History of United Electric Supply
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United Electric Supply Co., Inc. was founded in 1965 by N.R. "Nick" Gianoulis, as a general-line
distributor of electrical supplies to local industrial, commercial and construction customers in
Delaware. Gianoulis and three employees started out in an 8,000 sq. ft. building, a former potato
chip factory that had been converted from a barn on the Duncan estates in Wilmington, DE. "It was a
materials handling nightmare," says Gianoulis of the building which had three levels and a dirt
floor in the warehouse.
Nonetheless, the company began to grow as soon as it opened its doors. Within a few years, they began
construction on a contemporary building designed for improved materials handling and customer service.
Gianoulis and his staff moved into the new building in 1972. Over the next 15 years, the company
expanded its geographical trading area and the breadth of its capabilities to the point where it
outgrew its second building. A new service center was built in 1988 with continued expansion and
improved customer service in mind.
Today, United Electric is a $115 million+ operation with more than 300 employees at eleven locations
throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey. Administrative, accounting, personnel,
training and marketing management functions are centralized at the headquarters in Wilmington, DE.
As a major electrical supplier for the building and industrial trades, United had evolved in relation
to technological and marketplace developments. Today, it offers the full range of products and services
with concentration in five major areas: industrial automation, lighting, wire/cable/conduit, gear and
control, Electro-mechanical and systems contracting.
Through a trained staff of engineers and product specialists, the company provides value-added service
that included one of the largest inventories of top-quality, state-of-the-art products on the East
Coast, engineering expertise, hand-on product testing and training, lighting design and application
capabilities and the warehousing of customer inventory.
United Electric is dedicated to "Exceeding our customers' expectations profitably- through Quality,
Innovation and Service." This basic philosophy led to United's biggest quality achievements;
ISO-9002 Registration. In December 1993, United Electric's headquarters in Wilmington, DE received
the news that they were the first electrical distributor to receive ISO-9002 registration from
Underwriters' Laboratories. The strict standards for certification have made United a better
organization by making United look at how they operate, track errors and, more importantly, fix
problem areas. All employees have been trained in quality principles and the Standard Practice
Instructions so that they can better service the customer. The corporate goal of their quality commitment
is 100-percent error-free service every time. The Delaware locations were also awarded the 1995, 1998
and 2001 State of Delaware Quality Award for their commitment to the standards set by the employees.
United Electric began 1996 as an employee-owned corporation. With the Former owner's retirement, the
employees were able to purchase the business that they helped to build. United Electric looks forward
to the future of the business with great anticipation as the new employee-owners begin the next
chapter of the company's history.
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