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MARTIN’S CORNER


North or South, East or West… Eastway Supplies performs with the best!


H


appy New Year everyone, and welcome back to “Mar- tin’s Corner.” It is great to


have you all visiting the pages of The Wholesaler looking for industry news and items of interest, checking in this New Year for ideas and opportunities to help your business grow for the fu- ture. Nothing wrong with that at all. Just think about it...this is the year


of our Lord 2011! As you get older, turning that page every December 31st to yet another calendar of life is pretty self-satisfying, to say the least. Having a job today in this great in- dustry of ours is a wonderful way to say thanks for having that opportu- nity. For me, it is a pure blessing, just like it is to have the privilege to write these articles and to be free to state my opinions on industry matters. As I tell Tom Brown and Mary Jo Martin all the time, ”I work pretty cheap, so thanks for allowing me to speak my piece!” They have not stopped me yet, and I appreciate it. You know, for the past three


months or so I have brought you the success stories of some strong inde- pendent wholesalers around the country — the history of their com- panies and the markets they serve. Their strong survival in our changing economy is very interesting to me, and is such a testimony (in my mind)


the definition of “Strong Independent Wholesaler,” know what I mean? As an example, this month I want to focus on a company that was started from scratch in 1971 by a guy who loved air- planes! Yes, airplanes! This fellow had kin- folks in the area who were plumbers. I see a plan develop- ing here don’t you? Let’s get into a bit more. Even though he started up the business building mod- ular units for construction sites, it was finally realized that the plumbing supply route was most likely the best way to go. Enough of my playing around with words...ladies and gen- tlemen, give a warm reader’s wel- come to Mr. Gary Glanzman, president & CEO of Eastway Sup- plies in Columbus, Ohio! As I stated, the company was


founded in 1971 by Mr. A.J. “Bud” Glanzman (Gary’s father) and is still headquartered in Columbus. Bud was a North American/ Rockwell person making military airplanes. (Now, do you see the love for airplanes connec- tion that I mentioned earlier?) He


much for taking the time to share this with the readers of ThE WhOlEsalEr for their first edition of 2011! Glanzman: Thanks, John. All of us here at East- way consider it a great way to start the year also. We have had a great run here just build- ing on what my dad fo- cused on when he started the company. As I


have already shared with you, my fa- ther founded the company in 1971 from scratch. He was first in the building/supply of modular construc- tion units, then quickly focused on plumbing supplies for contractors and home builders. Martin: Well, from “Glanzman”


to Eastway supplies, that is quite a change. how did that happen, and how did the company name origi- nate? Glanzman: Good question, and a


simple one to answer really. We were and are currently located on the east side of town. Eastway Units was the name of the modular business he started for the same reason, and when he went the plumbing supplies route, the name just stuck. My father did not really want to identify with the words plumbing supply in the name, as he felt that might box us in later in life should we want to expand into other market segments. Eastway Supplies seemed to be good then, and it is still true today. We like it! Martin: With that


thought process about “expanding,” what are the markets that Eastway supplies caters to today? Glanzman: With my


From left to right: Gary, Vanessa and Mike Glanzman, and John Edwards.


to the statement of “Be sure you are right, THEN GO AHEAD!” Most of these companies have found a niche market or two to get them through tough times — and make them even stronger in the good times. Isn’t that a novel idea, huh? I have enjoyed the process so


much, I have decided to keep it up for at least few months into 2011 to share with you all several more good solid companies that should have their pic- tures in the dictionary right alongside


took early retirement right after the Vietnam war to indeed start the com- pany. Gary started with him as he came out of high school! (I love sto- ries like this!) Without any further delay, here’s the story of Eastway. Martin: Good morning, Gary.


What a great way to start the new year. Writing about a great success story such as your company is really a pleasure for me, and I am hoping that telling the story again is a pretty good feeling for you also. Thanks so


• Be sure to visit www.thewholesaler.com for web exclusive articles and videos! •


dad starting Eastway and my getting out of high school the same year and joining him, when I refer- ence “we” I certainly mean his vision and lead- ership in the early years and my working right alongside of him to learn. We started in residential plumbing supplies with some heating supplies. Our cousin was a pretty good-sized plumbing contractor in the area when we started, so we had some darn good built-in business. In fact, he was our largest customer for many of the start-up years, then after we really got our feet on the ground,


BY JOHN E MARTIN PVF industry veteran


we have never had to look back. With my dad’s first love being air-


planes, and mine apparently being plumbing, I decided to take a shot at slugging my way through college on a part-time basis at Ohio State to learn more about business. I did that, and finished my education up at Columbus State Community College. They had some classes there for wholesalers and distributors in gen- eral. I liked that a lot! While most of the class would show blank stares at the instructors when they talked about “chain discounts,” I would daz- zle them with the knowledge I had about buying copper, like the price was list and discounted at 50% and 8/5’s, OR a .3317 multiplier. They were amazed! I’d say my education was not classical, just practical! Anyway, back to market segments.


We were mainly residential plumbing with a run at some heating volume a couple times, but never got a lot of traction. We did add commercial plumbing pretty quick, which worked out well. We stayed pretty close to central Ohio all along, but would and will follow our good customers wher- ever they have work for us. By the


•THE WHOLESALER® — JANUARY 2011


Eastway has an 80,000-square-foot warehouse for mixed-space use; two-thirds of the space is heated.


end of the 70s we were about 70% residential and 30% commercial. During the 1970s we did have a major partnership with Cardinal In- dustries (manufactured housing) when that was a booming business. It was a million-dollar account during (Turn to Ohio... page 75.)


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