NH's Top Family-Owned Businesses: The Granite Group

This is the first in a five-part series on NH's top family-owned businesses.

 
P. Kevin Condron, chairman, a left, and William K. Condron, president and CEO. Courtesy photo.

When William Kennedy left the textile industry in 1971 to work for himself, he convinced his son-in-law P. Kevin Condron to join him in purchasing a Massachusetts plumbing wholesale business. “They knew how to flush a toilet,” says Kennedy’s grandson, William K. Condron, joking about the duo’s prior experience. “They had no real knowledge of the business.”

But they caught on quickly and began growing the company through key acquisitions in the early 70s and 80s that brought on new customers and product lines. In 1998, the business merged with Capitol Plumbing and Heating Supply in Concord, moved its headquarters to NH and rebranded as The Granite Group.

William K. Condron, now president and CEO, joined the family business in 2001 with a warehouse job, working his way up to managing a branch and eventually the company. Under his leadership and that of his father, Kevin, chairman of the company, The Granite Group has become one of the industry’s top 40 national wholesale distributors, according to Supply House Times.

The business has continued to grow and now boasts 33 wholesale branches and 16 retail showrooms across the six New England states, as well as a 190,000-square-foot central distribution center in Londonderry. “New growth can stress people out, but it’s part of our DNA,” William Condron says.

The company’s core customers are professional tradespeople, and Condron says their customer relationships drive success. Every other year, the company sends 800 customers, top performing employees and their families on a vacation to destinations like Disney Word or Jamaica. “It’s a way to build relationships and say thanks,” William Condron says.

He also credits the company’s growth to his 450 employees, some of whom have been with the company for decades.

William Condron expects the company will continue to grow, saying, “We don’t manage the business quarter to quarter or year to year. We’re interested in the long-term viability of the business.”