiant and event on Sept. 18 at new hampshire hydronic showroom, The Pacific motor Speedway. The race, formerly green Room, at its headquarters in the new hampshire 100, is now Seattle. The company displays and known as the F.W. Webb 100. sells leading edge plumbing products, “We are pleased to have F.W. Webb including water heaters, tankless water as the title sponsor for the naSCaR heaters, boilers, solar plumbing sys- Whelen modified Tour event,” speed- tems, PEX piping and commercial way executive vice president and gen- plumbing products. The showroom is eral manager Jerry gappens said in a one of the first of its kind in the nation. release from the track. “as a new Eng- The space was specifically de- land-based company, F.W. Webb con- signed as a sales and specification tinues to realize the star power of showroom for high efficiency radiant naSCaR in the northeast.” and plumbing products. The 2,100- it’s another step in the growing re- square-foot showroom features a lationship between the track and the will-call counter for radiant cus- company. The company also spon- tomers and a flexible display space that includes a fully ington, alaska and hawaii. Customers are served sors the newly built Frank Webb bath functioning heated floor display. through traditional wholesale plumbing branches, master Center at new hampshire motor Pacific Plumbing Supply, established in 1949, is a distribution and plumbing showrooms. Speedway, which was opened in time wholesale plumbing distributor based in Seattle. The Visit www.pacificplumbing.com or www.pacific- for the June Sprint Cup Series week- family owned company operates 17 branches in Wash- greenroom.com. end at the track. Visit www.fwwebb.com. • Be sure to visit www.thewholesaler.com for web exclusive articles and videos! • See contact information on page 86 6 • •THE WHOLESALER® — SEPTEMBER 2010 IN THIS ISSUE The Front Page When the Residence Inn of Florence, Ala., needed a new water heating system, and the original specification wasn’t proving a good fit for the small mechanical room, Jason Veal of tallman Company and Anthony Crouch of Crouch & Sons Plumbing came up with an alternative. they recommended and installed a system of Noritz tankless units that is designed to provide all of the hot water the hotel’s guests will need. In the News See contact information on page 86 litco Supply opens luxury bath center........................4 Sioux Chief encourages young plumbers ..................12 taco launches online “Neighborhood” ....................14 Midland Metal marks 30 years .................................18 Modern restrooms must be more than functional......24 RIDGID awards $25k prize package .......................30 halsey taylor keeps drinking water safe ..................40 Distributor and contractor set up hotel with state-of- the-art Noritz tankless water heating system.........42 NAte gets it done in certifying hVAC/R techs .........48 Summit examines aspects of green manufacturing ...52 Brauer Supply marks 130 years; moves to new headquarters