D&H Expands Beyond U.S.

The company is building its first warehouse in Canada as it moves into the international arena.

D&H Distributing is extending its operation beyond U.S. borders to the north, opening its first international warehouse location in Mississauga, Ontario.

The Harrisburg, Pa., company expects the Canadian expansion to yield more than 1,000 new customers for the company's North American base and will establish it as a multinational distributor. D&H caters to small and midsize VARs and said that it will expand its current business model to the new geography to serve IT resellers, CE dealers, independent retailers, online retailers, integrators and installers.

"This is an exciting development for D&H, since it marks our transition to a larger, multinational organization," said Gary Brothers, president at D&H Distributing, in a statement. "Our main goal is to extend the D&H culture of reseller- and dealer-focused programs and best-in-class service to a fresh geography."

D&H said that its move north was spurred by requests from both Canadian resellers and manufacturer partners who serve and who want to serve the Canadian marketplace. Similarly, current D&H vendor partners have encouraged the company to help them penetrate the new market too.

D&H will represent partners in Canada, including Acer, Brother, Creative Labs, Linksys, Logitech, ViewSonic and others.

D&H said the wholesale IT distribution market in Canada is estimated as a $6.2 billion opportunity. This is in addition to potential sales in the consumer electronics, retail/online retail, education and other Canadian vertical markets.

The expansion comes on the heels of a consistent corporate growth rate of 15 percent per year over the last seven years, according to D&H, which outpaced industry expectations.

Greg Tobin will head D&H Canada ULC as general manager. Tobin is a Canadian channel executive who has worked in high-level positions at Ingram Micro Canada and Motorola Canada.

D&H veteran Paul McIlhenny will manage and develop the inside sales and customer service teams for the Canadian territory, anchored at the company's new 38,000-square-foot warehouse and Canadian headquarters.