About The Superior Network of Companies
The SUPERIOR Network of Companies is Southern New England’s largest independently family owned group of closely integrated companies, dedicated to providing the construction market with a vast selection of diversified construction products, equipment, specialized services and people with the expertise that you need to get the job done quickly and efficiently. New England’s destination for contractors and homeowners supplies.
Once you begin working within the Superior Network of Companies, you gain immediate access to the industry’s leading product lines and unmatched product knowledge, as well as a broad industry perspective comprised of over 56 years of experience and growth in the contractor-builder market.
At SUPERIOR, we coordinate our policies, services and pricing, offering the ultimate benefit to our customers. You have the convenience of using one account, accessible at all of our divisions and branch locations. Superior combines a total of all purchases made within the SUPERIOR Network by any one person or company, often entitling our customers to receive a purchasing status otherwise offered to only large volume companies.
At SUPERIOR, we reward customer loyalty and are committed to helping large and small companies alike.
Our History
In 1967 with grain in the silo, cows grazing, and milking supplies still in the barns; Ralph Crispino, Sr. (a factory owner and savvy entrepreneur), along with a handful of his fellow local businessmen agreed that Ralph, Sr.’s dairy farm property in Milldale, CT was an adequate location to begin a new venture; Superior Products Distributors, Inc. “SPDI” which was established specifically to provide much needed materials used in the Road & Bridge Industry.
The business proved unsuccessful in the beginning, causing Ralph, Sr.’s partners to lose interest. Ralph, Sr., however, saw this as an opportunity to buy out his partners and recommit to the needs of this industry. No one could have known, including Mr. Crispino, that this investment idea was just the beginning, and SPDI would one day grow to play a significant role in the future of the entire Connecticut Construction/Building Industry.
All of Ralph’s five children would work occasionally at SPDI around their school schedules. However, it was his eldest son Ralph Crispino, Jr. then an accountant, who Ralph Sr. would convince to come into the business full-time to help run the day-to-day finances and operations.
While Ralph, Jr. ran SPDI, Ralph Sr. also purchased BC Hardware, a struggling hardware/rental store in Cheshire, CT. Ralph, Sr. dropped off his youngest, then 12-year-old son, Dennis after school to mind the store. Dennis’ job description was simple; “keep an eye on the money and watch the inventory.” And that he did.
In 1976, SPDI and BC Hardware merged to create a new and unprecedented business model. Ralph, Sr. built a new building on the dairy farm property in Milldale where Ralph, Jr. and Dennis Crispino would now work together to meet the needs of Connecticut’s Contractor Industry.
In 1979, Ralph, Jr., and Dennis, were young, yet ready to take the reins. The brothers purchased the business from their father and immediately began responding to customer requests… rapidly adding new products, expanding rentals, and adding many services, well beyond the Road and Bridge industry.
With the largest branch opening in Danbury, CT in 2022 and the recent acquisition of the assets of Haynes Outdoor Living Showroom in Seymour, CT, Superior continues to grow and serve new industry markets and trades. Superior Products Distributors, Inc., now services Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island. SUPERIOR PRODUCTS DISTRIBUTORS, INC. has become, and remains, Southern New England’s largest independently owned One Stop resource for Pipe and Site Products, Concrete and Mason Supplies, Jobsite Equipment & Supplies, Hardscape & Landscape Products, and Specialty Services, but that’s not all. Superior Rental provides the latest jobsite rental equipment from five locations. Also, Superior Instrument offers the latest in construction technology from GPS equipment to high-tech layout instrumentation, and drones while also servicing everything they sell in-house. Superior Hearth, Spas and Leisure is a specialty division with two locations serving home builders and homeowners with state-of-the-art Fireplaces, Spas, Saunas and Outdoor Living Products.
Visit any location, and it becomes abundantly clear that passion, dedication, love of the industry and the customers they serve was and still is what has enabled The Crispino Family and their large staff of expert employees to grow the Superior Network of Companies to what it is today. While competitors focused on cutting costs and replacing employees with technology… Dennis and Ralph stuck to their old school values… with quality and knowledgeable in the field account representatives, quality estimating services, self-unloading trucks, and after-hours emergency services, just to name a few.
Ralph, Jr. is now retired. Dennis however remains dedicated to fulfilling the needs of the customers in the industries Superior serves. Dennis is not building a business to retire from… but remains focused on continued growth that creates good jobs, supports its Superior families, and offers opportunities for his seven children, and currently fourteen grandchildren, well after he is gone. When asked, Dennis unequivocally correlates Superior’s success with the dedicated and knowledgeable people he employs and the relationships they have with their customers.
It should be noted, the original barn and silo remain on the property today as a reminder of SUPERIOR’s humble beginnings. Like the diligent farmers that once worked the farm, the Crispinos’ and many key staff still get up as early as 3:30am each morning, to be ready to work and serve the many needs of their growing contractor base.
The Superior Family looks forward to continuing to serve this proud industry for generations to come.
