HIGH POINT, N.C. — Near the southern point of the Piedmont Triad in North Carolina, you’ll find High Point, a sprawling city that extends into four counties. Now, a long-time distributor in this manufacturing hub is not only one of the newest City Electric Supply (CES) locations, but it is also one of the most experienced.
In a rare move, CES purchased an existing supplier. David Lambeth has been running his business for 40 years and doing an amazing job. We are more than thrilled to merge and continue building relationships with the customers in the area.
Merging with an existing supplier will be the high point in this transition. Lambeth’s team has an incredible reputation in the area and a loyal customer base; it’s our duty to move into the area gracefully and continue to offer the same great service our customers there have come to expect.
After 18 months of conversation between Lambeth and CES VP of Operations John Nantz, Lambeth felt the two businesses were very alike and offered the green light.
The process to merge was slow and methodical. CES District Manager Doug Wells was instrumental as he handled many of the logistics and served as branch manager for much of the interim before Branch Manager Tracy Brown joined the team from another CES division.
“High Point was one of the last big cities in North Carolina where we didn’t have a location. We’ve been looking at High Point for probably 20 years and it never felt right until this opportunity came around. It was scary, but it was important,” Nantz said. “It ties our branches together up there… really, it ties the whole market together from Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Kernersville, Lexington, and now High Point, we’re in all the big areas.”
CES is now tasked with bringing in new stock, switching over barcodes, and rebranding the store. It was important to Nantz and Wells that the same team that’s run the store for many years stay intact and as a result, the same familiar faces are still behind the counter. “It’s exciting being a part of this change,” Brown stated.
“I have been an electrician for more than 35 years. I’m a licensed electrician in North Carolina, and I owned an electrical contracting business for about 20 years. Each and every one of our employees has amazing talents that will ensure our success,” Brown said.
With such a long history in the electrical industry, there’s almost nothing Brown hasn’t done or seen himself. After a long tenure as a contractor and small business owner, he decided four years ago he wanted to experience the distributor side of the business and that he wanted to work with no one other than CES.
“I never gave another distributor a thought,” Brown said. “I was buying out of the CES Kernersville branch for years. Then, one night, the CES salesman happened to stop by my place, and he put me in touch with the right people. Soon after that, I was set to start with the Mount Airy branch that was opening. My first year with the company was as an Outside Sales Representative for Mount Airy, and the next three years I served as a representative for TAMCO Group, our in-house manufacturing operation.”
Without disrupting the community, CES wants to provide the best service and add more value to the High Point area.
“I’m joining a very successful branch, making it a CES branch, and hoping to make it even more successful. I’m working to keep customers happy and make the transition smooth. Keeping people satisfied and offering top-notch service is our top priority,” Brown said. “The last thing I want to do is disrupt anyone in the High Point market.”
As a long-time former contractor, he knows what it’s like to be on the other side of the counter, and what it takes to make a branch successful — fast, reliable service.
“As a contractor, I would hate going to a supply house and having to wait,” Brown said. “I want to get people in and out of here with the best service possible. That’s my goal.”
He expects this branch will continue to service the local contractors as well as the surrounding industrial factories.
“I have been blessed with guys that are not only ambitious, but they know the products and they’re super motivated. And even though they are new to CES, they know this market and this branch better than anyone. I believe I have the best team.”
“We plan for business as usual, same as it’s been for the last 40 years. Same familiar faces, same great service. We want to continue serving the customers of High Point as best as we can,” Nantz stated.
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