GC-GRUPPE (CORDES & GRAEFE KG)

The GC-GRUPPE

The GC-GRUPPE is an alliance of regionally rooted, medium-sized family businesses in the specialized wholesale trade for building services. It emerged in 1975 in Bremen from CORDES & GRAEFE, WILHELM GIENGER and GOTTSCHALL & SOHN; its roots go back to the founding of the pipe wholesale business CORDES & GRAEFE in 1921. With more than 300 distribution locations in Germany, over 100 personally managed partner houses, around 920 ABEX pickup express warehouses and 270 ELEMENTS specialist exhibitions, the group supplies the skilled trades in the areas of plumbing, heating, air conditioning/ventilation, installation, electrical, roofing, civil engineering, industrial technology and photovoltaics. The product range comprises over 5 million items from more than 2,650 suppliers, complemented by the private labels TRINNITY and SISTEMS. Through the online shop GC ONLINE PLUS, the logistics services GC24-EXPRESS and BoxLoad as well as installation services, the GC-GRUPPE supports the skilled trades with around 20,000 employees in Germany; internationally it is represented with partners in 15 countries.

Site

Bremen

Processes

Online shop GC ONLINE PLUS (over 5 million items), Logistics: ABEX pickup express warehouses (920 locations), ABEX 24/7, ABEX Fast Lane, GC24-EXPRESS (100,000 items within 24h), BoxLoad / BoxLoad Mini (construction site containers), CityLog (delivery by cargo bike in 8 major cities), Installation services: ServiceQuadrat24 (shower enclosures/bathroom installations), Schrottbienen (old system disposal, construction site logistics), PV installation service (complete, partial installation AC/DC)

Materials

Private label TRINNITY, Private label SISTEMS

Certificates

Logistics services (ABEX, GC24-EXPRESS, BoxLoad)

Industries

Plumbing/Heating/Air Conditioning (SHK), Building services wholesale, Electrical, Roofing, Civil engineering, Industrial technology

1. 01

   Procurement from more than 2,650 manufacturers

2. 02

   Warehousing in central warehouses and partner houses

3. 03

   Distribution via ABEX pickup express warehouses and GC24-EXPRESS

4. 04

   Digital sales via GC ONLINE PLUS

5. 05

   Consulting, installation services and digital services for the skilled trades

Product Range & Private Labels

Locations & Distribution Network

Bremen

DE

Administration GC Großhandels Contor GmbH

Stuhr

DE

Holding/Administration CORDES & GRAEFE KG, wholesale Cordes & Graefe Bremen KG

Selm

DE

Central warehouse/logistics center GC24-EXPRESS KG

Markt Schwaben

DE

Central warehouse Bavaria (Gienger Logistik KG)

Duisburg

DE

Main house Collin KG Duisburg

Düsseldorf

DE

Administration site GFE GmbH (digital service provider)

Inside the production

Logistics & Availability

Goods availability for the skilled trades is based on a nationwide logistics network with daily access to over 70,000 warehouse items as well as 100,000 items within 24 hours via GC24-EXPRESS.

History

1. 1921

   Founding of the pipe wholesale business CORDES & GRAEFE by August Cordes and Alfred Graefe in Bremen

2. 1933

   Friedrich Carl Hollweg acquires shares; reorientation toward building services wholesale

3. 1966

   Distribution channel declaration: commitment to the 3-tier distribution channel

4. 1974

   Opening of the first ABEX pickup express warehouse in Aachen

5. 1975

   Founding of the GC-GRUPPE in Bremen (CORDES & GRAEFE, WILHELM GIENGER, GOTTSCHALL & SOHN)

6. 1994

   Founding of the HTI-GRUPPE (civil engineering/industrial technology)

7. 1996

   Launch of GC ONLINE PLUS, the first online shop in the industry

8. 2002

   Founding of the EFG-GRUPPE (electrical)

9. 2013

   Start of DTG roofing wholesale; Spanish partners Thisa/Biosca.

10. 2015

    Comafranc Group (France) becomes a partner

11. 2016

    Partnership with Odörfer (Austria)

12. 2017

    Pressiani (Italy) becomes a partner

13. 2019

    SVAI (Italy) becomes a partner

14. 2020

    ITG industrial technology wholesale; launch of CityLog

15. 2021

    FACQ (Belgium) becomes a partner

16. 2022

    Rossi & Lersa and Termomarket (Italy) become partners

17. 2024

    Logistics center Selm goes into operation; the partners Idroterm and Commerciale Veneta Beltrame are added.