Professional Contractor Supply Builds On 40 Years Of Showing Up
The company got its start in 1987, when founder Keith Mantis began selling fasteners out of a van in Southern California under the name Fasteners, Inc. Later, he launched ToolUp.com during the dot-com boom, a venture that took off and helped fuel the company’s growth for years to come. Somewhere along the way, the can gave way in favor of a permenant home in Las Vegas, and about two years ago the company rebranded as Professional Contractor Supply, or PCS.
“We’ve really set roots down in Vegas,” PCS Outside Sales Representative Chun Suen said. “We’ve picked up a lot of best-supplier awards from Las Vegas and Nevada, and we’re probably one of the biggest contractor suppliers in the city.”
Over the years, the company steadily grew outward from that Vegas location, with branches in San Diego, San Francisco and Hayward. Last year, PCS opened locations in Columbus, Ohio and Arlington, Texas. Today, the company employs 190 people across all these locations.
Suen joined PCS three months ago as an outside sales rep, but he’s no stranger to the company. He spent eight years at Milwaukee Tool, working alongside PCS regularly, which gave him a close look at how the company operates long before he came aboard.
“Taking care of customers with world-class service is at the center of everything here,” Suen said. “When I came over, I felt immediately like I was able to make an impact. They care about the customer, but they also take care of their employees.”
That service-first mentality, Suen said, is what separates PCS from bigger national players.
“We built our reputation on supporting contractors with the essentials — safety equipment, tools, etc. — but what really sets us apart is the service piece,” Suen said. “We never shy away from going above and beyond for our customers, procuring things for them that aren’t even in our regular line. I’ve seen us source an e-bike for a customer before. We’re still a smaller distributor compared to the big-box guys out there, but that gives us the chance to take a more personable approach. There’s a lot of flexibility in what we can do for people.”
Part of that flexibility now comes from technology. PCS recently brought robotics into its 200,000-square-foot Las Vegas warehouse, and it has made a difference.
“The robots allow us to have a faster, smoother shipping process. From what I understand, that’s pretty rare in construction, so we’re proud of that,” Suen said. “There’s constant technology advancement happening to enhance that service piece. Customers tell us all the time that once they switch to us, they can get things the same day. A lot of competitors don’t do that.”
That same-day promise is something Suen especially wants Bay Area SMACNA members to know about.
“In the last five to 10 years we’ve been very focused on mechanical and HVAC contractors,” Suen said. “A lot of contractors only use us for that. For contractors in this space who might not be aware, PCS offers same-day delivery if you order before 10:30 a.m. — that’s huge. We have a long, successful history of taking care of mechanical and HVAC contractors specifically. We serve electrical and other trades too, but mechanical has always been our bread and butter, which is why we’re involved with Bay Area SMACNA. Virtually anything a contractor needs, we can get to them — besides actual sheets of sheet metal.”
Beyond the jobsite, PCS has made community investment a priority, particularly in its southern Nevada home base.
“One of the things we’re proudest of is our commitment to pledge $1 million to a new children’s hospital in southern Nevada,” Suen said. “On top of that, we’re actively supporting higher education through scholarships for families in need in southern Nevada, and we contribute to organizations like Zero Cancer and Hope For The Warriors. We’re pretty involved.”
For a company that started out of the back of a van, that kind of growth and that kind of commitment speak to a philosophy Suen said guides how PCS approaches everything.
“We want partnerships, we don’t want transactional relationships,” he said.