Our Company’s History
Roy Landgren, founder of Sunrise Electric Supply, began his career in electrical distribution directly after graduating high school in 1973. He started out in the warehouse of a family-owned Chicago electrical supply house and steadily worked his way up to general manager. After realizing that his career would grow no further there, he decided to open his own company and founded Sunrise Electric Supply, Inc. in 1986.
“I was a one-man band,” he recalls of his early days with Sunrise. “There was me and a driver. We filled orders, cut wire, stocked shelves, and made the deliveries. Thank God for cell phones—I had a car phone in my truck, which was forwarded to me while I was making deliveries.”
In the early days, we welcomed whatever product lines the manufacturers allowed us to represent. Overhead was low, margins were tight, and we were always willing to work around the clock to win and retain customers. “What saved us early on is that there are always manufacturers who want to break into the Chicago market. All I had at the time was the early service,” he adds. “I didn’t have any money. I didn’t have any lines. All I had were my friends, and they helped us out.”
Since then, Sunrise Electric Supply has grown into a well-established, successful electrical supply and distribution house with full-line product offerings, many loyal customers, and more than 80 employees.
