Interline Brands Inc. CEO Michael Grebe says his company “accomplished a lot in 2011,” and then quickly adds that he knows a lot of corporate CEOs will tell you that.
But Grebe wants everyone to know that he really believes Interline has taken major steps to position itself for growth as the economy improves.
“We honestly feel we have transformed the company in the years from 2008 through 2011,” he said after the company’s annual meeting Thursday at the Hyatt Downtown.
Interline markets and distributes maintenance, repair and operations products to professional contractors and facilities maintenance professionals nationwide.
The recession caused a dip in sales in 2008 and 2009 but last year the company rebounded with a 14.9 percent increase in sales to $1.25 billion.
Earlier this week, Interline announced that first-quarter sales rose 5.4 percent to $313.6 million and net income rose 8.5 percent to $7.5 million, or 23 cents a share.
Among the steps Interline has taken to improve operations over the past few years has been the consolidation of 25 distribution centers, or one third of its distribution network.
As part of that consolidation, the company in 2010 opened an expanded 275,000-square-foot facility in the Westside Industrial Park in Jacksonville.
Interline, which has its headquarters office on the Southbank near the Acosta Bridge, employs a total of about 565 people in Jacksonville and 3,600 companywide.
Interline’s transformation also included two acquisitions last year of companies that distribute products to the janitorial and sanitation market, California-based CleanSource Inc. and Colorado-based Northern Colorado Paper Inc. Those acquisitions increased Interline’s penetration of the “jan-san” market and also increased its business in the Western U.S.
Grebe said the company wants to continue its acquisition activity this year.
Interline’s first-quarter results showed strength in distributing supplies for the multifamily housing business, but the company still is waiting for signs of a pickup in new single-family home construction. Interline sells plumbing and electrical supplies for that market.
“That portion of our business is not strong right now, but it’s not weak. It’s stable,” Grebe said.
“We believe the market is pretty close to bottoming out,” he said.
Grebe noted that U.S. Census data show that 1 million new households were formed in the U.S. in the first quarter, which could be a leading indicator of an increase in housing construction.
“It tells us that something’s happening,” he said. “We’re kind of optimistic about that portion of our business.”
Of course, he’s also optimistic about the rest of the business after the steps the company has taken.
“We feel good about our position in the marketplace,” Grebe said.
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