JOHNSTONE SUPPLY TO OPEN STORE IN CAPE GIRARDEAU 

2043 Rust Avenue, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Johnstone Supply will be opening a new Cape Girardeau facility in the very near future reports Tom Kelsey, commercial broker with Lorimont Place, Ltd who handled the recent sale.  Kelsey confirmed that the national cooperative wholesale distributor had purchased a 14,000 square foot industrial warehouse and showroom property at 2043 Rust Avenue in Cape Girardeau. Kelsey said the building had formerly housed Aluma-Kraft, a siding and window distributor for many years.

Founded in 1953, Johnstone is recognized as one of the top cooperative wholesale distributors in the country handling heating, air conditioning, ventilating and refrigeration equipment and parts.  The cooperative currently has about 350 locations featuring 50,000 quality parts, supplies and  equipment lines.  The cooperative business model is that each store is independently owned and operated yet banded together to share experience, resources, operational benefits and group buying power. The philosophy is to adapt programs to fulfill customer needs on a national and regional scale, while individual stores customize these programs for their local markets. 

Kelsey said he understood the new supplier would be making various modifications to the building to customize it for their use.  The facility will have a new showroom, offices, customer training center with an anticipated opening by the first of the year.  Currently, Johnstone has 10 Missouri locations and the Cape Girardeau facility will bring that number to 11.  The current owners also operate a branch in Paducah at 1704 Kentucky Avenue as well as other locations in Kentucky.  The new Cape Girardeau location would mean filling several new job positions.