Our Story
Luken Electric today, is the third incarnation of Linden Electric, a 52 year old company located in Roselle, NJ. Luken Electric, the registered d/b/a of Linden Electrical Wholesalers, Inc, is named after its current owners, President Luke Henry and VP Ken Eichwald. Having spent mostly all of their working careers in the wholesale electrical supply business, they bring over 42 combined years of experience in the electrical distribution industry. Taking custody of this company is the inevitable result of decades of training and hands on work in all areas of the business.
Lucas Henry – President
Our President, Lucas “Luke” Henry began his career in electrical supply in 1995, at Kennedy Electrical Supply in Jamaica, NY. Truly working the business from the bottom up, Luke rose from a starting position of loading conduit onto trucks in the pipe yard, to becoming the first ever African-American inside salesman at a NYC supply house in only 3 short years. Luke continued to hone his sales abilities at Kennedy until 2003, when his skills were noticed by Cooper Electric Supply, and he was hired away to help them expand into their new target territory, New York City. After demonstrating great tenacity, skill and success in helping open this new market for Cooper Electric, Luke was next lured to Monarch Electric/US Electric in 2006 to repeat his previous task of helping a company move into the target market of New York City.
After 8 years growing as a salesman, building customer and vendor relationships, and having the unique skillset of having been a pioneer in helping 2 national firms enter the challenging New York City market, Luke then decided that his best next move would be to take these experiences, and focus them into an entrepreneurial career, and opening his own supply house, Luken Electric.
Kenneth Eichwald – Vice President
Our Vice President, Kenneth “Ken” Eichwald began his career at Kennedy Electrical supply in 1992. After working at Kennedy part time since age 7, Ken reentered the industry full time after college by working in the credit department, eventually transitioning through practically every department of the company. His experience included working the retail counter and inside sales, the purchasing department, a year as the warehouse manager, a year managing the lighting department, and 3 years running inside sales.
In 2000, Kennedy Electric decided to open a new branch in Tribeca, NYC, and Ken was sent to open the new location. This became his first test to put his skills to the task of starting something from the beginning. From building the shelves and designing the counter, to hooking up the telephone and computer lines, to deciding on the inventory and determining the marketing, product, pricing, service and customer strategy, for the location. The branch soon began to do well, but due to the events of September 2001, the location became inaccessible and the branch was closed.
Ken then moved on to outside sales, where he not only called on electrical contractors, but also cultivated a commercial following, selling to various hotels and department stores throughout NYC. Customers included the national account for all lamps sales for Macy's Department stores across the US, both Lord & Taylor and Bloomingdales flagship stores in Manhattan, the Novotel Hotel 52nd St, and all 4 of the Marriott Hotels in NY. Ken worked in outside sales until 2003, when he and Lucas decided to leave Kennedy for positions at Cooper Electric, then together on to Monarch/US Electric.
After 8 years at Monarch as a branch manager, purchasing manager, and the large project and commodity specialist, Ken decided to join Luke, and bring these experiences to their new company, Luken Electric.
