White Cap Construction Supply Inc., distributors of specialty hardware, tools and materials to construction contractors, announced Feb. 28 that it had acquired Greenwald Supply Inc. and Greenwald Industrial Products Co., Inc. Greenwald, which specializes in construction, building and specialty materials, has two branch locations in the Washington, D.C./Mid-Atlantic region. Its annual sales are estimated at $100 million. It was founded in 1956 and today employs more than 100 people.

"We felt Greenwald was a great complement to our offerings and extends our national reach," said Brian Etter, CFO of White Cap. "This is our first entry into the mid-Atlantic...It will allow us to continue to build the White Cap model with the strong relationships, management and associates that Greenwald has."

White Cap officials had been aware of, and admirers of, Greenwald for quite some time, Etter explained.

"We've certainly been familiar with and have been watching the Greenwald performance for a couple of years," he said. "They are highly respected in the vendor community, the trade community and professional contractor community...The more folks we met, when we'd ask 'Who are the key players in this market area?' Greenwald was always at the top of the list."

The company will continue to operate under the Greenwald name for a period of time, Etter explained, "until it makes sense to transition or re-brand the business into White Cap. We're very comfortable with their two existing locations and believe there are opportunities for us to add more locations in the marketplace. It's certainly a growth play for White Cap in this area."

Etter said that White Cap had no plans to eliminate any Greenwald jobs. On the contrary, he added, "we're already recruiting to add to the associate staff there to support our growth," he says. "It's actually one of the rare win-win scenarios... They've obviously built a very successful business over 50 years, and we can learn a lot on how to leverage what they do well through the White Cap organization."

White Cap itself was acquired by The Home Depot in June, 2004 and has 80 branches across the country.