COE Distributing

third of five acquisitions in that roll-up,”Ewing continues.“I, as well as the bulk of my staff, stayed on to work for the acquiring entity and subsequently, three and a half years later, they filed for bankruptcy and were shutting down the business. I took the opportunity to buy it back out of bankruptcy and restart the company in January 2010.” “Why did we jump back into a company that failed in a market segment that was not particularly popular and was not supporting too many wholesale office distri- bution businesses?”Ewing asks rhetorically.“We felt that the ideas and the purpose of the rollup entity made a lot of sense; it just wasn’t run the right way and we felt that we had the opportunity to correct that. So,we set on a path to do so.” COE DISTRIBUTING Why didwe jump back into a company that failed in amarket segment that was not partic- ularly popular andwas not supporting toomany wholesale office distribution businesses?We felt that the ideas and the purpose of the rollup entitymade a lot of sense; it just wasn’t run the right way andwe felt that we had the opportuni- ty to correct that. J.D. EWING PRESIDENT AND CEO The gamble paid off. Ewing took the company out of bankruptcy in late 2009, and re-opened it in Jan- uary 2010.“First year revenue exceeded budget by almost three times,”he states,“and we’re now finish- ing up our eighth year, and we expect to exceed $60 million in annual revenue.” Today, COE Distributing has two distribution center/showrooms–one in Uniontown, Pennsyl- vania, an hour south of Pittsburgh, and another in Charlotte,North Carolina. Its products are sourced domestically, as well as from Canada,Mexico, and South America, specifically, Brazil. It also brings in product fromMalaysia,Taiwan,Vietnam, and China. It wholesales to national e-tailers and retailers, such as Wayfair, Staples, and Amazon.“But a lot of our business, historically, and still today, has been the traditional, single location, brick and mortar, office furniture resale,”Ewing stresses. Ewing believes that what differentiates his com- pany from the competition is the depth and breadth of its product mix.“We are the largest, single source supplier to the resale community in the U.S. of laminate desking,”he says.“And we complement that with a significant variety of seating options and accessories -also filing cabinets, and cubicle panels and dividers, and other office furniture and office furniture accessories that are needed to outfit an office.” The company employs a staff of 50, complement- ed by third party contractors, vendors, traffic manag- ers, and a dedicated logistics fleet. Ewing adds that, “Our other distinct advantage that we are proud of,