A home in an otherwise dark neighborhood has power thanks to the automatic standby generator from Norwall
30 Years • Over a Quarter Million Generators Sold • 1000s of Generators in Stock • Friendly Knowledgeable Sales
Norwall PowerSystems has been in business for thirty years. In the early 1990s, Jerry Hertsch wasn’t quite ready to retire and started repairing small engines in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Small engine sales were a natural progression.
Lake Havasu City, Arizona, and the surrounding area is a premium destination for vacationers, sun seekers, and outdoor enthusiasts with multiple RV parks and resorts. It wasn’t long before RV owners began bringing their generators to Jerry for repairs and maintenance, which grew into generator sales and eventually formed a new company, CJ’s Generators, in 1996. At the beginning, CJ’s primarily sold Cummins RV generators, a popular brand with a large following among motorhome owners.
The 1990s also brought the first practical and affordable home standby generator, the Generac Guardian. Jerry saw another opportunity and expanded the company’s offerings to include Generac generators for homeowners.
Commercial internet access began in the mid-1990s with companies like Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo!. 1997 saw the launch of the Norwall PowerSystems (norwall.com) website and made access to generators easier than ever before. It is worth noting that Google officially launched in 1998, a year after Norwall, and was quickly proclaimed to have the best search results over competing search engines. The Wayback Machine (web.archive.org) recorded Norwall.com for the first time in December 1998, just three months after Google’s launch date, which likely points to the same time frame that Norwall began appearing in Google’s search results.
Over the next three years as Y2K approached, home standby and portable generator sales increased dramatically. Norwall became the go to company for online generator sales direct to homeowners all over America.
In the years that followed, other major events pushed generator sales. Hurricanes, derechos (wind storms with hurricane force winds), blizzards, power outages, and ice storms that left people without electricity for days or weeks at a time were major drivers. Hyperactive hurricane seasons like 2004 (Hurricanes Charley and Ivan) and 2005 (Katrina, Wilma, and Rita) brought greater awareness to the need for emergency power. Hurricane Ike in 2008 was a deadly storm that hit Texas. Hurricane Irene swept up the East Coast in 2011.
In November 2011, after Hurricane Irene left hundreds of thousands of homes without power, FEMA issued a release encouraging homeowners to consider an emergency backup generator. With the right connection, even a modest portable can keep the furnace and refrigerator running, plus the sump pump and a few lights.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced a nationwide shutdown in March 2020. The global disaster, combined with a record smashing hurricane season that broke nearly every record on the books, pushed incredible numbers of generator sales in an environment where no one was certain what would happen next. Generator manufacturers, like everyone else, were unprepared for the surge in sales, and delivery times pushed into weeks, and then months, as people working from home worried about the loss of essential services like electricity. Shipping delays didn’t deter sales, even when delivery times stretched out beyond six months.
Today, Norwall looks back on 30 years of business evolution, from small engine repair to a company that contributed to the success of generator manufacturers like Generac and Cummins-Onan with generators for home, commercial, RV, and countless portable applications. Norwall was there when Champion launched its home-standby generators. They saw inverter technology RV generators introduced by NPS and RVMP for the cleanest and most efficient RV power available.
Recent additions to the product lineup include portable power stations, sometimes called solar generators or battery generators. Instead of fuel, power stations store energy in batteries for use as needed. Generac PWRcell is an energy storage system for backup power or off-grid energy systems. Combined with solar panels, the system can provide all the energy a home needs.
To promote the company brand, Norwall president Chris Hertsch entered off-road truck racing with the Norwall race truck as driver and Kaylyn Hertsch as navigator. Entries included the Mint 400, Rage at the River, and Battle at Primm. They place well in the races and recently added sponsors from Cummins and Generac.
Manufacturers change, companies come and go, but Norwall is always there with the latest models from the best manufacturers in the industry. The company stocks thousands of generators in warehouses across the country for fast shipment.
After 30 years in business selling generators, generator systems, and generator related equipment, Norwall knows the business. The sales staff have over 60 years of combined experience in the industry. A brief conversation with Chris makes it clear why Norwall continues to lead the online generator sales industry.
