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Looking Great at 40By Nerissa McNaughton

EWEL:

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their

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Proud supplier of EWEL

Eaton Canada extends our heartfelt congratulations to EWEL for completing 40 memorable years of success. We wish you all the best for your future.

Learn more at eatoncanada.ca

It has been great achieving tremendous growth with you over the years.

Bob Carson (in photo) would be proud of his son, Bruce, and grandson, David

The newspaper clipping is old and a lit-tle faded. The date on the left corner says October 31, 1975. It’s Halloween, but

there is nothing scary about the article’s con-tents. Two smiling faces on the worn article page look so warm and friendly, you can’t help but grin back. They are Clarence and Phyl-lis Radis, the proud new owners of Electrical Wholesalers Edmonton Ltd. (EWEL). The article also mentions Don Cherwonka, who at 23 years

old and with five years of electrical experience, is proud to be the inside sales manager. Travel forward 12 years. EWEL is now helmed by Bob Carson, who built his reputation as an outstanding salesman at Federal Pioneer Ltd. (Federal Pioneer was acquired by Schneider Electric in 1990). Move forward a full 40 years from the opening date and you find EWEL still going strong. Don, now the outside sales/lighting specialist, is still part of the team, and Bob’s son, Bruce, is the president.

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Proud supplier of EWEL

Eaton Canada extends our heartfelt congratulations to EWEL for completing 40 memorable years of success. We wish you all the best for your future.

Learn more at eatoncanada.ca

It has been great achieving tremendous growth with you over the years.

Bob Carson (in photo) would be proud of his son, Bruce, and grandson, David

The newspaper clipping is old and a lit-tle faded. The date on the left corner says October 31, 1975. It’s Halloween, but

there is nothing scary about the article’s con-tents. Two smiling faces on the worn article page look so warm and friendly, you can’t help but grin back. They are Clarence and Phyl-lis Radis, the proud new owners of Electrical Wholesalers Edmonton Ltd. (EWEL). The article also mentions Don Cherwonka, who at 23 years

old and with five years of electrical experience, is proud to be the inside sales manager. Travel forward 12 years. EWEL is now helmed by Bob Carson, who built his reputation as an outstanding salesman at Federal Pioneer Ltd. (Federal Pioneer was acquired by Schneider Electric in 1990). Move forward a full 40 years from the opening date and you find EWEL still going strong. Don, now the outside sales/lighting specialist, is still part of the team, and Bob’s son, Bruce, is the president.

Proud supplier of EWEL

Eaton Canada extends our heartfelt congratulations to EWEL for completing 40 memorable years of success. We wish you all the best for your future.

Learn more at eatoncanada.ca

It has been great achieving tremendous growth with you over the years.

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Bob’s grandson, David, is involved in both opera-tions and sales.

As you can see, EWEL’s roots go very deep – deep into the city, deep into family history, and deep into the client base built through four decades serving customers. What is behind their success? For the company’s principals, Bruce Carson, David Carson, Terry Black, Al Graham and

Tom Kelly, it’s simple: “EWEL is an independently owned and operated electrical distributor that specializes in residential, commercial and electri-cal products.” You see, from day one the company never lost sight of its goal of being the best inde-pendent electrical distributor in Edmonton. It’s who they were 40 years ago and it’s who they are now.

EWEL’s 148 Street & 124 Avenue location

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“There are other companies that sell the same things as us,” explains Al, “but they are conglom-erates working for multi-national companies while we are locally focused on Edmonton.”

“We are small and independent; able to cater our products and services to the customers’ needs within Edmonton,” David adds.

“That way, we can react to the market quickly and efficiently,” Terry chimes in.

Al sums up the benefits of being local and inde-pendent. “Our inventory and service comes from 40 years of being here and knowing the people. They come here because they can get good ser-vice and products without having to go through multiple channels. We are a one-stop shop for all your electrical needs. We can make decisions quickly and can make our own decisions on what to carry for our customers.”

The interview is taking place at EWEL’s sprawl-ing location on 148 Street and 124 Avenue. Like every aspect of the business, the location and setup are designed to maximize efficiency. A

pickup and drop off area with ample parking is in the back. The store occupies the lower portion of the building while administration is taken care of upstairs. The principals, all in one room to discuss the company’s history and success, are a tight-knit group that works together so seamlessly, they can interchange sentences without losing their train of thought. Among them they share over 200 years of electrical industry experience. Not only are the Carsons in their third genera-tion of ownership at EWEL, Al is also the third in his generation to take up the electrical trade. The principals take their jobs seriously, but have a collective fun-loving side that makes working and shopping at EWEL a pleasure.

One of the ways EWEL serves customers is through accessibility. Three locations are conve-niently and strategically placed around the city: the northwest, south side and in Sherwood Park. Inside the showrooms you’ll find a full comple-ment of electrical products, from lighting to fire alarms, fittings to fans. Just some of the 100+

Store interior in the 148 Street & 124 Avenue Location

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brands carried include Schneider Electric; Eaton brands Crouse Hinds, Cooper Lighting, B-Line, Arrowhart, and Bussman; Acuity Brands, Philips Lighting, T&B, Lutron, Klein Tools; and many more.

Although many of the brands they carry are long-established in the industry, EWEL is always looking to the future. “Energy saving products are one thing we are huge on,” says Bruce. “Going green and reducing our carbon footprint is impor-tant.” The group also discusses how they look into new technologies on the behalf of their cus-tomers. If it’s new and on the shelf at EWEL, you know it’s been carefully analyzed and approved by these experts for the Edmonton market. After all, isn’t that what being agile in response to con-sumer demand is all about?

