Wholesale contractor tools and building materials since 1976

About Alcli Distributors

Fifty years supplying the people who build things

Alcli Distributors has been putting contractor grade tools and building materials on retailers’ shelves since 1976. Same family, same focus, three generations on.

Our story

It started with one idea, and that idea still holds

In 1976 Alcli opened with a straightforward proposition. Give good retailers a wholesale supplier they can genuinely rely on, and both businesses grow together. That was the whole plan, and it turned out to be enough.

Fifty years later the third generation of the family runs the company. The catalogue has changed, the trucks have changed, and our customers’ stores have changed more than once. The proposition has not.

Milestones

Three generations, one business

1976

The doors open

Alcli Distributors is founded to supply contractor quality tools to independent building supply retailers.

1990s

The second generation

The family hands over day to day management, and the range grows well beyond the hand tools we started with.

2000s

Building the network

Long term partnerships with quality retailers become the core of how the business works, and still are.

Today

The third generation

The same family, now supplying retailers across six product categories with the same short list of priorities.

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The year we opened

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Generation at the helm

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Years serving retailers

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Product categories

What we do

A supplier, not just a source of boxes

Wholesale distribution

We carry the depth so you do not have to tie up your own capital in slow moving stock. You order what you need, when you need it.

Category support

Help choosing an assortment that suits your floor space, your market and the price points your customers actually expect.

A long term account

One point of contact who knows your store, your order history and what you are likely to need next season.

How we work

Four things we have not changed our minds about

Quality before price

If a tool will not survive a job site it does not go in the catalogue, however good the buy in cost looks.

Availability is the job

Anyone can quote a price on something they do not have. Holding the stock is the harder half of the promise.

Fair on both sides

Pricing that leaves our customers a real margin. A supplier who squeezes a retailer does not keep them for fifty years.

Straight answers

If something is back ordered we say so, with a date. Nobody has ever thanked a supplier for a hopeful guess.

Behind the counter

What actually happens after you place an order

Most of what we do is unglamorous and that is rather the point. We hold depth on the lines that move, we watch reorder points so nothing quietly disappears off your shelf, and we get shipments out quickly enough that you can promise your customer a date and keep it.

Our mission

To maximize the profitability of our customers’ contractor tool category through high quality products, competitive pricing, reliable availability and exceptional service.

We are committed to being a trusted partner to our customers and supporting their success for generations to come.

Come and see whether we are a good fit

Tell us about your store and the customers you serve. If we can help your tool category earn more, we will say so. If we cannot, we will say that too.