Hughes-Peters

Hughes-Peters was first formed as a partnership in 1921 by John Hughes and Henry Peters to distribute electrical construction materials and supplies to small municipalities in central Ohio for the installation of their electrical wiring systems. In 1923, they incorporated the company, but shortly thereafter Henry Peters retired.

Over the next 65 years, the company changed ownership several times. Along with the ownership changes, the company added new operations to the organization. As the electronic appliance industry grew, the company became a retail dealer of radios, hi-fis, and televisions. Other ventures included retail sales of records and albums, and HVAC systems, along with electronic components to hobbyist and repair shops.

During the era of the late 50s and early 60s, the company’s electronic component sales grew while the record and appliance sales met heavy competition from other newly formed retailers. The company took a new direction and focused 100 percent on the distribution of electronic components that even included mobile retail outlets. Hughes-Peters would cover most of Ohio and sell electronic components to the repair shops from the back of a truck. During the 70s and beyond, as more and more electronic devices appeared, the company supplied the needs of their customer with the most recent state-of-the-art components. Today, we supply a broad customer base that largely consists of manufacturers of electronic devices.

Although the Hughes-Peters name is rich in history, we believe today’s moniker and substantial growth have been forged over the past decade. In September 1999, the company changed ownership for the final time. Mike Okel, Mike Smith, and Donna Hensley took over the ownership of the company with a focus on becoming “The Biggest Little Distributor in the Midwest.”

In 2002, the company moved from Cincinnati into a new facility in Dayton, Ohio, where the corporate office is currently located.

In 2007, the acquisitions of Leeds Electronics and MPAQ added locations in Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Texas. This continued the marketing of electronic components to OEMs and contract manufacturers as well as grew the company’s value-added business, becoming a full-service supplier to our customers. This put a larger focus on meeting the needs of our customers that the larger electronics distributors fail to meet.

In September of 2017, Hughes-Peters acquired Hammond Electronics, a seventy-year-old electronic components distributor based in Orlando, Florida. With this purchase the company expanded into the Southeast market, adding locations in North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Like Hughes-Peters, Hammond was an IP&E distributor with strong value-added capabilities. Both companies also had a philosophy of partnering with customers by pipelining inventory to support their production needs. The company’s focus will continue to be on the customer, the broad line card, and its employees. Mike Okel, President of Hughes-Peters, stated, “We could not find a better match for HP. Our business model, line card, and people are very similar.”

Most recently on July 6, 2020, Hughes-Peters acquired Tonar Industries, Inc., a single-location company headquartered in Rockaway, New Jersey.  The acquisition of Tonar Industries, Inc. expands the Hughes-Peters territory east, servicing customers in New York Metro, New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and southern Connecticut.  This acquisition was the fourth by Hughes-Peters since current ownership purchased the company in 1999 and increased the number of branches to eight.

In December of 2021, Hughes-Peters announced to employees that they were part owners of the company.  The owners sold 49% of the company into an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).  This allowed the owners to remain in control while also giving the dedicated employees a wealth-building opportunity to share in the company’s success.  The ESOP sets the company in a direction long term, continuing to build relationships and hold up a strong business model.

In 2024, a milestone was met: the company has been under current ownership for twenty-five years. This was made possible by the great leadership and commitment of the owners.