One of the newer technologies that is fast-emerging is home automation. The smart home, once the dream of science fiction writers, has become a reality. People are controlling their ther-mostats, door locks, security and lighting with a flick of the finger on an app. Of course, EWEL is right on top of this development and offers light-ing controls and automation that are compliant with the most popular smart home applications. Other technology-forward avenues the company

invests in is LED lighting and, just recently, solar harvesting.

It’s not just the customers that enjoy their expe-rience at EWEL. The principals make sure the staff do as well. Their collective message for their team of employees is, “work hard and have fun!”

“They [the staff] do enjoy their time here,” says Terry with his characteristic grin. “They do have fun. Our employees are interested in the electri-cal industry because it’s always challenging, and therefore rewarding.”

“There is no boredom,” says David. He should know. He’s been with EWEL since 2008 after graduating from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and majoring in entrepreneurship and small business manage-ment. He knows what makes a business tick for its employees.

“Things here are structured towards employee engagement in schedules and personal needs,” says Al.

The staff, which number just over 30, is con-stantly expanding because EWEL is still growing. You would think that after four decades they would slow down, but the energetic company has no plans in the near future to slow down or even

www.mckennaagencies.com

www.rclighting.ca

We celebrate the 40th anniversary of EWEL and wish them many more years of success!

® /™ Trademark(s) of Royal Bank of Canada. RBC and Royal Bank are registered trademarks of Royal Bank of Canada. 30075 (01/2011)

Congratulations Hendriks Construction Ltd. on 40 years of business.

To your continued success

RBC Commercial Services Team9034 – 51 AvenueEdmonton, Alberta

90558 AD 30075 4C_Aasen.indd 1 2015-01-14 4:18 PM

Congratulations to EWEL Electrical Wholesalers on 40 years of business.

RBC Royal Bank10117 Jasper Avenue

Congratulations EWEL on 40 years of success!

(780) 458-3500benefits@royfinancial.com www.royfinancial.com

www.ecaa.ab.ca

on 40 years of CONGRATULATIONS EWEL

successful business!Supporting EWEL as an ECAA member

since 1979

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We wish to congratulate EWEL on their 40th anniversary. We are proud

to be a part of your success!

Philips would like to congratulate EWEL on 40 years of success!Visit your local EWEL branch today for the latest in lighting innovations from Philips!

www.schneider-electric.com/ca

Providing innovative solutions for residential, commercial, and industrial applications

Congratulations EWEL on your 40th Anniversary

www.prolux.com11214 – 178 StreetEdmonton, AB T5S 1P2 780.701.4112

We are proud to have been a part of your 40 years of success! Congratulations on

this milestone!

Sheppard Insurance Service & Risk Management Congratulates EWEL on their 40th anniversary and wishes them all the best in the years to come.

www.sheppardinsurance.com

EWELElectrical Wholesalers

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level off. And why should they? The principals are proud to point out that their one-stop shopping experience has garnered a huge amount of cus-tomer loyalty – and they aren’t about to let their customers or staff down.

There are times, however, when EWEL steps away from the limelight (seriously, their company colour is green and they deal in lighting, so….pun intended) and focuses on something that can-not be summed up in a product line. Ever since one of their own passed away from skin cancer, they have held a golf tournament in his honour to raise money for cancer research and treat-ment. Their Chris Dunn memorial tournament is also used to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada. EWEL also supports the Stol-lery Children’s Hospital Foundation, Edmonton’s fire fighters, uses the Child Find recycling boxes in each office to support the charity as well as promote recycling – and that is just a few of their charitable endeavors.

Looking forward, EWEL is excited about look-ing into new locations, new products and new solutions for existing and emerging markets. They are also very excited about their launch of enterprise resource planning software, which is currently underway with a target of early 2016 for going live.

David explains, “EWEL is providing a business improvement solution in the form of a new sys-tem that will tie all of our processes together. We will have more tools to reduce steps and stresses in day-to-day operations. Our new system will allow us to be more interactive with our vendors.

By making better purchasing decisions, increas-ing product knowledge, and improving data interchange, we’ll be able to grow our vendors’ product lines and increase sales.” The software also greatly benefits EWEL’s customers. “One benefit will be a fully interactive website that will allow customers to place orders and access infor-mation such as real-time stock levels and pricing.”

The old newspaper clipping, a little tattered and folded but not much worse for the wear, is a treasured memento of how it all began. From a freestanding store in 1975 to multiple locations in Edmonton and e-commerce in 2015, it’s been a quite a journey. A fun, rewarding, journey filled with great people – staff, vendors and clients – every step of the way.

As they turn 40 this year, EWEL thanks all those that have stood with them over the decades, including their valued staff, clients and vendors; along with the Edmonton Construction Asso-ciation, the Electrical Contractors Association of Alberta and the FCAAA.

“Treat your customers, employers and vendors as family and success will follow,” they conclude. It’s been a winning formula so far. Clarence and Phyllis Radis would be proud, and so would Bob Carson. His smiling photo beams down on the principals from its place of honour in the room. His son and grandson beam back at him. Success has followed, and now they all take the lead as they continue to give EWEL another 40 years of being the best independent, local electrical distri-bution company in Edmonton. •

www.ewel.ca | alg@ewel.ca

T hanks for letting us be a part of your success!

PM

PM

EDMONTON AB 129 148 St. NW T5L 2H9P E

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CALGARY AB 1501 Moraine Road NE, T2A 2P5P E SASKATOON SK 501 46th St. E S7K 0W8P E

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CONGRATULATIONS EWEL It’s Been 40 Great Years!