Company History

In 1922 Gustave Solomon, a graduate of Tulane University, moved to Washington, DC and purchased Goodman Light Supply Company located at 741 12th Street, NW in a small rented office space.  Soon after purchasing Goodman Gustave asked his brother-in-law, Maurice Abraham, to come into the business with him.

Maurice Abraham was born in Maryland, just outside the District limits.  He owned a small retail store and had finished his tour of duty in the army when he agreed to join Gustave in the electrical supply business.

Gustave and Maurice entered the electrical distribution business at a perfect time.  The District of Columbia was on the brink of a residential construction boom and technology was rapidly changing in regards to lighting products.  During these early years their inventory included both gaslight fixtures and newer electrical lighting products and accessories.  Their company soon caught the attention and support of major suppliers such as General Electric, Thomas & Betts, Lightolier, Ideal, AFC and many others.

With the backing of quality products and a reputation for honest and dependable service, the small electrical wholesale distributor was able to thrive and grow.

In 1940, Gustave, who was quite a bit older than Maurice, passed away leaving his share of the business to his wife Ida, Maurice's sister.

In 1945, Bernard Green, the husband of Gustave and Ida's daughter, Faye, began working with Maurice.  He came out of the service as a colonel and was in charge of security at National Airport.  Bernard also had experience working with the District Attorney's office in Boston after attending law school.  When Ida Solomon asked him to come to the business, he agreed.  Bernard quickly learned the distribution business, and he and Maurice worked well together.

In 1946, Maurice and Ida decided to move the company out of the costly and cramped rental location and erect a new building on 11th & M Street, NW.  The new location, which included three stories as well as a basement, gave them 40,000 square feet of space along with a lighting fixture showroom.

In 1951, Marvin Kogod, who was married to Muriel, the daughter of Maurice and Phoebe Abraham, was asked to join the family business.  Marvin, who owned a retail liquor business at the time, agreed to work with Maurice and Bernard.  Four years later, in 1955, Maurice Abraham passed away.

During the mid-1950's, Bernard continued to focus on the bread and butter products such as cable, conduit and switchgear while Marvin pursued the lighting end of the business.  Bernard and Marvin soon realized that in order to pursue larger contractors they would need a commercial department.  The relationships developed at this time enabled Maurice to emerge from a group of 12-14 residential distributors, to one of the largest full line wholesalers on the East Coast.

In the early 1970's the next generation, Bruce and Mark Kogod, Marvin and Muriel's sons and Tim Green, son of Bernard and Faye, joined the business starting on the ground floor.

In 1978 Maurice's Lighting Designer's Inc. (LDI) store on Rockville Pike in Rockville, MD was opened.  LDI became the "showplace" throughout the Washington Metropolitan area for builders and homeowners who were looking for up-scale lighting fixtures.

In January of 1983, Maurice Electrical Supply opened its exporting business, Maurexco International.  Maurexco International is known as a full-line integrated commercial building supplier of electrical, mechanical, plumbing, HVAC and architectural equipment and supplies as well as a supplier of spare parts for appliances, tractors, lawn mowers, lighting fixtures and switchgear.

In 1987, Maurice Electrical Supply once again moved its location.  Marvin and Bernard purchased and renovated a building on Penn Street that had once housed the Rock Creek Ginger Ale Bottling Company.  The new location offered many advantages including 80,000 total square feet of space and the ability to put more trucks on the street.

Bernard's career spanned nearly fifty years.  He passed away just before his eightieth birthday, on June 25, 1994.  Marvin retired shortly after in 1994.

Gustave, Maurice, Bernard and Marvin instilled honest and dependable service from the very beginning giving Maurice Electrical Supply it’s mission statement today: To Exceed Your Expectations With Honest and Dependable Service, Every Time.