The Walters family, owners of Gensco, purchases Slakey Brothers

December 14, 2018

The Walters family, owners of HVAC distributor Gensco, recently purchased Slakey Brothers, a distributor of HVAC and plumbing products based in Elk Grove, California.

Slakey Brothers, founded in 1939, was ranked No. 30 in the 2018 Supply House Times Premier 150 that ranks the top PHCP-PVF distributors based on sales from the previous fiscal year. Gensco President Chris Walters (pictured above) told Supply House Times that Gensco and Slakey will run as sister standalone organizations, continuing to operate under their own names with their current teams, product lines and leadership in place.

“The Slakey Brothers name is a well-known and respected name in the industry,” said Walters, who remains president of Gensco and takes on the responsibility of CEO of Slakey Brothers. “Slakey has done a great job building its reputation for excellent customer service, as well as being an industry leader. We intend to preserve that.”

“The number-one factor (in the acquisition) was the great culture at Slakey,” Walters said. “Its culture mirrors Gensco’s culture, making it a great fit. Also, if you take a look at Gensco’s current geographic footprint, in order to efficiently expand, we can either go east or south. The Slakey footprint in California fits very well with our expansion plans. Both companies are built on a foundation that includes excellent customer service, opportunity of job satisfaction for team members, excellence in operations and strong customer and supplier partnerships.

“As sister organizations, we plan to share best practices and implement what Slakey does well within Gensco and vice versa. The Walters family is excited to get to know the plumbing side of the business.”

Slakey Brothers has 24 branches in three states with 22 in California, one in Nevada and one in Oregon, as well as three plumbing showrooms located in and around Sacramento, California. Tacoma, Washington-based Gensco currently has 24 branches in five states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska).

Mike Miazga (former group editorial director for BNP Media’s Plumbing Group) is now the vice president of sales/membership at the American Supply Association (ASA). Supply House Times is proud to be the official publication and brand of the ASA — a relationship that spans more than a decade.

Mike’s relationship with BNP Media and the Plumbing Group continues today. He now writes a monthly ASA-focused column for Supply House Times and acts as an editorial consultant to BNP Media’s Plumbing Group.

In his 10-plus years at BNP Media, Miazga was senior editor of Plumbing & Mechanical and PM Engineer before taking over chief editor duties at Supply House Times in 2011. In addition to his role as editorial director, Miazga continued as Supply House Times chief editor and the editor of the American Supply Association’s PVF Outlook eNewsletter. He also enjoyed three stints as PM Engineer’s chief editor, holding dual roles as Supply House Times and PM Engineer chief editor on two occasions.

Miazga started his career in newspapers at the age of 19 and has more than 25 years of newsroom, management, editorial and public/media relations experience, and is a former high-school baseball and golf head varsity coach. Mike and his family are still based out of the Chicago area (with ASA Headquarters in Itasca, Illinois). You can reach Mike at PlumbingGroup89@gmail.com.