Mayfield-based Mars Electric is expanding in Akron and has plans to grow further in Northeast Ohio now that it's survived a COVID-19 downturn and apparently outlasted its major competitor, Cleveland's Leff Electric.
It wasn't a health scare that slowed Mars down this spring, it was a construction slump. The electrical supply distributor, like other companies, says it saw its business take a hit in the early days of the crisis, with sales down as much as 30%.
But when its biggest competitor shut down in April, Mars picked up market share and resumed its growth plans, starting with an expansion in Akron, said Mars vice president of sales Michael Mammone. In June, Mars opened a 12,000-square-foot branch at 190 Opportunity Parkway in the southwest part of downtown Akron.
"We relocated our facility that we had in Tallmadge, which was around 8,500 square feet. So, it's a larger facility with a more central location," Mammone said.
The location puts Mars not only in a prime location with easy access, but also near a lot of new construction going on in and around downtown Akron, ranging from new residential developments to health care facility expansions and other commercial and industrial projects. That new construction represents Mars' biggest end market, Mammone said.
"We're very close to downtown Akron, so we can better serve some of the facilities down there," he said. "Our largest market is the electrical contractors; they make up the largest portion of our business. But we also sell directly to people like hospitals and facility managers."
The new facility is both a showroom for the products Mars sells and a full-service supply shop for contractors. It offers "express will call," Mammone said, so contractors can quickly make and pick up orders.
"It's similar to what you'd see at a Panera or a Chipotle. You can call your order in ahead of time and when you come in your order is ready and waiting on some shelving. You can just grab it and go," Mammone said.
It's also, for the time being at least, still offering curbside service for customers who don't want to come in at all during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Some customers have adopted that and still want to continue it, so we're still offering that curbside service even though we now allow customers in our buildings," Mammone said.
It wasn't long ago though, that Mars was more concerned with business generally than with expanding. The early months of the crisis were tough, as some building projects slowed and new construction projects were put on hold, Mammone said.
The company, which has sales of more than $100 million annually, saw its business plummet early in the year. Then, Leff Electric suddenly ceased operations in April. Leff's website since has been taken down, but The Electrical Distributor Magazine reported it had posted a notice that it was no longer paying vendors or taking new orders.
"The COVID-19 crisis and resulting restrictions placed on businesses in Ohio caused Leff Electric to suspend its regular business operations on April 10, 2020," the magazine reported, citing Leff's website. "At this time, Leff has suspended payments to vendors and is not placing new orders from suppliers or receiving any new deliveries of products," it continued.
While bad for Leff, that was apparently a boon for Mars.
"Before they closed, we were seeing sales dropping between 20% and 30%. It was scary, but that has since stabilized," Mammone said.
Now, after several years of record growth, Mars is happy just to be on track to keep up with the sales level of 2019 instead of seeing the big decrease it was expecting just a few months back.
"We're projecting to be flat to last year, which is phenomenal," Mammone said.
Mars actually had its new Akron branch, which opened in an existing building, ready to go in May but delayed opening until mid-June due to the pandemic, Mammone said.
Now, the company, which has 12 branches and 165 employees in Northeast Ohio, is planning to resume its former expansion plans.
"We have a goal of three additional locations in the next five years … all within Northeast Ohio." Mammone said.
Electricians in the region are busy, whether it's for new construction or service and repair at both residential and commercial facilities, said Pat Graham, owner and president of GCS Electric in Sheffield and Elyria.
"Everyone is very busy. We do primarily service and repairs, and we're booked two weeks out sometimes just to get repairs in. … People are being forced to wait weeks to get lights on just because everyone is so busy," Graham said.
Graham said he's had some difficulty getting some parts — certain breaker switches have been hard to come by, he said — but the situation has been improving.
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August 02, 2020 at 03:00PM
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Mars Electric outlasts competitor and expands in Akron - Crain's Cleveland Business
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