The second distributor in ID's 2025 Watch List is a collection of four companies that aims to collectively set the standard for a particular niche in the distribution market.
Geib Industries operates six locations — including its latest addition in Wisconsin — and continued to grow amid a broader effort to become "the leader in the hose and fitting industry."
Read the first installment in this year's series here, and for the complete Watch List, see the latest edition of Industrial Distribution magazine.
Geib Industries
Nominated by: IDCO
Top executive(s): Chris Geib, president; Mike Campanaro, vice president, sales; Jenny Thornton, comptroller; Mike Zalas, director of accounts
Headquarters: Bensenville, Illinois
Year founded: 1947
Website: www.geibind.com
Number of locations: 6
Key product categories: Hose, fittings and hose assemblies covering all five major categories: hydraulic, industrial, stainless braided PTFE, stainless braided metal, composite.
Total employee headcount: 279
Total SKU count: 18,248
Company commentary: We are a family of four businesses: Geib Industries (parent), Capital Rubber, Hose Connections and Midwest Flexible Hose.
Geib Industries was founded in 1947 by John Geib, who became one of the first Aeroquip distributors in the Great Lakes region. In the early years, Geib had a small store where customers could bring a hose that had failed and we would replace it while they waited. The business has changed considerably since those early years. We have expanded our hose product breadth as well as our supply base.
Geib has taken a strategic approach to the market by remaining a hose-focused distributor and assembler. By this, what we mean is that we are very narrow in the products that we sell, but we are VERY deep within the hose product category. This is how we bring so much value to our customers. If hose products are a large part of our customers’ spend, then they see the value of being partnered with someone who is focused on that market.
Geib Industries
Our promise: your experience and product should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we’ll make it right.
Industries served:
- Mobile and stationary OEM
- Primary metals (steel mills)
- Oil and gas refining
- Data center cooling
- Power generation/alternative energy
- Rail, bus, truck
- Tank truck
- Refuse
- Marine
- Agricultural
- Lawn and turf
- Food and beverage
- Construction rental
Recent awards or recognition: 2021 IDCO Distributor of the Year. Geib has also earned Aeroquip top distributor honors more than any other distributor in North America.
Do you offer an e-commerce platform? We do not, and the reason why is that we are a key supplier to many of North America’s largest industrial distributors, so if we had an e-commerce platform, we would be competing with our best and most successful customers. We will not rule out having an e-commerce platform that will be more of a “portal” that our existing customers can utilize to be more efficient in getting product information, order processing, order tracking, and access to invoices and statements.
Recent company news: In April of 2024, we closed an acquisition of Midwest Flexible Hose in Milwaukee. This recent addition to the Geib family will increase our stainless steel metal and Teflon hose capacity, and our plan is to introduce industrial and hydraulic hose solutions to the southern Wisconsin market. In the first quarter, Midwest will be undergoing a two-part expansion as we remodel the existing office space and add new locker rooms and a break room for employees. We are also expanding our production space with a new layout to double our capacity in this plant.
In September of 2024, we moved Hose Connections in Hammond, Indiana, into a brand new, 55,000-square-foot facility. We bought an existing building and built new office space, a new hose assembly retail store, and a total remodel of the plant, as well.
In January 2025, Geib will be doubling our production capacity at our corporate headquarters in Bensenville from 85,000 square feet to 175,000 square feet. We will also add 6,500 square feet of office to our existing 5,000 square feet.
