DALLAS, TX – City Electric Supply (CES) is excited to announce the opening of two new stores in McKinney, Texas, and Lebanon, Tennessee.
The CES team in Lebanon, Tennessee, spent ten months building their new branch from the ground up in one of the most popular suburbs of Middle Tennessee. Branch Manager Tim Tyler joined CES about a year ago and is new to Lebanon, but he is familiar with the area because he has lived in Tennessee his entire life.
“Lebanon has been a hot spot around here in Tennessee. With the affordable home prices, the good schools, and its proximity to Nashville, our new branch is opening up in the perfect area,” said Tyler.
Tyler and his team were excited to start a branch in Lebanon, specifically in a location they believe will be very convenient for their customers.
“We found this location right across the street from an active strip mall, a bank, and apartments. The variety of people that shop, do business, and live around here should help us get a solid base of customers for any project,” said Tyler. Tyler is excited to grow with CES and his team members who have all grown close while building the branch together. “Over the last year, we’ve had a lot of time to get to know one another. We’re all friendly, personable, easy to get along with — I couldn’t ask for a better team to work with,” said Tyler.
The CES team in McKinney, Texas, spent four months preparing their new store. A city, according to Branch Manager Zach Litchen, that can’t be tied down to one specific industry.
“Of course there’s a lot of industrial and commercial work here, but with how fast McKinney is growing, it’s almost like they can’t build homes fast enough. Residential is going to be big, but we’re looking forward to seeing how we can serve all three of those markets. We have a massive, 10,000-square-foot branch, so there’s almost nothing we can’t do here,” said Litchen.
But it wasn’t an easy journey. Litchen and his team landed on a location for the branch in January, and while it was the perfect spot, it still took months to prepare. The large space had a lot pipe racks, pallet racks, wire racks, and shelving that needed to be done by hand. One of the challenges the team faced was not having electricity for a couple of months.
“The process was a long one. Even though the shell of the building was pretty much perfect, we still had 10,000 square feet of space, 28-foot ceilings, and a ton of racks to finish while working in the dark. But at the end of it all, this process has given me and my guys a different appreciation for this branch. It really feels like it’s ours now,” said Litchen. According to Litchen, the branch space is what’s going to help separate them from all the other suppliers in the area.
And what makes the CES McKinney branch even more unique is the young team that’s hungry for success. Litchen himself has only been with CES for three years. Today, at only 25, he’s running his own branch in one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. He achieved his success through hard work and the right type of training.
“Saul Leyva and Tyler Vandiver at CES Denton hired me as a Counter Rep and taught me everything electrical. They were really patient with me, taking the time to show me the ropes. I owe them a lot for how well they prepared me for running my own branch,” he said. “I also had the chance to ask other branch managers around here a bunch of questions. Talking with them and taking just about every course I could in CES University really taught me everything I needed to get to this point.”
City Electric Supply (CES) is a family-owned electrical wholesale distributor headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
