CES Kings Mountain: It’s Your Place, Too
After 24 years of Kings Mountain living, Gerald Smith finally got to open a City Electric Supply branch in his own hometown. Surrounded by industrial plants, residential developments, and commercial business, the location can’t be beat. And after talking with Smith, it’s clear to see the locals are just as impressive.
“I don’t know if it’s hometown stuff, but they’re more open to supporting a local business,” explained City Electric Supply Kings Mountain Branch Manager Gerald Smith proudly.
Hometown Support
And the good news for him is that he’s likely to continue getting support without much pushback.
“We’re the first distributor here,” explained Smith. “The only places close by are hardware stores. We don’t have a lot of competitors over here.”
Not only is that great for business, but it means CES Kings Mountain is great for the town, filling a need that wasn’t being met before they arrived. In the short time it’s been open, the branch has already been valuable to the community.
“We’ve done really well from the time we opened up,” said Smith. “People are coming in pretty steadily, with some help from word of mouth and the KM Times. That helped drum up some interest in the local community.”
Where Everybody Knows Your Name
While the local community has shown Smith support, he reports that he understands why some might be wary of new businesses opening up in the town out of fear they could lose their small-town feel.
“There are a lot of projects going on — a casino, a 24M warehouse, townhomes, apartments, restaurants,” said Smith. “Some are excited; some aren’t. From a business aspect, it’s a good thing! They’re employing 4,000 people, and that’ll help a lot. But we don’t want to lose the small-town feel.”
For anyone in Kings Mountain looking for that small-town feel, Smith guarantees you can find it in his branch. Like the bar in Cheers, CES Kings Mountain will be a place where everybody knows your name.
Exciting Future in Kings Mountain
“We try to engage with everyone,” said Smith. “It’s not just a ‘hey, how are you, get the sale done.’ We talk to people. We want them to come in and have coffee, tell us how they’re doing, how their family is doing.”
And by “we,” Smith means the people he’s hand-picked to start the branch with him.
“My team’s skills are really, really good,” said Smith. “People come in and tell us how excited they are to be here and for us to be here. We have a personal feel that says, ‘This is your place, too.’”
And this place — Smith’s place, your place — is an exciting place to be. “We can’t wait to see what projects we work on,” said Smith. “The sky’s the limit; that’s how we feel. We wake up excited. This is a new adventure breathing new life into us.”