Rochester Hills, Michigan — City Electric Supply has officially opened the doors to its ninth store in the state of Michigan. The new CES Rochester Hills branch is located between three other branches near the Michigan Eastside — CES Waterford, CES Macomb and CES Madison Heights. What makes the new location so strategic, according to Branch Manager Jason Thienel, is that it’s close to many industrial and commercial buildings.
“For contractors who’ve never worked with CES, we’re extremely visible,” Thienel said. “We’ve only been open for a few days, but we signed a new account and started some great conversations with contractors who have big projects in the area. One of the things they mentioned was that they saw us from the road, so they stopped in.”
The future of the new branch looks promising as they had several customers walk in on the first day just because they spotted the CES sign. It’s not just the location that Thienel is excited about, it’s also the booming community.
“Opening here was a no-brainer,” he said. “It’s not just a great store location, but there’s also a lot of business and development happening in the Detroit suburbs.”
That’s not just good news for the branch, but also for those working in the area. Before this location opened, people who worked on those developments would have to drive 20 to 30 minutes for supplies.
“CES Rochester Hills will help us keep more of our customers over the years,” Thienel said. “Before, if they weren’t close enough, they could easily just go to a competitor to save time. But now that we’re right here, CES can service customers wherever their job takes them.”
One customer has already made a promise to drop in a lot over the next few months.
“’Please come in as much as you want,’ I told him. CES Macomb is their usual branch, but they’re starting a job right across the street,” Thienel said. “Of course we’re targeting new customers, but the great thing is that this new branch will help us support our old customers, too.”
Thienel and his branch team have a great amount of product knowledge and experience. Thienel is a third-generation electrical supplier with over 20 years of experience. His father, Arthur Thienel, is the branch manager at CES Macomb and has almost 50 years of experience.
“Everyone knows what happened to Detroit around 2008,” Thienel said. “Things slowed down for a lot of companies in the area, but CES was hiring and just getting a start in the area. I joined my dad at CES Macomb, so it worked out kind of nice.”
Thienel became a branch manager for the first time at CES Madison Heights, which changed the way they worked together.
“We can’t help but get a little competitive,” Jason Thienel admitted. “But he’s also someone I can turn to if I ever have questions. There’s not much he hasn’t seen or done in this industry, so it’s nice to have his support whenever I need it.”
This new branch is the second branch Thienel opened from scratch and the third branch to work at in the area.
“I started CES Madison Heights six years ago,” Thienel said. “From Madison Heights, I was the closest branch to Rochester Hills, and I was always calling on customers. I wanted business in this area, and now I have a branch here. I got exactly what I was asking for.”
And he has never felt prouder of getting to where he is today, with a dream to be one of the top branches in Michigan.
“It’s a blessing to have grown with CES over the years and to now be opening my second-ever branch,” he said. “This year will be different when it comes to bringing customers in, and I’m wearing a few different caps on top of being branch manager, but we’re ready for the challenge.”
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