History
The Fastenal story began in 1967 when Bob Kierlin pooled together $30,000 with four friends and opened the first Fastenal store, a 1,000 square foot shop in his hometown of Winona, MN. The original business plan was to dispense nuts and bolts via custom vending machines, but the idea proved to be ahead of its time. (Several decades would pass before Fastenal finally popularized industrial vending.) After surviving the typical struggles of a startup business, Fastenal gradually found its niche by going the extra mile for customers and providing the kind of service that kept them coming back. Kierlin later drilled this approach down to four simple words: Growth Through Customer Service.
Specialties
Fastenal provides companies with the fasteners, tools, and supplies they need to manufacture products, build structures, protect personnel, and maintain facilities and equipment. Guided by a motto of