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W. W. Grainger

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W. W. Grainger, Inc.
Company type
IndustryIndustrial supply distribution
Founded1927 (1927)
FounderWilliam Wallace Grainger
Headquarters
Lake Forest, Illinois
,
United States
Number of locations
  • United States: 384[1]: 8 
  • Canada: 185[1]: 8 
Key people
James T. Ryan, president, CEO and chairman of the board
Revenue
  • Increase US$9,437,758,000 (2013)[2]: 39 
  • Increase US$8,950,045,000 (2012)[2]: 39 
  • Increase US$1,296,854,000 (2013)[2]: 39 
  • Increase US$1,131,125,000 (2012)[2]: 39 
  • Increase US$797,036,000 (2013)[2]: 39 
  • Increase US$689,881,000 (2012)[2]: 39 
Total assets
  • Increase US$5,266,328,000 (2013)[3]: 5 
  • Increase US$5,014,598,000 (2012)[2]: 12 
Total equity
  • Increase US$3,326,836,000 (2013)[3]: 6 
  • Increase US$3,117,366,000 (2012)[2]: 42 
Number of employees
22,400[1]: 3 
Websitewww.grainger.com
Footnotes / references
[1][2][3]
W. W. Grainger branch, Ann Arbor, MI

W. W. Grainger, Inc. is a Fortune 500 industrial supply company founded in 1927 in Chicago. Grainger's catalog includes such offerings as motors, lighting, material handling, fasteners, plumbing, tools, and safety supplies. Revenue is generally from business-to-business sales rather than retail sales.

History

The company was founded by William Wallace Grainger in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois. He established the company to provide supplies for businesses. The business was incorporated as W. W. Grainger, Inc., in 1928. Sales in the early days were generated primarily through mail order via post cards and a catalog. The MotorBook, as the catalog was originally called, was the basis for today's Grainger catalog. Grainger headquarters are now located in Lake Forest, Illinois. By 1936 Grainger established 15 branches to improve customer service.

In 1967, Grainger became a publicly traded company. Grainger is a profitable corporation and has increased dividends to its shareholders for thirty six consecutive years.[4] The company has grown consistently since becoming public and has passed US$1,000,000,000 in annual sales in 1984 and US$5,000,000,000 in sales in 2004. Grainger entered the Brazilian market with the acquisition of AnFreixo S.A. in April 2012.[5]

In 1996, Grainger launched its first website. The website was a simple page which linked to an electronic catalog.

Operations

The company is currently[when?] in the midst of an expansion,[6][7] which includes the remodeling of existing locations as well as the company's entry into the Chinese market. Grainger also has a presence in Japan by acquiring a majority share of Japanese industrial supplier Monotaro in 2009.[8] In addition, Grainger opened a research office at Research Park, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2014. Grainger is expanding their product offering, in 2008 their new catalog featured over 183,000 products, and customers could purchase over 350,000 products on Grainger.com. In 2010, the catalog carried over 400,000 products, and customers could purchase over 900,000 products on Grainger.com. This is partly due to feedback from customers that Grainger should carry an even broader supply of products.

A unique aspect that sets W. W. Grainger apart from other industrial supply companies is that they have an extensive, on-site, US-based technical product support for all of their products. Their technical product support specialists have hands-on experience and training, and have the ability to assist with the correct product selection, application assistance, installation and troubleshooting.

Acquisitions

  • September 1, 2015 - Cromwell Group Holdings (UK) Ltd
  • December 3, 2013 - Safety Solutions Incorporated[9]
  • August 23, 2013 - E&R Industrial Sales Inc[10]
  • December 17, 2012 - Techni-tool, Inc. of Worcester, Pennsylvania[11]
  • August 31, 2011 - Fabory Group[12]
  • October 14, 2010 - SafetyCertified[13]
  • November 18, 2009 - Alliance Energy Solutions[14]
  • October 14, 2009 - Imperial Supplies[15]
  • April 3, 2012 - Anfreixo[5]

W. W. Grainger, Inc. supplies facilities maintenance and other related products in North America and Asia. The company operates in three segments, Branch-based Distribution, Acklands-Grainger Inc. (Canada) and GHC Specialty Brands.

The Branch-based Distribution businesses include Grainger's Industrial Supply division; Grainger's Export division; Grainger's Global Sourcing division; Grainger S.A. de C.V. (Mexico); Grainger Caribe, Inc. (Puerto Rico); Grainger Colombia (Colombia) and Grainger China, LLC China Distribution. Grainger distributes various supplies, such as material handling, safety and security, cleaning and maintenance, pumps and plumbing, electrical, lighting, ventilation, tools, metal working, fluid power, heating and air-conditioning products, motors, and power transmissions.

Acklands - Grainger Inc. is Canada's leading broad-line distributor of industrial, fleet and safety products.

