Empire Machinery & Supply Co. had one of the best years in its history in 2007, says president Hank Turner. This year is down a little, he explains, but a series of mid-year pick-ups gives him hope for the rest of '08.

“Last year, all our accounts were busy, firing on all cylinders,” he says. “It was just one of those years [for us].”

Hand and power tools constitute “one of our biggest [lines],” Turner explains. “We're very big with DeWalt, Milwaukee Tools [and] the Cooper Group.”

Empire's primary markets for hand and power tools include ship building and ship repair, government agencies, manufacturing and mechanical contracting.

The MRO distributor is owned by the McNeal family and has been in operation for more than 90 years. It has 85 employees at two locations in Virginia (Norfolk and Hampton). The Norfolk location has a 2,000- square-foot showroom for hand and power tools; the Hampton branch features a 500- square-foot showroom.

Over the years, Empire Machinery has not sold to residential housing-related businesses, Turner says. As a result, that slumping industry's problems haven't hurt his company. However, he is a little concerned about the ship repair industry, which has seen a number of consolidations in recent years, especially in the medium-sized companies.

“We've been blessed in some ways because of the confluence of being a major government location, with the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Army all having locations down here,” Turner explains. “So I don't think we feel the downturn that other locations in the country feel.”

One feature that has proven to be a major plus for Empire, Turner says, has been putting two trucks on the road that specialize in visiting job sites. Each truck has a small inventory of power tools and accessories on board, Turner says. What is not readily available on board can quickly be delivered to the sites from one of the two Empire locations.

“Those trucks call on those contractor job sites,” Turner explains. “That's a business that traditional mill supply houses have driven by or completely overlooked. We've found it very productive and a big shot in the arm to our power and hand tool sales.”

Like many distributors of hand and power tools, Empire has to stay on its toes to keep up with the latest product upgrades and necessary training.

“It's like anything—new products are coming along all the time,” Turner says. “You look at tools they used to use to build ships. That's a perfect example. [Ships] used to be built out of wood with hand tools. Now they're built from metal and you have all these different tools and machinery that go with that.”

Suppliers like Milwaukee Tool and DeWalt will come to Empire's sites and hold training sessions, Turner explains.

Empire has also joined with suppliers in what he calls “power tool blitzes” which have helped publicize new product models.

“It's the evolution of our market,” Turner says. “Tools have changed and will continue to change. Technology is ever growing in the tool market, but I think it has changed for the better.”