Ever watched Groundhog Day and thought, “Say what? Reliving the same day over and over—how does anybody get anything done?”
Welcome to The Gunn Show—Unplugged, where Paul Hendricks, the no‑nonsense President & CEO of Creston Industrial Sales, is serving up a reboot that’d make Phil Connors sit up and take notes.
Founded in 1958 and operating out of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Creston has quietly become the leader of industrial distribution, covering everything from cutting tools, abrasives, saws, adhesives, PPE, tooling systems, and MRO, to fasteners, pneumatics, you name it, they’ve got it.
But they’re not just hoarding inventory! They’re delivering local, hands‑on knowhow, rapid response, and real technical muscle.
Paul Hendricks took the helm around 2020, transitioning from owner to CEO while retaining full control. Kind of like becoming the director of your own cinematic origin story. Now, he’s pushing Creston into growth mode with a turbocharged mission: partner up with Midwest manufacturers, fight global competition, and deliver tool and supply solutions that enhance productivity and drive business forward.
Think of his strategy like Edge of Tomorrow meets Office Space. He’s deploying solutions: regrinds, vendor‑managed inventory, fluid management, live demos, LocRite inventory systems, SupplyPro/VMI platforms, the works!
In today’s episode, we unravel how Hendricks is combining engineering acumen with nimble supply chain wizardry to make Creston a lean, mean industrial-operating machine. We dive into how a century-old company retools itself for the 21st century without losing its hands-on integrity.
So gear up (pun intended), hit play, and let’s roll into Grand Rapids, Paul Hendricks style, where every day is a chance to get it right again, better, stronger, faster.
