From Kilgore EDC | Orgill, Inc. operates a sprawling distribution center in Kilgore’s Synergy Park, with tens of thousands of products available to the company’s multistate and multinational customer base. It’s a hive of motion, dozens of truckloads moving in and out every day.
All that considered, the company manages to maintain an impressive 99.3 percent accuracy rate. It leads the industry.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but Orgill is the single-largest independently owned-and-operated hardware distributor in the entire world,” according to Jesse Gallegos, Vice President of Southwest Distribution.
Orgill has a proud history. Headquartered in Tennessee, it was founded in 1847. Orgill selected Kilgore for an initial location in 2007, expanding in 2017 to just less than 1 million square-feet under-roof a stone’s throw from Kilgore Economic Development Corporation’s headquarters in Synergy Park.
The company’s now going on 178 years, which is pretty amazing when you think about it,” Gallegos said. “There’s not many companies left from that time period. It’s still a privately-owned and operated business, which is rare. There’s still a lot of the family involved in running the business.”
As the world’s largest independent hardlines distributor, Orgill annual sales exceed $3.7 billion.
“We sell a huge variety of product,” Gallegos added. “A lot of time we’re behind the scenes because we don’t have hardware stores with our logo on them, but we move a lot of product.”
Overall, the company serves more than 13,000 retail hardware stores, home centers, pro lumber dealers and farm stores in the U.S. and Canada and operates in more than 50 countries outside of North America.
Simply put, “We’re very busy,” Gallegos said, with the local operation serving more than 2,000 customers in seven states: “We, on average, ship out about 31 to 32 truckloads a day to our customers, but we’re also receiving in a similar amount of freight on the inbound side. This always really floors people.”
It’s a massive volume moving in and out of the company’s 914,000 square-foot facility: “We have over 72,000 items in this distribution center here in Kilgore. Orgill, as a whole, has well over 100,000.”
The company’s a prime example of Kilgore’s status as a transport hub, according to Kilgore EDC Executive Director Lisa Denton.
With less congestion to block product flow, major highways and Interstate 20 at-hand, major markets are in easy reach by road, air, or port. Dallas-Fort Worth, Shreveport-Bossier, and Houston are hours away, and a day’s travel opens up much of the nation.
“Whether they’re going West Coast or East Coast, we’re going to be a central location to ship product,” Denton said. “Access to markets, centrally-located, the ease of moving product… all at a lower cost.”
It also means easier, more agreeable commutes for a competitive workforce. Kilgore’s Labor Draw area boasts more than a half-a-million residents, spread across 12-counties in Northeast Texas but interconnected by a healthy transit infrastructure. Consequently, the portion of workers commuting more than 50 miles has grown steadily in the past 10 years.
Orgill employs a broad, diverse roster of East Texans to keep product moving.
“We offer a variety of shifts that work for a lot of people. If someone wants to come here and join the team, they have a lot of options,” Gallegos said. “Our employees are on a four-day work schedule, so they work four 10s, and they have one extra weekday off.
“We have over 430 currently, and that includes 75 drivers and 26 in management. It’s a strong culture. We take a lot of pride in what we do.”
The company also makes a concerted effort to stay involved in the local community. It’s food fundraiser, for example, collects a substantial amount of assistance for locals.
“We appreciate everything Orgill does,” Denton said.
What keeps Orgill standing apart from the competition, Gallegos said, is high quality.
“Our mission statement is put everywhere to remind us our job is to help our customers be successful.”
