Atlantic Coast Electric Supply (ACES), the leading South Carolina-headquartered independent electrical distributor, welcomed, and rebranded, its acquisition of Carolina Electrical Supply Co with a grand opening celebration.

Atlantic Coast Electric Supply Celebrates the Grand Opening of the Rock Hill Location!

On September 18, 2025, Atlantic Coast Electric Supply (ACES) celebrated the grand opening and ribbon cutting of its new branch, formerly Carolina Electrical Supply Co. (CESCO). Now operating as ACES Rock Hill with many familiar faces and a few news ones, we look to exceed customers’ expectations. Located at 356 Mount Gallant Rd. in Rock Hill, this marks ACES’ 6th South Carolina branch and 8th location within its growing footprint. The event drew a strong turnout of contractors, electricians, suppliers, and community leaders, highlighting ACES’ commitment to serving the Rock Hill market and beyond.

The day’s activities included music, carnival games, and an opportunity for guests to get limited edition ACES Rock Hill t-shirts. Guests also had the chance to win door prizes, including a drone and an iPad by participating in games and visiting vendor tables. Customers were also able to tour the 35,000 square foot facility, designed to provide exceptional service and support to the electrical community in and around Rock Hill, and got a preview of the new Wire Center, ACES’ second, coming soon to the Rock Hill branch.

During the day, customers had a chance to meet with some of the corporate ACES team, including company President, John Marshall, VP/GM John Younginer, Corporate Credit Manager Judy Matthews, CFO Stephen Lovelace, HR Manager Nick Miller, and many other employees in support of the celebration. Guests could also engage with key vendors such as Legrand, Siemens, ABB, Spectrum Hulett representing Satco, E.F. Lombardi representing Intermatic and Rack-a-Tiers, Bill Wade & Associates representing Kraloy, and United Electrical Sales representing Atkore and Hammond Power Solutions, giving them more opportunities for a chance to win one of the many door prizes.  Duke Energy’s Senior Product and Services Specialist, Tammy Davis, was at the event to share and review energy rebate opportunities.  A delicious food truck lunch was catered by Fed Up.

One of the highlights of the event was the ribbon cutting ceremony led by York County Regional Chamber of Commerce, welcoming ACES to the community and area. John Marshall spoke stating, “Our mission is to be the company that is your first-choice electrical distributor and to be the one with the ease of doing business that is second to none.” He went on to say, “We are excited to come to Rock Hill and into this market, and to service our customers in and around Charlotte and in Rock Hill itself.”  The well attended event had over 150 attendees, it was a fantastic opportunity for networking, opening accounts, and learning more about the services ACES offers.

ACES highlights that it is “going places” and promotes it via a dedicated landing page promoting this to its customers, ACES Going Places, which highlights its upcoming training, events, and its current promotions.

Some thoughts

• As can be seen in the photo, face-to-face marketing still works. Customers want to engage, and with the right message and marketing, will make time in their day to connect … if they value you.
• Notice some of the value-adds that ACES brought to the event, and to the market … a wire center is enhancing service at the branch and promoting rebate opportunities (via Duke Energy’s participation) to help drive lighting sales. Reaching out to non-product resources / partners can help differentiate.
• Corporate management showed that these customers, and this location, is important to the company by “showing up.” They could have let the branch manager host the event but having 5 corporate managers attend sends a message to the local staff and to customers.
• Gaining local community support via the local Chamber of Commerce is a great idea as it helps embed the company into the local community and adds to the marketing outreach to build sales demand.