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A look at Where
Monarch Electric
Began
 Monarch Electric is
truly a New Jersey
Success Story. In
the 1920s, when the
electric supply
industry was in its
infancy, Abraham
Lipsky opened the
first Monarch
Electric Company
store on Lafayette
Street in Newark.
Like many other
electrical supply
houses, Lipsky sold
consumer appliances
such as washers and
toasters in addition
to electrical
components. In the
1950s, New Jersey’s
electrical supply
industry began to
consolidate, Irving
Electric, a NJ
electrical
wholesaler started
in 1945 by Irving B.
Slavin, purchased
Monarch, combining
the two names to
form Monarch Irving
Electric Company.
Monarch Irving
dropped the
appliance lines and
focused on selling
to industrial
customers and
electrical
contractors. The
company soon became
known for the
technical advice and
service it offered
along with the
electrical products
it sold.
Alvin Schornstein,
the company’s
general manager,
purchased the
company along with
Max Pilger in 1971
and continued
Monarch Irving’s
reputation for
outstanding service.
Monarch’s current
president has
learned the
wholesale electrical
distribution
business from the
ground up.Steven M.
Perlman started
working part-time
loading trucks in
1972 while attending
Rutgers University.
Working his way up
through the company,
Steve gained
invaluable
experience first as
part of the
warehouse crew, and
eventually becoming
part of both the
inside and outside
sales teams
acquiring large
order accounts.
Steve learned
firsthand that
providing
value-added service
to customers is the
key to Monarch’s
ongoing success.
Since 1978 when
Steve became Vice
President of Sales
and Operations, he
has been the chief
voice in many of
Monarch’s toughest
decisions. These
include the
implementation of
the Company’s first
computer system,
decisions that lead
to the strengthening
of Monarch
Electric’s finances
throughout the
industry downturns
of the late 1980s,
and the negotiations
to purchase
Monarch’s North
Brunswick location,
which is now
considered to be one
of the fastest
growing areas in New
Jersey. |
