Metropolis International has been in business for over 20 years now, approaching 21 years next month. All the while it’s president, Leon Gugel, has been around for 27 years. Over the years, Metropolis has definitively established itself with an excellent reputation as a great and reliable partner
Located in the heart of the NYC, Metropolis International is the only stocking dealer based out of the New York City center itself.
“Being here has many positives, least of which is that NYC is the capital of the world! We get a lot of customers from all over the world visit us, as well as local East Coast dealers, and decision makers from various hospital institutions from the NY Metro area. We’ve established a consistent history of helping our partners with the best equipment with reasonable price,” Gugel says..
As well as on-demand service for end-users in the area.
Metropolis has an office and warehouse geographically located in the center of New York City so that it can cover the entire metro area within 20 minutes of travel. It is located just two blocks from the Ed Koch, 59th St. Bridge, overlooking Manhattan.
“Our knowledge and expertise in the market for various systems as well as having the technical knowledge to assist customers, is second to none!” Gugel says. “
Because of our longevity, creativity and responsiveness, we are the first to know about systems coming out, what hospital is selling its older systems, and pricing on these systems.”
Metropolis International is also FDA registered and was one of the first dealers to be so for 15 years now.
“This helps us navigate large institutions as well as be able to help various OEM partners,” Gugel says. “And, I truly mean partners. It is not just about buying a system and flipping it to another dealer, but actually enhancing the customer/end-user experience.”
This is a reason many OEMs have been using Metropolis to help customers during all these years.
“What truly makes us different – and better – is that we truly have that personalized approach to doing business. It is built on real, long-term and meaningful relationships,” Gugel says. “We also pride ourselves on learning the technical aspects of the systems we sell. This helps our customers and other end-users down the line.”
Regardless of whether our customers are brokers, dealers, or the actual end-users, Metropolis strives to help everyone and thus build relationships to enable repeat business to occur.
The world has truly become a smaller place for doing business, both domestically and internationally. More facilities require third-party companies to be FDA registered here in the U.S.
“As such, because we are also FDA registered, it gives us a leg up on the competition and a few others still that do not operate with honesty,” Gugel explains.The years of success did not come without challenges. It is how a business adapts and overcomes obstacles that leads to continued success, simply translating into solutions for customers and partners.
As everyone knows, there has been a lack of consistency in the market over the last decade. The elections last year and COVID a few years before that, which sadly still controls how some smaller facilities operate.
More recently, it is international wars, tariffs and AI integration into more aspects of the industry, not just the system it is built into by some companies.
All of these factors contribute to wild fluctuations in demand, pricing curves, inflation, ACA subsidies, venture capitalists continuing to go after companies in the healthcare arena, and overall performances of some major companies that have not gone to plan.
“As I stated before, the disappearance of some smaller players over the years from the industry has changed the face of smaller markets too,” Gugel says.Metropolis operates on old-fashioned basics of customer-centric approach to working together, not just for themselves, and that has allowed the company to thrive!
“In the end, the relationships we’ve built have been growing still!” Gugel says. “
It is our core competencies and our ability to locate and purchase 95% of our systems directly from medical facilities that gives our customers the peace of mind of getting great prices from us.”
“As I noted in years past, this result, along with our prices, are more in tune with modern spending trends for both wholesale as well as retail customers,” he says. “We sell all imaging modalities, and have demonstrated a continued ability to work with OEMs and hospitals alike in acquiring systems direct and be able to get them removed and deinstalled in a professional and quick manner.”
After all these years, Gugel says he still gets excited about the fact that Metropolis still sells more C-arm systems of all types than anyone else in the industry – worldwide!
Metropolis International has also continued to expand its servicing capabilities and refurbishment of various systems.
Metropolis has partnered with a few other strategic dealers around the country to create and expand more offerings and capture a higher market share with large hospital chains.
Another positive change has also been a larger footprint in the digital marketspace.
“From a revamped website, to LinkedIn, to advertising here, to Instagram and Facebook, we’ve been able to connect with more customers, especially from overseas,” Gugel says. “Both Asia and Europe.”
“Traditionally both markets have been greatly fragmented, but they have been growing too. These all factor into our long-term plans,” he adds. All of these behind-the-scenes moves, assure both present and future success for Metropolis. Gugel says he is humbled and grateful to be part of a greater process!
“To be able to help small clinics and private practices in extending patient care,” Gugel says. “As well as our dealers from all over the world.”
In the end, Metropolis is continually striving to build a legacy for the next 100 years!
For Metropolis to rival GE or Philips or anyone else out there so that doctors and dealers in the future can recognize the value of working with a company that has a personal touch.
Metropolis is evolving and it will only get better!
For more information, visit MetropolisMedical.com.