GHC Specialty Brands is the result of Grainger's acquisition of Lab Safety Supply and several other catalog companies, including Gempler's, Ben Meadows, Highsmith, and McFeely's. It markets safety and other industrial products to customers under several brands throughout North America.[16]

Grainger serves customers through a network of approximately 369 branches, 15 distribution centers, numerous catalogs and direct mail pieces and several web sites. W. W. Grainger, Inc. was incorporated in 1927 and is based in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Philanthropy

Grainger is the national founding sponsor of the Ready When the Time Comes program. Ready When the Time Comes is an American Red Cross corporate volunteer program that trains employees to participate in disaster response. Through its $1 million initial contribution, Grainger provided funding for programs in 16 chapters throughout the United States. Currently, 13 of those locations have been launched with the most recent having taken place in Greenville, South Carolina in June 2008.[17][18]

Grainger is also an advocate of technical education. Donations have been made in dozens of markets to dozens of different schools. Since 2006, one specific way this is being done is through the Tools for TomorrowSM program. This is a $2,000 scholarship for 2nd year students in technical education programs, and it also includes a tool-kit for the student upon graduation.[19]

Awards and honors

Grainger was named by Fortune magazine as one of the top 100 companies to work for in 2013, citing the company's generous profit-sharing plan, where employees with five years of service had 20% of their pay added to their retirement plan.[20]

Whistleblower lawsuit

In 2008, Grainger came under public scrutiny for allegedly over charging government customers who had pre-existing fixed-price contracts. In a whistleblower lawsuit, former district sales manager Brian Holbrook alleged the company repeatedly over billed the U.S. government on its supply contracts. The lawsuit asked that Holbrook be awarded 15 percent to 25 percent "of the proceeds of the action or settlement of the claim" for his role in the case. In the U.S., whistleblowers are often entitled to a financial cut of funds received as part of a settlement of penalty from a legal proceeding.[21] Grainger eventually settled with the US federal government for $70 million (US) while admitting no wrongdoing.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "GRAINGER W W Inc 2012 Annual Report Form (10-K)". EDGAR. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. February 28, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "GRAINGER W W INC 2013 Q4 Quarterly Report Form (10-Q)". EDGAR. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. February 27, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "GRAINGER W W INC 2014 Q1 Quarterly Report Form (10-Q)". EDGAR. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. May 1, 2014.
  4. ^ "Dividend Analysis: W. W. Grainger, Inc". Seeking Alpha. Retrieved 2014-03-02.(registration required)
  5. ^ a b "Grainger Enters Brazil Through The Aquisition [sic] Of AnFreixo". Industrial Distribution. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  6. ^ "Grainger expands operation in eastern U.S. to meet demand.(Grainger Industrial Supply)(Brief article)". Purchasing. May 3, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-06.(subscription required)
  7. ^ "Grainger continues branch expansion.(Grainger Industrial Supply)(Brief article)". Industrial Distribution. July 1, 2006. Retrieved 2008-10-06.(subscription required)
  8. ^ "Grainger Completes Tender Offer Bid; Achieves 53% Stake in MonotaRO Co., Ltd" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. September 14, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  9. ^ "Grainger Announces Acquisition Of Safety Solutions Incorporated - CHICAGO" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. December 3, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-02 – via PRNewswire.
  10. ^ "Grainger Acquires E&R Industrial Sales, Inc" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. August 26, 2013. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  11. ^ "Grainger Announces Intent To Acquire Techni-Tool, Inc. - CHICAGO" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. December 17, 2012. Retrieved 2014-03-02 – via PRNewswire.
  12. ^ "Grainger Completes Acquisition of Fabory Group" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. August 31, 2011. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  13. ^ "Grainger Announces Acquisition of SafetyCertified" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. October 14, 2010. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  14. ^ "Grainger Announces Acquisition of Alliance Energy Solutions" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. November 18, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  15. ^ "Grainger Announces Acquisition of Imperial Supplies, LLC" (Press release). W. W. Grainger. June 30, 2009. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  16. ^ "W. W. Grainger looking to grow in Janesville". GazetteXtra. Bliss Communications. March 14, 2010. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  17. ^ "Ready When the Time Comes Volunteer Program Expands. $1 Million contribution from Grainger enables volunteer program implementation in 16 new metro areas across the country. American Red Cross. August 18, 2006". Redcross.org. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  18. ^ http://www.greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/YOURUPSTATE/806200344/1069/YOURUPSTATE01
  19. ^ "Grainger Tools for Tomorrow Scholarship | Community College of Allegheny County". Ccac.edu. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  20. ^ "Grainger - Best Companies to Work For 2013 - Fortune". Money.cnn.com. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2014-03-02.
  21. ^ Doege, David (February 10, 2008). "Grainger accused of gouging government by whistleblower".
  22. ^ Doege, David (July 25, 2008). "W.W. Grainger to pay $6M to settle whistleblower lawsuit". The Business Journal of Milwaukee. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
  23. ^ Miller, James P. (July 26, 2008). "Grainger settles overbilling suit. Will pay $6 million; no admission of guilt". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
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