City Electric Supply Opens Its 500th Branch Location in the U.S.

Dallas-based City Electric Supply (CES) recently announced the opening of its 500^th U.S. branch location in La Porte, Ind. By 2000, the company had opened 100 locations and has added 400 more in less than 20 years since. This opening is another step toward the company’s soon-to-be-reached milestone of opening its 1,000^th store worldwide.

“My grandfather, Tom Mackie, opened the first CES branch in the United States in 1983. And being the hard-working, enterprising man that he was, he opened the 10th US branch just one year later,” said CES President & CEO Thomas Hartland-Mackie in the release. “So it is both thrilling and humbling to have reached this significant milestone of 500 branch locations. I know my grandfather would have been so proud to see this day come, and I am grateful to the whole City Electric Supply team for helping us to continue his legacy.”

Hartland-Mackie credits the feat to the support and dedication of the local CES teams and looks forward to continuing to work with them as the company moves toward its goal of opening 25 to 40 new branch locations each year.

La Porte was a clear choice for CES, according to the press release, due to its high volume of industrial work and dense commercial market, including a carnival factory and many local businesses. In the short time since its opening, Vice President of Operations Jaime Maruoj said that the branch has already proven to successful.

Branch Manager Brian Vergin was selected to run the branch. He and his team have 22 years of combined experience. Vergin began his new role the day after finishing his previous job by searching for the ideal location, and in the release, he added that it took four weeks "to get the keys and for the fun to start," as contractors, electricians and painters were hired to work on the storefront. He is confident in his ability to be one of the best distributors in the area and is looking forward to the success of the 500^th CES branch.

“I know I can achieve the goals my district manager has set for me,” Vergin said. “I cannot wait to make this store the best for CES.”