Stuart C. Irby Co., one of the largest regional electrical distributors and a subsidiary of Sonepar USA, today announced that it is significantly expanding its presence in the central Tennessee area. The company has moved into a new 100,000 square foot regional distribution center (RDC) and has also opened four additional local service centers called Irby Electric Express throughout suburban Nashville. Irby’s main distribution center provides electrical products, services and project support to commercial, industrial and utility companies in the middle Tennessee market. Irby Electric Express locations provide electrical products and services primarily to residential and commercial electrical contractors.
“We are especially excited about the prospect of increasing our overall contractor, commercial, industrial and utility presence in middle Tennessee,” said company president, Michael C. Wigton. “Our new facilities will allow us to expand our product and service offering to create greater value for our customers. We expect to introduce new value-added capabilities that will establish Irby as the partner of choice,” said Wigton.
Irby Electric Express is a new store concept that puts merchandise in front of the
customer and puts merchandising at the forefront of the Irby brand in the commercial and residential contractor markets. “Our stores provide the customer with a sales environment conducive to shopping. The emphasis is to provide great service to our customers. Our stores are staffed with knowledgeable sales people and we are focused on reducing transaction time so our customers can quickly get their supplies and get to their jobsite,” said brand manager, Stuart M. Irby, Jr.
“The Irby Electric Express store concept has proven to be very effective in meeting the needs of residential and commercial contractors by offering high quality and competitively-priced products, services and convenient locations with knowledgeable sales associates. We are committed to supporting our electrical contractor and commercial customers throughout the middle Tennessee market. Our investment in Nashville is the latest example of this commitment,” said Wigton.
On June 7-8, 2007, Irby will celebrate the official grand opening of these locations with a ribbon cutting ceremony and grand tour. The tour, in conjunction with Nashville’s FanFare, is themed “The Electrified Tour.” The event will be supported by executives from Sonepar USA, supporting Vendors, business leaders from all of Sonepar USA’s distributors and Irby staff for a grand tour of the Irby Electric Express locations to support the expansion in the middle Tennessee market. The final stop of the Tour will be at the grand opening of Irby’s new 100,000 square foot RDC.
For nearly 20 years, Irby’s industrial division has been the Allen-Bradley authorized distributor in Nashville with additional locations in Cookeville, Tennessee, Decatur and Huntsville, Alabama. Irby also has 13 additional locations in five states authorized by Rockwell Automation to provide Allen-Bradley products and services.
Through a dedicated team of Irby Automation High Tech Specialists, Irby also represents a broad portfolio of Automation Services. This offering includes service assessments, integrated condition monitoring, Rockwell Automation’s Asset Management Portfolio (RAAMP), integrated architecture, remote monitoring services, parts management agreements, industrial network services, onsite support services, a three-core performance-based training program, repair services and phone support.
Irby’s utility division provides a complete line of products for investor-owned, municipal, and cooperative electric utilities and power line contractors. Irby has unmatched technical expertise and support in areas such as automated metering, distribution automation, tools and tool repair, and logistics management. Stuart Irby employs 64 associates in the Nashville area.
Tony Burr, President of Sonepar USA, said, “We are very pleased to see the tremendous efforts Irby associates deploy to be closer to their customers, to offer them the proper additional supports, and to help improve the customers’ productivity.”
Irby, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi, operates 60 branches in 17 states and is one of the largest regional distributors in the United States. The employees of Irby serve customers in four major market segments – industrial, contractor, commercial and utility – with innovative products and services.
