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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Bartle and Gibson has been a part of the Yellowknife business community for 45 years and staff attribute a large portion of the company's success to a commitment to customer service.

Yellowknife Bartle and Gibson employees D'Arcy Teed, Joey Hicks, Jason Schmidt, Wade Makaro, branch manager, and Ramil Maisog are ready for winter sales season. - Lyndsay Herman/NNSL photo

"We're not ashamed to say we make mistakes and if we make them we'll fix them," said Robert Whitty, Edmonton-based president of Bartle and Gibson, a heating, plumbing, and electrical wholesale and retailer. "We believe in customer service from the top down."

Canadian-owned and based in western Canada, the company is able to make decisions close to home and understand each of the branch location's unique contexts, said Whitty, who has travelled to Yellowknife on multiple occasions.

"The key thing is that we've been in the North for a long long time, that's important," he said. "We're not a company that is making their decisions in Europe or in the United States. We believe in the territories, always have and we've always been there."

Doing business in the North poses special challenges, he said.

"It's an expensive place to do business and everyone in Yellowknife knows that, it's no surprise to anybody," said Whitty. "It's expensive to live there and it's a unique place to do business."

Freight costs and logistics are what can make the North a challenge, particularly with many of the company's manufacturers located in Eastern Canada.

One way the Yellowknife Bartle and Gibson tries to keep long-distance business relationships personal is by hosting a mini-trade show in Yellowknife each summer. The show's goal is to connect Yellowknife buyers with suppliers who may have had contact by phone or e-mail but never met face to face.

The annual event took place for the 10th time this past June.

While Bartle and Gibson does sell supplies retail, they rely mostly on long-standing business relationships with contractors, said Whitty.

"I've been with the company 35 years and I still deal with guys I dealt with 35 years ago," he said. "They wouldn't be dealing with us if they didn't like us."

Wade Makaro, Yellowknife branch manager, said a lot of the business his location does is based on seasonal work.

In the winter, heating and plumbing supplies are in high demand, such as oil products or items at risk of freezing, such as pipes, he said.

Whereas in the summer, the location will likely move a lot of product related to home renovations, he said.

Makara, who has worked for Bartle and Gibson for 26 years, including a decade in Yellowknife, said while customer service is always a top priority for the company, Bartle and Gibson also retains great employees by treating them well. He said it's not uncommon to find managers who have been with the company for 30 or 40 years.

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