Wolff Bros. Supply is located at 2800 W. Strub Road, Sandusky. Courtesy of Wolff Bros.
The addition to the Perkins Township building will allow for a new design center/showroom. Courtesy of Wolff Bros.
What is it: Self-billed as one of the of the state’s “largest wholesale distributors for electrical, plumbing and HVAC supplies and tools,” Medina-based Wolff Bros. Supply established a presence in Sandusky in 1996, building its own facility in Perkins Township in 1999.
“We had been traveling through that market years before that and understood the potential and saw the opportunity – that’s why we set our fifth location there,” says Chris Wolff, vice president of marketing sales, in a recent joint interview with Regional Manager Doyle to talk about a growth spurt happening at the facility on West Strub Road.
Wolff Bros. Supply is in the midst of bumping its office space from 8,000 square feet to 16,000, Wolff says, which will allow for a new design center/showroom. Perhaps more importantly, warehouse space is growing by a third, from 60,000 to 90,000 square feet.
The expansion details: The warehouse expansion will help serve not only the Sandusky location itself but four of Wolff Bros. Supply’s 13 locations: Columbus, Findlay, Marion and Toledo, he says.
“A large, driving factor of several of the additions we’ve done around the company,” Doyle says, “has been that throughout the supply chain challenges, we recognized that we needed to increase our inventory to better serve our customers. And by expanding that space, it will allow us to keep more product in there, so when our customers come in, we have the material they need.”
Does this mean more employees will be needed?
“We’re constantly adding employees and growing the business,” Wolff says. “We hover around 50 currently (at the Perkins operation). I would say there certainly is potential for that.”
And, he says, what sets Wolff Bros. apart from the competition is its people.
“They’re really the lifeblood of their company, and they’re, day to day, out there with the customers. They’re what makes it happen.”
How to get involved: Wolff Bros. Supply is planning an open house to celebrate the completion of the expansion work at a to-be-determined date.
Lifelong Ohio and Ohio University alum Mark Meszoros is a Northeast Ohio-based features and entertainment writer and Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer Approved Critic. When he's not watching a movie in a theater or his living room, he's likely out for a beer or a bike ride -- or both. Rest assured, he thinks his taste in music is superior to yours.