White Cap Breaks New Ground - HD Supply

FEATUREDDISTRIBUTORby Tom Hammelwww.ContractorSupplyMagazine.com AUG | SEP 201226them, so they have someone theyknow and can call as opposed tovisiting one of our competitors.”“So yes, there is a hugeopportunity for relationship sellingin our business, but there is alsoan incredible need for the catalogbusiness. Our 700-page color catalogoffers more than 16,000 professionalquality tools and supplies.Today our customers can get thoseproducts from White Cap, too.”A third major initiative is buildingnew Web capabilities.“We have a full team working onour Web capabilities to augmentour catalog so a customer can login and order from us online and getdelivery just as fast as they couldfrom a competitor, yet still be able tooffer the expertise and relationshipvalue that makes White Cap unique,”Stegeman states.“We are focusing on our coregroups, which are relationshipdriven.We focus on bringingcustomers into our locations to seethe broad variety of products wesell and to take advantage of ourindustry expertise. We are focusingon technology and how we can useit to leverage sales and profitability inthe future.”The warehouse in the greaterChicago store, immediately behindthe sales counter, is as well organizedas the store itself, and as fullystocked with product.“Our customers are pro-contractorswho need innovative productknowledge,” he adds. “It is our accountmanager’s job to go out andhelp them with speed and convenience,to take care of their problemsand emergencies. Our mission is tofulfill their needs faster than they canget them filled anywhere else.”NEXT UP: BUILDINGCITIES AND KEEPINGTHEM RUNNINGIn some cases, the job is tofulfill needs more completely thananywhere else. White Cap and HDSupply’s newest and by far mostambitious initiative, which is toprovide a diverse portfolio ofproducts and services of multiple HDSupply companies on the same job.Presently, HD Supply is testing theconcept in several metro marketsincluding Atlanta, Phoenix, Tampaand Orlando.WHITE CAPAT A GLANCEFounded: 1976 White Cap; 2007 HD SupplyOwnership: Private equityBranches: 135 branches in 31 statesEmployees: 2,671 totalSales Force: 400+Markets: Commercial and residentialconstruction, concrete, erosion control,safety, industrial/MRO, waterproofing,rebar, DOT/governmentLine Card: 3M, Armor-Tile, Black Stallion,Bosch, Brigade, Chapin, Diablo, Dayton,DeWalt, Eagle, Ergodyne, Guardian, Hitachi,Husqvarna, Irwin, Knaack/Weatherguard,Makita, Marshalltown, MAX,Milwaukee, ML Kishigo, MSA, PLS,Porter Cable, Powers Fasteners, Pyramex,Rapid Set, Razor-Back, RIDGID,Rolair, Rubbermaid, Simpson Strong-Tie,Skil, SpecChem, Spectra Precision,Sqwincher, Stabila, Stanley, Stihl, SurfaceShields, Tyvek, United Abrasives,Vaughan, Werner, West ChesterAffiliations: STAFDAWeb sites: www.whitecap.com,www.hdsupply.com“We have a tremendousopportunity to utilize our resourcesacross the portfolio to drive customersuccess,” DeAngelo explains. “Thisinitiative is designed to leverage ourresources to get customers to thinkabout doing business not only withWhite Cap for example, but with ourother divisions for their facilitiesmaintenance, electrical orwaterworks needs — any of ourcompanies that can make it easierfor them to run their business.”“It’s a unique proposition forcontractors with needs that canonly be filled by a company like HDSupply,” he adds. “That’s what weare doing at BahaMar.”The 1,000-acre, $3.4 billionBahaMar project in the Bahamas,the largest single-phase resortdevelopment in the history of theCaribbean, is being supplied by HDSupply’s White Cap, Waterworksand Electrical divisions.“If you think about it, we are theonly company that has the assetsto build a city and keep it running,”DeAngelo adds. “So that is what weare focusing on with our customers.We are working very aggressivelyto ensure that our customers ininfrastructure or construction orfacilities maintenance get everythingthey need from HD Supply.”DeAngelo and Stegeman areconfident that HD Supply and WhiteCap are uniquely positioned andstaffed to make immense strides inthe coming years.Just as BahaMar is transformingthe Bahamas, HD Supply andWhite Cap seek to transformthe landscape of distribution.If vision, sweat and force of will cantransform islands, they are alreadyhalfway there.