K + K America: a Corporate Profile

C&H Distributors, one of the leading business-to-business mail order companies in the US.

Milwaukee. C&H Distributors, one of the main business-to-business mail order traders in the USA today, started off in 1937 as a joint venture between Charles Clark and Otto Henke. If at first the two were occupied with installing cables, they soon began to deal in electromotors, ventilators and other electrical devices. As the company grew, it went on to publish its first catalogue after the Second World War. But it was only towards the end of the 1950s that the then President, Gordon Henke, restructured the company as a mail order business. The catalogue was fundamentally revamped and new mailing lists were compiled: C&H made a completely fresh start.

A relaunch that was to lead the company into becoming one of the top business-to-business mail order firms in the USA. Both the range of goods and the turnover rose steadily and it was this ongoing growth that made new and ever-larger warehouses necessary. So much so that by the beginning of the 1980s, new distribution centres had been opened in Reno, Dallas, Atlanta and Edison. Since then, C&H has always had more than 50% of its products in stock, ensuring that delivery anywhere in the USA is possible within 24 hours. And that with around 45,000 products for customers in trade, industry and government.

As part of its growth strategy, C&H (as a KAISER + KRAFT subsidiary) began in the early 1990s to acquire other firms-the Canadian mail order firm Avenue Industrial, for instance. Parallel to that development, substantial investments were being made in the products and in the catalogue which is now considered to be a model of its kind in the trade.

Ideally adapted to its particular niche market is Conney Safety Products, a full service provider which has been active in this market since 1946 i.e. in the field of safety at work and first aid solutions. Same-day delivery - by air freight if required - is just one of the many service features that have helped Conney achieve a superb regional and product specific area coverage for its market segment.

July 1, 1999