Porter Pipe & Supply Co

At Porter Pipe, we think of ourselves as part of your business. From the start of our first project together, we will be partners working directly to save you time, reinforce your operations, help promote the safety of everyone on your job site and add value to your business.

Our full-service approach to partnership helps us redefine what it means to be a wholesale supplier of commercial plumbing supplies, pipe, valves and fittings, HVACR equipment, and industrial and mechanical products.

Our Mission

Through faith in God, we are dedicated to superior service, honesty and integrity in all we do. A positive attitude and attention to detail will ensure complete customer satisfaction.

Our Principles

In service to our mission, we adhere to four principles in order to bring you consistent quality, loyalty and communication. Every member of our team lives and breathes these golden rules—from our CEO to our sales support staff to the delivery drivers you count on daily.

HISTORY

In 1976, Ralph Porter had a vision of starting his own heating supply house. With 8 children at home, and with interest rates near 25%, Ralph ventured out to start Porter Supply Co. Ralph’s son Jim Porter came to work with him to help start the company, and Ralph’s wife, Lita, went to work selling homes to keep the family fed. Ralph worked in the office and Jim drove a used pick-up for deliveries. They rented an 8,000 sq. ft. building, and the first year’s sales totaled $310,000.00.

It didn’t take long for another one of Ralph’s sons to gain interest in the business, and in 1983, Bud Porter joined the company and became a delivery pro, driving a truck to make deliveries, and building relationships with the men and women in the field. In 1991, Porter Supply expanded into the same building, but occupied two units totaling 18,000 sq. ft. These were exciting times, and the energy in the company was building with each year.

Growing The Business

In 1996, Jim and Bud Porter took all that they had learned from their father, and looked to carry on the tradition of superior customer service and business with integrity into the next phase of growth. They purchased the company from their father and renamed it as Porter Pipe & Supply Co, and rang in the name change with a 40,000 sq. ft. building as a new home for the company!! With a true 24 hour service operation now in full swing, and a focused drive towards inventive and unrelenting customer service, the stage for new waves of growth was set.

But the growth didn’t stop there. In 1999, they opened an 8,000 sq. ft. will-call facility in downtown Chicago, and today, the Porter Pipe City Will Call branch is one of the highest production and service level branches in the company. In 2006, the company expanded into North-West Indiana to develop an Industrial presence, opening an 18,000 sq. ft. branch and full service warehouse under Porter Pipe Industrial, with a stocking range of carbon, stainless, seamless and extra-heavy steel pipe up to 36”.

Today At Porter Pipe & Supply

Today, Porter Pipe & Supply remains headquartered out of Addison, Illinois, and is only a mile away from that first 8,000 sq. ft. building, and now encompasses a state-of-the-art facility totaling 260,000 indoor square foot of space, and leveraging an additional 70,000 sq. ft. of covered, lit and secure storage on site. The totally renovated Will Call Counter in Addison is a full-service experience to say the least! Fast and Friendly service, combined with a knowledgeable counter sales team, will get you in, out and on your way with a smile.

Our people truly are the core of what we do, and our team of over 110 dedicated professionals will work together to make sure our Customer’s see true benefits, value and partnership in doing business together. From our knowledge-deep inside sales team to our 597 Shopmen’s Division Warehouse Team, Superior Customer Service, Attention to Detail, and Complete Customer Satisfaction is, and will remain, the most important goal to achieve.

Porter Pipe remains a true Family Business through and through today, and remains in the leadership of first generation values through Jim (CEO), Bud (President) and Nick Porter (COO). Jim’s other sons Frank, Jimmy “Jammer”, Matthew, Mario and Alex, as well as Bud’s daughters Stephanie and Isabella, are all actively involved in different roles within the company, providing a solid and dedicated platform to continue the Family Values of Honesty and Integrity well into the future.