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Electric wholesaler opens in Warrenton
Electric wholesaler opens in WarrentonBy Bill Walsh
Times-Democrat Staff Writer
Florescent light bulbs are getting all the press these days, but they may not be the be-all and end-all of lighting developments that will make us all 'green' home and business owners.
General Electric, according to Jackie Miller, an outside sales specialist with Electric Wholesalers Inc., which opened on Industrial Road in Warrenton on Oct. 6, is hard at work on an HEI, or high-efficiency incandescent. GE researchers think that is the next big thing in lighting, Miller said.
For his part, the future may belong to light emitting diodes, or LEDs.
"You can take an incandescent, recessed [light] can in your house, take out the incandescent bulb and screw in an LED, and that fixture now becomes an LED fixture," he said. "They are more expensive than fluorescents, but you are looking at 50,000 light/hours. For...10 years you can let that fixture go and not worry about it."
Whatever the future holds, Electrical Wholesalers Inc. is ready to stock it in its 12,000-square-foot warehouse and showroom complex located almost directly across U.S. 17 Business from the entrance to Wal-Mart.
"We sell everything that a contractor needs, from lighting to wire nuts," manager Donnie Bragg said last week. "You name it, we carry it, and all of it is top-of-the-line."
Electrical Wholesalers Inc. began operations in 2006 and currently has five locations in Maryland in addition to the Warrenton shop. Plans are to open a seventh location in Winchester next year.
"I used to work for Branch Electric [on the bypass in Warrenton} before it got bought out," Bragg said of his new association. "I was with them for 23 years. My former boss called me one day and asked if I would come and run a store for him in Virginia."
It's not a particularly promising time to be starting a new business — any business, but especially one aiming to serve building contractors who are, by and large, less busy than they'd like to be these days.
"Building has dropped off," Bragg concedes, while maintaining that the slowdown has not been especially evident in the new endeavor. Commercial building continues to be strong he said, and, "to be honest with you, we are in for the long haul," he said. "The economy will turn around."
Among the nine employees at Electrical Wholesalers Inc., there is well over 100 years of industry experience. That, and an emphasis on customer service will see the business through until the economy does turn, he said.
Area contractors are visiting with regularity, Bragg said. He would like to see more homeowners have the showroom on their radar.
To that end, Bragg and his staff are hosting a community open house from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 20.
The store can be reached at (540) 349-9777 and is on the Web at www.ew-inc.com.
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