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D&H Distributing is a privately held North American technology distributor to the information technology (IT) and consumer electronics supply channels, founded in 1918 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Currently headquartered in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the company distributes IT products, including server, storage and networking solutions, consumer electronics, videogaming, home networking, housewares, and sports and recreation products with a focus on resellers selling to small business (SMB) technology customers. [1] These products are distributed via six locations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The company's customer base consists of computer resellers, integrators, retailers, etailers and consumer electronics dealers. The majority of D&H's SMB (small to mid-size business) and mid-market reseller customer base sells to regional offices in vertical markets, such as healthcare, education, real estate, advertising, and finance. [2]
D&H Distributing was a $5.6 billion organization in November of 2023 and is listed at #104 on the 2023 Forbes list of America's largest private companies, [3] making it one of the largest private employers in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania region. [4] The company ships out of six separate locations including its U.S. headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, an Atlanta distribution center, and additional locations in Chicago and Fresno, California. [5] In 2017, D&H added a warehouse location in Vancouver, Canada. [6] D&H Canada moved into a new distribution center and company headquarters in 2023 in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. [7]
D&H Distributing was founded as Economy Tire and Rubber, a tire retreading company, established by brothers-in-law David Schwab and Harry Spector. In 1921, the company began selling wholesale parts for automobile service industry, adding crystal radios by 1926 and moving into a distribution capacity by signing with radio manufacturer Philco. Consumer appliances such as refrigerators, washers, vacuum cleaners, and ranges were added to the company’s offerings. The company was renamed D&H Distributing on November 8, 1929. [5]
By the 1950s, D&H grew along with the boom in both post-World War II kitchen appliance sales and the advent of the television set. [8]
In 1973, D&H established its Electronics Specialty Products Division. By the late 1970s, the company entered the video gaming market with the addition of Atari. As the 1980s approached, D&H licensed products from Texas Instruments, Packard Bell, Commodore Computers and Panasonic Printers, and expanded its consumer electronics linecard to form the distributor’s current Computer Products Division. In the late 1980s, it expanded nationally through the addition of warehouses in Chicago, Boston, and Dallas.
The company added large-scale IT networking manufacturers, such as Microsoft, Cisco, and Lenovo between 2000 and 2006.
In 2007, the company expanded outside the U.S. with a Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario. [9] In 2018, D&H announced its intent to purchase 275 acres of property in Lower Swatara Township, Pennsylvania to build a new distribution hub. [10] In 2019, D&H relocated its headquarters to a 50-acre, two building campus with more than 240,000 square feet of office space. [11]
D&H’s product offerings include information technology solutions, including remote work infrastructures, pro-AV, esports, servers, storage and networking solutions; plus mobility, consumer electronics, home entertainment, home networking and automation, small office/home office, video surveillance, digital imaging and videogaming products. Major vendor partners include companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, HP, Lenovo, Intel, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, Dell and others. D&H launched an updated Cloud Marketplace platform in 2019, creating a hosted “everything-as-a-service” offering for value added resellers and managed service providers. [12] In 2020, D&H added set of outsourced professional services for its North American SMB reseller partners including integration services, endpoint managed services, and a variety of project-specific services. [13]
Michael Schwab and Dan Schwab are co-presidents at D&H Distributing, which was founded in 1918 by their grandfather. [14] They were named co-presidents of D&H Distributing in 2008. [15] Since D&H Co-Presidents Michael Schwab and Dan Schwab took over day-to-day operations, the distributor has grown from a $1.45 billion company into a $4+ billion company. During that time frame, the value of the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan has grown 300 percent. [16] The company had 1,300 employees as of February 2020. [17]
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The company sells its products through various supply channels, including value added resellers, solution[ buzzword ] providers, system integrators/system builders, resellers, college bookstores, retailers, eTailers, consumer electronics dealers, home installers, video gaming dealers, and rent-to-own dealers/stores.
The company was co-founded by Izzy's father David Schwab in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in 1918 as Economy Tire and Rubber, and evolved over time into a leading RCA and Whirlpool distributorship.
#104 D&H Distributing/REVENUE $5.6B as of November 2023
Not satisfied to remain in one sector of the industry, David Schwab turned the business towards a fresh market in 1926 when it began selling the first Crystal Radios, marking its entry into a nascent electronics industry. The company went on to focus on major appliances, and during this era became the largest U.S. distributor of RCA and Whirlpool merchandise. D&H eventually moved into computer products, leveraging trends that led to more profitable sales avenues and diversification. As the company grew in these new arenas, D&H developed into a diversified, multi-divisional organization.[ permanent dead link ]
Tobin emphasized that D&H's expansion of their warehouse operations into Vancouver last year has positioned the distributor for stronger growth going forward
The ongoing evolution of D&H Canada continued last week with the official opening of its new distribution centre (DC) in Mississauga, which marks the company's fourth home since it launched in 2007.
David and Harry sold off Economy Tire & Rubber as part of an aggressive expansion into consumer electronics. They saw the advent of television as a big opportunity and tires and auto parts as a sideline.
Veteran American value-added distributor D&H Distributing has decided to join the fray of the distribution market in Canada, opening its first international subsidiary in distributor-heavy Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto.[ permanent dead link ]
The company, which distributes numerous electronic items including network security, cloud applications, workstations, premium notebooks, videoconferencing products and more, has moved to a two-building, 50-acre campus with more than 240,000 square feet of office space.
D&H Distributing said it is answering the call of its partners by launching a new cloud platform that allows them to build comprehensive cloud solutions[ buzzword ] for their customers, add-on hardware and their own services, and consolidate the billing through a single portal. It is part of the distributor's mantra of offering "everything-as-a-service" and giving MSP and VAR partners
D&H is building an expansive set of outsourced professional services for its North American SMB resellers. The new offerings, which include integration services, endpoint managed services, and a variety of project-specific services
For Michael and Dan Schwab, Co -presidents of D&H Distributing, the list of accomplishments they have achieved at the helm of this multi-generational family business, started in 1918 by their grandfather
D&H is elevating vice presidents Dan Schwab and Michael Schwab to the roles of co-presidents at the company their grandfather founded in the early part of the last century
Since D&H Co-Presidents Dan (pictured, far right) and Michael Schwab took over day-to-day operations a decade ago, the distributor has grown from a $1.45 billion company with 850 employees into a $4 billion company.
Number of employees in channel organization: 1300