Hughes Supply Incorporated was a very large wholesaler of construction supplies operating in 40 of the United States and two Canadian provinces. In January 2006, Home Depot announced that it was acquiring Hughes Supply in a $3.2 billion deal. Hughes Supply was integerated into the Home Depot division known as HD Supply. In June 2007, Home Depot sold its supply unit for $10.3 billion to a consortium of three private equity firms, The Carlyle Group, Bain Capital and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, each agreeing to buy a one-third stake in the division. Home Depot sold its wholesale construction supply business, HD Supply to fund a stock repurchase estimated at $40 billion. HD Supply did not change its name back to Hughes so the HD in HD supply is now known as Heart and Dedication or Huge Discounts.
Hughes' major operation was in the southeast and southwest of the United States. Its primary clients were professional customers, who mainly buy in bulk. Hughes operated through three business segments: Electrical and Plumbing (electrical and electric utility products, HVAC products), Water and Sewer/Building Materials (water and sewer products, building materials, maintenance supplies, fire protection products, concrete products) and Industrial (industrial pipes, valves and fittings).
Using acquisitions to fuel its growth geographically and to expand its product breadth, in 2004 Hughes Supply acquired the Las Vegas-based Standard Wholesale (plumbing and electrical supplies), Todd Pipe & Supply (one of the largest independent plumbing supply wholesalers in the Las Vegas and southern California markets) and Southwest Power/Western States Electric (utilities).
The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250,000 employees in the 1980s, and at its peak in the 1990s, made profits of over £1 billion a year.
Staples Inc. is an American retail company headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, that offers products and services designed to support working and learning.
Hardware stores, sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing supplies, electrical supplies, cleaning products, housewares, tools, utensils, paint, and lawn and garden products directly to consumers for use at home or for business. Many hardware stores have specialty departments unique to its region or its owner's interests. These departments include hunting and fishing supplies, plants and nursery products, marine and boating supplies, pet food and supplies, farm and ranch supplies including animal feed, swimming pool chemicals, homebrewing supplies and canning supplies. The five largest hardware retailers in the world are The Home Depot, Lowe's, Kingfisher of the United Kingdom, Obi of Germany, and Leroy Merlin of France.
WESCO International, Inc. is an American publicly traded Fortune 500 holding company for WESCO Distribution, a multinational electrical distribution and services company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Fisher Scientific International, Inc. was a laboratory supply and biotechnology company that provided products and services to the global scientific research and clinical laboratory markets until its merger with Thermo Electron in 2006, after which it became Thermo Fisher Scientific. The company offered products and services to over 350,000 customers located in approximately 150 countries including pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, secondary and higher education institutions, hospitals and medical research institutions, and quality control, process control and research and development laboratories.
Graybar is an American wholesale electrical, communications and data networking products distribution business, which also supplies related supply-chain management and logistics services. Based in Clayton, Missouri, the employee-owned corporation is included on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations.
Flipping is a term used to describe purchasing a revenue-generating asset and quickly reselling it for profit.
Genuine Parts Company (GPC) is an American service organization engaged in the distribution of automotive replacement parts, industrial replacement parts, office products and electrical/electronic materials. GPC serves numerous customers from more than 2,600 operations around the world, and has approximately 48,000 employees. It owns the NAPA Auto Parts brand.
Anixter International Inc. is a company based in Glenview, Illinois, United States and founded in 1957. The company supplies goods and services for communications, security, networking, audio-visual, and industrial control applications.
Essendant, formerly known as United Stationers, is a national wholesale distributor of office supplies, with consolidated net sales of $5.3 billion. Essendant stocks over 160,000 items including traditional office products, office furniture, janitorial and break room supplies, and technology products. Essendant is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, and also has operations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Centel Corporation was an American telecommunications company, with primary interests in providing basic telephone service, cellular phone service and cable television service.
Southern Company Gas, formerly AGL Resources, is an American Fortune 500 energy services holding company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The company's operations consist of natural gas distribution, wholesale services, retail operations, and midstream operations. Southern Company Gas is one of the largest natural gas distribution companies in the United States. The company serves approximately 4.5 million utility customers through its regulated distribution subsidiaries across four states. Southern Company Gas made the Fortune 500 list in 2015, Forbes 2000 in 2006, and is a member of the S&P 500 Index. In 2016, Southern Company acquired AGL Resources and renamed it Southern Company Gas.
Integrated Electrical Services, Inc. also known as IES Holdings Incorporated is a roll-up type publicly traded company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company provides infrastructure services including electrical, communications, low-voltage, network, AV, and security alarm systems to the residential, industrial and commercial markets.
Oriental Trading Company is a direct merchant of value-priced party supplies, arts and crafts, toys, novelties, and school supplies. It was founded in 1932 as one of the United States' first wholesaling companies. Oriental Trading has been recognized as one of the top 100 Internet retailers and one of the top 50 catalog companies. It is based in Omaha, Nebraska, and is owned by Berkshire Hathaway. Alternative known names for Oriental Trading Company include "Oriental Trading" & "OTC".
The Home Depot Pro, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, is one wholesale distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products for non-industrial businesses in the United States. The Home Depot Pro distributes products such as HVAC, janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, and security supplies.
The Home Depot, Inc., often simply referred to as Home Depot, is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer in the United States. In 2021, the company had 490,600 employees and more than $151 billion in revenue. The company is headquartered in incorporated Cobb County, Georgia, with an Atlanta mailing address.
HD Supply is an industrial distributor in North America. The company provides a broad range of products and value-added services to approximately 500,000 professional customers in maintenance, repair and operations, infrastructure and power and specialty construction sectors. The company was re-acquired by The Home Depot in December 2020.
GE Power is an American energy technology company, owned by General Electric.
Edmundson Electrical Ltd is a privately held electrical distribution company headquartered in Knutsford, Cheshire, incorporated in 1991. It is the largest electrical distributor in the United Kingdom and serves both to the trade and to the public from over 300 locations. The company also serves Ireland through a subsidiary, EWL Electric Ltd, as well as through mainland Europe via its sister company, Vink Holdings.
Eclipse ERP is a real-time transaction processing accounting software used for order fulfillment, inventory control, accounting, purchasing, and sales. It was created for wholesale distributors in the Electrical, HVAC, Plumbing, and PVF industries, but is used by a wide range of market sectors. At one point this software was called Intuit Eclipse DMS, and Activant Eclipse, and Eclipse Distribution Management System.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
