Phoenix Manufacturing, Inc., a designer and manufacturer of evaporative cooling systems built for demanding climates, has added Johnstone Supply Albuquerque Group's new Pueblo, Colorado location to its distribution network, expanding the company's footprint across the Mountain West. The partnership gives contractors and engineers in the region a local source for Phoenix's full evaporative cooling lineup, spanning established Frigiking and Aerocool systems alongside newer offerings including the Frigiking Rigid Media mid-tier residential cooler and the Agricool agricultural and commercial system.
Johnstone Supply operates as a cooperative wholesale distributor for HVACR equipment, parts, and supplies, with more than 450 independently owned locations across the United States. The new Pueblo relationship builds on Phoenix Manufacturing's existing presence across other Johnstone territories that serve evaporative cooling markets, extending a distribution pattern the company has been building out territory by territory in climates where evaporative cooling remains a primary comfort technology.
A Market Shifting Toward Professional-Grade Equipment
Phoenix Manufacturing framed the Pueblo addition as part of a broader shift in contractor purchasing behavior away from retail-grade evaporative cooling equipment and toward products built for longer service life and lower lifetime maintenance costs. "Contractors and end users are continually raising the bar when it comes to system longevity and lifetime value, driving a shift away from retail-grade options and toward professional solutions that promise lower maintenance and higher cooling efficiency," said Scott Morling, president of Phoenix Manufacturing. "These partnerships capitalize on that momentum, as more distributors intentionally align with suppliers focused on strong integrity and dependable service."
What Industry Data Shows About Distributor Loyalty
The company pointed to HARDI's 2025 Voice of the Contractor survey as evidence for the trend, noting that the research shows contractors increasingly prioritize distributor relationships based on reliability, availability, and overall execution rather than price alone. That data point matters for a manufacturer like Phoenix Manufacturing whose growth strategy depends on distributors choosing to carry and actively promote its products over competing evaporative cooling brands: if contractor loyalty is shifting toward distributors who consistently deliver, a manufacturer's own reputation for dependable supply becomes a more direct lever for winning new distribution partnerships.
Why Evaporative Cooling Still Matters in the Mountain West
Evaporative cooling remains a significant comfort technology across the arid climates of the Mountain West and Southwest, where low humidity makes swamp coolers a lower-cost, lower-energy alternative or supplement to refrigerant-based air conditioning for both residential and light commercial applications. Pueblo, Colorado sits within that broader arid climate band, giving Johnstone's new location a natural fit for a full evaporative cooling product line rather than a narrower niche offering.
Phoenix Manufacturing's product range spanning a mid-tier residential cooler through an agricultural and commercial system reflects the breadth of applications evaporative cooling serves in these markets, from single-family homes to livestock facilities and light industrial buildings — a diversity of end uses that gives a distributor like Johnstone multiple customer segments to serve out of a single new supplier relationship.
Distributor Success Tied to Field Performance
"Distributor success starts with offering solutions known to perform consistently, improve customer confidence and minimize issues in the field," Morling said. "That's where Phoenix Manufacturing differentiates. Our systems are built for modern professionals seeking straightforward installation, long-term value and unmatched durability, backed by a team that delivers meaningful support beyond the initial sale." That framing puts the emphasis on installation experience and after-sale support as differentiators, rather than treating evaporative coolers as a commodity product line where price is the primary competitive factor.
A Company With a Half-Century in the Category
Founded in 1975, Phoenix Manufacturing has supported contractors and engineers with evaporative cooling systems for exactly the kind of demanding climates the Pueblo location will now serve, according to the company. Phoenix operates under Riverbend Industries, a family-owned business that acquires and operates North American manufacturing companies in the building and industrial products sectors; Riverbend describes its approach as facilitating growth in its portfolio companies while preserving their individual operating cultures rather than imposing a single centralized structure across its holdings.
What Happens Next
Phoenix Manufacturing said it continues to seek new distributor partnerships and has invited interested distributors to contact the company directly to discuss opportunities, signaling that the Pueblo addition is likely one of several territory expansions the manufacturer plans to pursue as it works to extend its Mountain West and broader arid-climate distribution network. For Johnstone Supply's Pueblo customers, the immediate impact is direct local access to Phoenix's evaporative cooling lineup without relying on secondary distribution channels or longer supply lines from outside the region.
