The story
Founded by William W. Grainger in 1927.1
The company was founded as a supplier for businesses by William Wallace Grainger (1895 - 1982) in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, and 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 the modern Grainger catalog. Grainger headquarters are located in Lake Forest, Illinois. By 1936, Grainger had established 15 branches to improve customer service. The company was passed down to David William Grainger (1927 - 2025), the son of W.W. Grainger. David Grainger attended Phillips Exeter Academy. When William Grainger retired in 1968, Edward Schmidt, who had been Executive Vice President since 1953, became President and CEO with David Grainger as Chairman; David Grainger became CEO when Schmidt retired in 1974. [Chicago Tribume, December 27, 1968 ("W.W.Grainger announced the election of David Grainger as chairman, a new post at the company. Edward F Schmidt, formerly executive vice present, was named president and chief executive officer.")]
In 1967, Grainger became a publicly traded company. Grainger is a profitable corporation and has increased dividends to its shareholders for forty five consecutive years. The company has grown consistently since becoming public and reported US$11.5 billion in annual sales, as of the end of 2019.
Digital operations
In 1995 the grainger.com website was launched with an electronic catalog, later evolving to an eCommerce platform. In 2016, Grainger was named the 11th largest eCommerce retailer in North America by Internet Retailer. In 2019, more than 70 percent of Grainger orders in the U.S. originated via a digital channel (including Grainger.com, inventory management systems, and eProcurement) and more than 85 percent of orders were shipped directly to the customer or made immediately available through onsite services.
COVID-19 pandemic
Grainger was designated as an essential business during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic. Though there were virus outbreaks in certain facilities, stricter measures including temperature checks were instated. As orders for personal protective equipment (PPE) increased, Grainger and other re-sellers were hit with supply drops and price hikes.
In March 2020, Grainger was sent a letter from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection accusing them of price gouging. Grainger had increased its prices for surgical masks from $0.17 to $1.00 per mask. A spokesman for the company stated that the price increases were a result of increased costs from suppliers and overall shortages of PPE.
Fastenal Company and Grainger, two industrial suppliers, also saw surges in PPE sales. The AP's data includes $99 million in personal protective equipment sales to 32 states by Fastenal, and $50 million in protective equipment sales to 40 states by Grainger, which said its profits on those sales were affected by increased freight costs and previous contracts with reduced prices.
From Wikipedia’s article on W. W. Grainger, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8