ConstructionDist.com - Article

Home » Construction Distribution » Aug/Sep 2007 Issue » Magazine Article

Most Read | Most E-mailed Stories Today

Most E-mailed | | | |

Never Be Out!

Guided by this simple directive, ELFCO doesn't give customers reasons to look elsewhere.

Stepping up to direct the company their father started nearly 40 years ago are, from left, Mike, Tom, Terri and Dan Gleason.

Nothing goes out the door without the ELFCO logo on it � many of the basic nuts and bolts items go in a custom ELFCO box.

When ladders come in they feature the ELFCO name and logo imprinted at the factory. When they go out, they include the customer�s name stenciled in place as a finishing touch.

Custom cutting Unistrut channel and threaded rod is a significant service that ELFCO customers have come to rely upon. A section of the new warehouse has been set aside to make it easier and more efficient to accommodate the increased demand for this value-added activity.

The new warehouse with its spacious aisles and wide racks makes filling orders fast and efficiently, much easier than in the multiple building layout of just a few years ago.

The balcony area above the offices at ELFCO holds the slower moving items and those, like power tools, that require extra security.

A recent Milwaukee tool promotion turned the showroom into a "madhouse" according to the Gleasons. They sold more than 500 hammer drills in one day as buyers responded to the unadvertised special event.

With eight overhead doors in the shipping/receiving area of the new warehouse, moving inventory from the smallest fastener to a heavy load of steel has become easy and efficient.

Don Rigg helped to get the Electrical Fastener Company off the ground. The semi-retired comptroller still has his pulse on the financial side.

"We have the name etched into things like hole saws and saw blades, the ladders we get from Werner come with our name and logo already on them. And other vendors, like Powers Fasteners, are considering putting our name on boxes when they're shipped to us from the factory."

"We know that when a customer tosses the box, our name and logo goes with it," adds company president Tom Gleason, "and that's why we make the extra effort to have the logo engraved on the tool. If only for a few minutes, when customers are using one of our hole saws or blades they'll see the elf and that leaves an impression.

"Wherever our trucks go, and they're out all day long, people know who they represent when they see the elf," he adds.

Playing with and shortening the company's original name to ELFCO led to the creation of a logo that's recognized throughout metropolitan Chicago and beyond. The elf started as a doodle in 1970 and has been through several incarnations since - from just a head to a full-bodied caricature.

"People today think it's a cool marketing idea," Mike grins, "but it just sort of happened. It's amazing how something small can take on a life of its own and become so important."

Shortening the name came as a result of feedback from outside sales. "They were telling us that the word 'electrical' in our name was hurting us when we went to call on mechanical contractors, for example," Mike points out. "It was giving them a reason to say no before we even got going."

Based on recent results, ELFCO provides few reasons for anyone to say no. The company had its best year ever in 2006 and recorded the best month in its history in June of 2007.

previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 next

ConstructionDist.com |

Magazine Article