Dave Roberts, Robertson director of marketing (left), greets an attendee to the open house in the new Livonia location.

The distributor, headquartered in Alliance, Ohio, operates 29 branches in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Robertson also owns one lighting center. President and CEO Scott Robertson was on hand for the festivities in early December.

The 40,000-square-foot facility includes a ProStock store, the Rheem system of selling HVAC parts and equipment. What also makes the new location unique is that it combines HVAC and plumbing parts and equipment under one roof.

Dave Roberts, director of marketing for Robertson, said his company was encouraged by the turnout at the grand opening and looks for more of the same in the future.

"This is an excellent location," he said. "We have 38 vendors showing their products and expect 200 people to attend the event. And we are looking for further growth in Michigan."

The Livonia location is managed by Ron Devore, a veteran of the HVAC industry, and a staff of six people. Michigan sales manager Geoff Alpert is one of the staff and he said the facility is 100 percent dedicated to warehousing and selling. "The administrative and accounting functions are handled at our Alliance headquarters," he added.

Alpert is optimistic about the new location, which opened ahead of schedule, based on his company's recent success.

"Business has been very good," he said. "Our sales are up 55 percent this year."

For more information, visit rhs1.com.

Publication date: 01/09/2006