I rarely hit the HD or BLOWES. Only if in a real hurry and they are real close. I do price out there products though. And that has made my suppliers tighten up a bit. I rarely buy less than 20Kft romex at a time and the same goes for devices and distribution. I keep the shop loaded at all times for the resi jobs. Load the trucks in the morning and let the guys work all day. Trips = less profit. Some times the supply houses call me for stuff!
The commercial jobs we purchase items as needed since materials differ from job to job. But we still keep the commercial job trailer load with 3000ft of pipe, connectors, mc, boxes, 10Kft of THHN and such.
By stocking so much the suppliers keep the prices low and they know i'll pay on time. And when I need that 30A 3phase boltin breaker at 11pm. Theyll let me in to get it. Means a lot!
I use two supply houses. One is an independent and carries GE Siemens and P&S. The other is a Winlectric chain store which carries SqD and P&S. I go to cook outs with the guys and go fishing from time to time with em too. I have good luck with both suppliers i guess!
Now if i could just get the lighting store to get there crap together. I loose more money on their junk than anyone else. Broken pieces, missing items and the such. What a pain!
