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Click Here for Monthly Flyer Specials! |
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Attention Homeowners
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Johnstone Supply in Columbus, Cleveland,
Akron and Mentor are wholesale only suppliers to the HVAC, refrigeration,
and property maintenance industries. We are unable to sell to retail customers
and homeowners
directly. (Motor Repair Shop excluded) |
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The
Johnstone Supply Story
Over five decades of growth
and prosperity have positioned Johnstone Supply as one of the premier HVAC/R
wholesale distribution companies in the United States. From its modest
beginnings in a single 600 square foot store in 1953, Johnstone Supply has
expanded to over 275 stores nationwide supported by two regional
distribution centers located in Portland, Ore. and Memphis, Tenn. These two
warehouses alone cover more than 330,000 square feet.
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Johnstone's Roots
Established in 1953 by two gentlemen with
the last names of Johnson and Stone, the original Johnstone Supply
Company focused mainly on refrigeration, as Stone was a refrigeration
contractor. Stone's experience and Johnson's capital investment had the
company up and running, but not successfully. |
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| Other business demands on
the two partners consumed too much of their time. In addition to Stone's
contracting business, Johnson, a dentist, operated a dental practice. |
It was at this time Johnstone Supply's founder John Shank entered the
picture. Shank evaluated the business and determined that a dedicated
owner could turn the company into a viable and profitable concern. Shank
purchased the business from Johnson and Stone for $19,000, and began his
ascension into the upper ranks of the HVAC/R wholesale distribution
industry. |
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Built on a Strong Merchandising Foundation
Shank knew that if he compiled a comprehensive
listing of all the quality lines his company represented, customers
would identify Johnstone Supply as a reliable source for almost any
needed repair part. Shank's marketing sense drove the rapid inception of
the Johnstone Supply catalog.
Originally a monthly mailer,
the Johnstone Supply catalog evolved over the years into the most
comprehensive parts and supplies catalog in the industry.
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| Today, the printed version,
sent yearly to over half a million Johnstone customers, contains more
than 1,300 printed pages of products and product information. In early
2001, Johnstone introduced a state-of-the-art Internet based catalog,
allowing Johnstone customers to view every product online and log
electronic orders at their convenience, while still going through their
trusted local store. |
The Reinvention of a Company
Nearly three decades of growth saw
the company transform itself from one lone store into a multi-state
operation with a dozen company-owned stores and 20 franchises. At
this high point in his long and successful career, John Shank began
to contemplate retirement and decided to reevaluate his future
personal and business plans.
Increased franchise reporting requirements and their resulting legal
costs prompted him to bring a halt to the proliferation of the
franchise stores. These costs also encouraged him to come to a
unique decision: restructuring his company into a cooperative,
where individual members shared ownership of the business.
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close of 1981, all 32 of Johnstone's stores and franchises were on
board and ownership transferred from Shank to the new co-op members.
The membership organized a company management structure, basing the
new company's headquarters in Portland, Oregon. Johnstone
headquarters' staff would report to a seven position board of
directors elected from co-op members and providing each individual
member store with centralized merchandising, warehousing and
financial reporting services in return for a membership fee. This
centralization of resources continues to benefit members by
eliminating wasteful duplication of standard store functions and
substantially reducing the members' operations costs. |
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The Changing of the Guard
By 1985, Shank was ready to step down from his
position as Johnstone's President, and he began to search for a suitable
replacement to take the helm. He found this, and more, in Jerry Schultz,
who had joined the company in 1978 from Pacific Supply, a co-op dealing
in petroleum products, fertilizer and farm supplies.
Shank felt Schultz's background made him the logical choice to spearhead
the growth and development of the newly formed cooperative. |
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| And, his faith in Schultz
was well founded. Under Schultz's direction, Johnstone Supply grew from
75 member stores in 1985 to 245 stores nationwide in 2000. |
| After 15 years at the helm, Jerry
Schultz retired in August of 2000, and the Johnstone Board of Directors
appointed new president Gary Daniels, a Johnstone veteran with a proven
track record in the areas of marketing, merchandising and vendor
relations. Today with over 275
stores, Daniels is leading Johnstone into new areas of customer and
vendor services, including an online catalog and electronic order
fulfillment, and an individual web site for every store. |
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The Essence of the Co-op - Cooperation
Founded
on mutual cooperation, Johnstone Supply saw no reason to exclude their
business partners from this successful formula. A three-way partnership
between Johnstone's corporate management, member stores and the co-op's
suppliers provided a strong foundation for developing and distributing
high-quality merchandising collateral. Johnstone's suppliers share in the
costs of producing yearly the most comprehensive catalog of repair parts in
the HVAC/R industry, and the monthly production and distribution of
advertising flyers that feature seasonal products and special sale items.
This cost sharing reduces the cooperative's out-of-pocket expenses, while
the suppliers benefit from national advertising exposure through their
inclusion in the publications. |
Ensuring Johnstone Supply's
Future Success
Several additional programs will ensure the cooperative's continued
growth and success.
Johnstone Supply
Catalog
Ongoing revisions to the Johnstone catalog guarantee its continued
status as the best in the HVAC/R industry. |
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Product depth and quality is
a priority, so Johnstone Supply constantly reevaluates the catalog's
content, updating and revising it; adding and deleting product and
providing detailed illustrations and specifications. Currently, the
Johnstone Supply catalog is produced annually, contains over 1,300 pages
featuring more than 20,000 products and is distributed to over half a
million Johnstone customers.
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Johnstone
University
Johnstone Supply views education as an essential, powerful tool that
gives our store members and customers a distinct competitive advantage.
Our Johnstone University program offers intensive technical and business
seminars to store owners and personnel, ensuring their expertise in all
areas of the HVAC/R. To make continuing education even more accessible,
we have developed Internet courseware to bring industry experts directly
to Johnstone stores, anywhere, anytime.
The success of our
contractor and technician customers also remains a top priority at
Johnstone. We offer numerous educational opportunities to help propel
them to the forefront of their profession, including the award winning
Customer Focus video program, a series of interactive,
computer-based training CD-ROMs, and a series of onsite, hands-on
technical training classes. |
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National
Accounts Program
The HVAC/R industry is in a period of tremendous change. Consolidation
has become the norm rather than the exception, and small, privately
owned businesses are quickly disappearing. The Johnstone Supply
cooperative is uniquely equipped to meet this challenge in ways that are
beneficial to our customers. |
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| Individually owned Johnstone
stores with national distribution capabilities comprise our business and
maintain our commitment to superior customer service. This
responsiveness to our customers' needs spurred development of a national
accounts program designed to benefit organizations and buying groups
that require a coordinated effort on a nationwide scale. |
Customer
Focus
Johnstone Supply dedicates itself to
providing the highest quality product and service to its customers. To
ensure our ability to meet the challenges of our dynamic industry, our
company quickly develops and adapts programs to fulfill customer needs
on a national scale, while our individual stores customize these
programs for their local markets. |
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We will be closed Thursday, November
27th for Thanksgiving Day |
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To sign up for an online account or to request a Johnstone
Supply
catalog |
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Click Here |
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