Winair's Formula for Success

If you're an HVACR wholesaler distributor, you probably didn't get into the business because of your passion for payroll or for your love of configuring IT systems. There's a better-than-even chance that you're in this business because you know HVACR and you like working with customers and suppliers. You also have the entrepreneurial spirit — that is, you like making money.

WinWholesale and its Winair companies believe that this reflects the outlook of most HVACR wholesaler distributors, and they've established a business model that gives these distributors what they want, while consolidating into a shared-services format those functions that they would rather leave to someone else. In other words, you run your own show without the administrative hassles. The 57 Winair distributors throughout the United States are owners operating as presidents of their own corporations and sharing ownership with WinWholesale.

They become equity partners with the WinWholesale organization, which also manages seven other separate wholesale distribution operations in such industries as electrical equipment, plumbing, waterworks, fastening and industrial pipes, valves and fittings. Also under the WinWholesale umbrella is the Noland Company, a plumbing and HVACR distributor with nearly 80 locations in the southern and eastern United States.

“We want to partner with people who know the local markets, are well-qualified and have knowledge in the specific industries, and are willing to invest in and run their own business,” says Richard W. Schwartz, president and CEO of WinWholesale, based in Dayton, OH. “We are a unique model in that we are an entrepreneurially based company.” Indeed, its guiding philosophy is “The Spirit of Opportunity.”

WinWholesale and NORDYNE executives following the December 2007 announcement of the NuTone Heating and Cooling Products line. (Left to right) Doug Jones, VP Sales, NORDYNE; Jean Preston, COO, Noland; Rick Schwartz, CEO, WinWholesale; Dave LaGrand, president and COO, NORDYNE.

This “Spirit of Opportunity” is part of WinWholesale's DNA. Its roots go back to 1875, when Nils Olas Nelson founded the N.O. Nelson Mfg. Co. in St. Louis as a manufacturer and distributor of plumbing supplies. Recognizing the difficulties of being both a manufacturer and distributor, the company decided to focus on distribution, and by 1954, it had a net worth of about $6.8 million, 22 branches, 20 regional sales offices and 450 employees in 15 states.

Following a serious fire at the Pueblo, CO, branch in 1958, Nelson's management decided it would be too much trouble to rebuild and offered to sell the burned inventory for its book value. A company named Primus, founded two years earlier, stepped in and worked with three N.O. Nelson employees — who offered to invest their money in reopening the business. They established a profit-sharing plan, with Primus keeping majority control of the Pueblo company but the local employees receiving all the benefits of partial ownership. That's the spirit that lives strong today.

By 1972, it had grown to about 50 companies. Today, there are more than 470 Win locations across the country that carry the collective identity as the Win Group of Companies. In 2005, the company adopted the WinWholesale name.

Having a diverse group of businesses with a rich collection of shared services is beneficial to all of the Win distributors, particularly during a softening economy, Schwartz says. This helps to keep costs low. “You're running your own business while eliminating some administrative tasks, which allows you to focus on serving your customers,” Schwartz says. Investments in standardized accounting, IT equipment, fleet management, and health insurance and payroll administration are all part of the benefits of being a Winair dealer. Common operating procedures, called pattern management, are integrated into a procedure manual supported by finely tuned automated systems and processes to create the framework that binds the companies together.