Max, Peter and Sam Kuhlman head up the family-run DuPage Industries parts supply business.
By Andy Kriege, YSN
DuPage Industries has been supplying installation parts to the appliance industry for over 60 years. But given the unprecedented demand for white goods, the family-owned, Chicago-area business has simply outgrown its location in Woodale, Ill., and has purchased a building in nearby Addison that is two-and-a-half times larger than its current home.
Despite its modest size, DuPage is one of the nation’s largest full-line suppliers of appliance installation materials, including stainless steel gas range and dryer connectors, range and dryer electrical cords, washer and dishwasher hoses, and everything in between.
Related: DuPage Sources Critical PPE for BrandSource Members
The company’s moving date is Feb. 22-26.Orders may be placed as usual during the transition, although shipping may be slightly delayed.
DuPage president Peter “Max” Kuhlman is excited about the move, stating “This strategic new location will give us better inventory flow and is centrally located near shipping terminals to give us the fastest possible shipping times. It will allow us to hold more inventory and increase work efficiency to make sure orders go out the same day.”
Max is a third-generation owner along with his brother Sam. The company was founded in the Chicago bedroom community of Melrose Park, Ill., which the Kuhlman family helped settle in the 1860s. Taking its name from local DuPage County, their grandfather and his dad created a two-page parts catalog and were off and running.
Over the ensuing decades the two-page sheet evolved into a 42-page digital directory of installation parts, and the company relocated to the nearby town of Wood Dale. Besides providing thousands of critical parts for installers across the country quickly and reasonably, what really sets DuPage apart is its customer-focused service, which it provides every customer whether large or small.
Max and Sam are active partners of BrandSource, supporting many programs and initiatives. And both are firm believers that their customers are in good hands with the buying group. “The care that goes back to the member base is rare,” Max observed, citing a host of modest-sized dealers whose businesses “just exploded” after joining BrandSource.
See: The Kuhlman Brothers Connect with BrandSource’s Young Professionals
DuPage itself has been an AVB supplier for some 30 years. “We work with different groups and associations, but we have a very special buying program with BrandSource, and haven’t had a longer relationship with anyone else,” Max added.
“We are a relatively small, family-owned independent company and are a reflection of the businesses we serve,” Sam added. “We truly understand the needs of other independent businesses like ours. We live it every day.”
DuPage Industries’ new address is 105 S. Fairbank St., Addison IL 60101. The company can still be reached at (800) 634-8843 and visited online at DuPageIndustries.com.
BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, furniture, mattress and CE dealers.
