The moves are the latest by a big-box home-improvement retailer to expand into the distribution of materials, equipment, and supplies for trade professionals. Lowe’s Companies Inc., which owns Home Depot competitor Lowe’s, is also courting trade professionals with recent acquisitions.

Home Depot acquired SRS, a distributor of building supplies, in 2024, and has broadcast its plans to grow its share of the professional trades market.

“The addition of Mingledorff’s represents another key milestone in our strategy to better serve the Pro with the most comprehensive product and service offerings,” said Ted Decker, the company’s chairman, president, and CEO, in a press release.

HVACR professionals have mixed views on big-box retailers’ move into distribution and see both opportunities and downsides. While such companies could offer lower prices and better logistics, they say, some of the extras distributors provide — including technical support and training opportunities — may be lost.

“We have built strong relationships with local distributors. Those relationships have helped us with training, vendor-managed inventory programs, prebates, rebates, warranty support, and access to products when we need them,” said Brandon Stowe, CEO of California-based Crackerjack Air and Plumbing Pros. “That still matters.”

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But, Stowe said, many distributors have cut back on the support they once provided.

“So, if the relationship and technical support are disappearing anyway, then many contractors are going to start asking: What am I really paying extra for?” he said.

That dynamic, he added, provides an opening for big-box retailers. Other contractors, like Aaron Adams, CEO of Aaron Services: Plumbing, Heating, Cooling, based in Suwanee, Georgia, held similar views.

“Hold times for technical support are already very long, and with a big-box retailer supplying materials and equipment, being able to speak with actual technical support could become a thing of the past,” said Adams.

Despite their concerns, Adams and Stowe said they would not necessarily view a big-box retailer’s acquisition of one of their distributors negatively.

“Having such a powerhouse behind the distribution could streamline efficiency, increase equipment availability, and lower costs,” Adams said. “Perhaps it could democratize and standardize pricing as well.”

“I would not automatically be against it,” Stowe said. “I would judge it by whether they improve price and access without completely stripping away the support contractors still need.”

His firm “is already looking at other channels where it makes sense,” Stowe said.

“We have gone direct to manufacturers where we can, and buying groups are becoming much more accessible. Sometimes the pricing through those channels is significantly better,” he said.

George “Butch” Welsch, president of Welsch Heating & Cooling Co. in Maryland Heights, Missouri, said if a big-box retailer acquired one of his company’s distribution partners, it would have to measure up in terms of accessibility, pricing, and technical support.

“HVAC equipment today has gotten much more technical than in the past. As a result, technical support is one of the major criteria we look at when choosing a brand/distributor,” Welsch said.

Welsch added he doesn’t expect a big-box distributor could provide adequate support.

“If they can’t, and they are our only source of that brand of equipment, we will switch brands,” he said.

He raised the possibility that distributors owned by big-box retailers would sell directly to consumers, but said that’s not something he’s concerned about.

“As long as our products require proper installation and follow-up, the big-box stores cannot compete with us,” Welsch said. “Certainly, they may be able to provide cheaper prices, but our people can outsell that every time.”

Adams, however, said it “would be a major problem” if big-retailer-backed distributors lobby for direct sales to consumers.

“We’ve seen that in the plumbing industry: Homeowners being able to purchase and install their own water heaters has caused many challenges in that field,” Adams said. “Customers see the subpar, non-professional-grade water heaters available in store and question our pricing.”

Specifically, he said, the reputation of tankless water heaters fell when they became available at big-box stores and were installed improperly by nonprofessionals.

However, “big-box retailer involvement could modernize the equipment purchasing experience, lower prices for all, and provide a high level of support in the field,” Adams said. “To achieve this, it’ll be essential that the retailers continue to protect access to the equipment and invest in local, personal support.”

Drew Cameron, president of the business development and training firm Flow Odyssey and the software firm Energy Design Systems, and an instructor at the Electric & Gas Industries Association’s Contractor University, said the possibility of direct-to-consumer sales should prompt contractors to better educate customers about the contractor’s value.

“Sadly, manufacturers, distributors, and big-box stores see contractors as the weak link to getting consumer dollars,” Cameron said.

Contractors need to stress the importance of having locally owned businesses with qualified workers design, install, and maintain equipment to industry standards, he said. Without that knowledge, he added, “customers can be swayed to pursue a course that is not in their best interest just because of the flash and backing of a big-name retailer that truly does not provide the customer with a better guarantee of getting what they want for what they pay.”