CES Houston Downtown: New Electrical Supplier Opens in Houston

Houston is one of the top-five largest cities in the country and is known for its diverse population, vast highways, and rapid growth. Soon, the city will be known for its newest electrical supplier, CES Houston Downtown. 

“We opened here around mid-October,” said Branch Manager Michael Martini. “We’re as close to downtown as possible without being in downtown proper.”  

Surrounded by buildings, the branch’s front door faces a major vehicle artery that provides this Houston electrical supplier a huge advantage in the local market.  

“You step out our front door and you’re looking at skyscrapers,” Michael said. “Like a dog sticking its face out of a moving vehicle, we’re just south of the proper downtown district and we feel the cars speeding by on I-45, this location makes us very accessible for downtown contractors.”

Experience & Expertise

On top of the perfect location, it’s not hard to figure out why Michael was the perfect person to open CES Houston Downtown. He grew up in Houston, so he knows the people and the industry very well. 

Plus, this wasn’t the first time Michael led the opening of a new branch. He worked as a branch manager at CES Alvin before it relocated to La Marque.  

“When they brought me on, we moved from one location to another, from Alvin to La Marque. We physically moved everything, set up that store, and then we did it again to open in Houston,” he said.

But after all of this moving around, Michael has found the right market to begin building something special, which starts with the new team for his new branch. 

Houston Electrical Supplier Builds for The Future

“I want to hire for our future corporate growth. Talented people are who I am looking to find. I want to mentor the guys around me to help them succeed with their future endeavors,” he said. 

“Daren Thode, my district manager, has joked with me that I’m his Cleveland Indians manager,” Michael laughed. “The Yankees buy great talent and they just let them play, whereas the Cleveland Indians develop talent and let them learn. There’s value in developing a talent pool.”

And, so far, it looks like Michael has pulled it off. 

With his knowledge of the customer base from growing up in Houston, Michael has several team members who speak both English and Spanish, and he even has some employees completely new to the industry that he’s excited to help mentor and guide. 

Big Goals for this Houston Electrical Supplier

Despite some of the challenges that led to the branch’s opening, Branch Manager Michael Martini and District Manager Daren Thode have a lot of short-term and long-term goals set for this Houston electrical supplier. 

“For the long-term, I hope to develop a pipeline of people,” he said. “That’s my high priority, it’s to encourage these guys to grow. The short-term goal is to reach a level where we’re doing more business and making more market share with the contractors around us.”

“I also want to understand who will be coming through those doors and make sure we have the right mix of inventory to make customers feel at home in the sense that they can come here for anything,” Michael explained.

District Manager Daren Thode added, “I want to have it where you don’t have to go very far outside of the city proper in order to have a City Electric Supply accessible to our customers.”

With such a huge opportunity for growth for CES Houston Downtown, the new branch and the new team are both in good hands.