Making hardware easy.

Byline: RETAIL By Joe Mosley The Register-Guard

Fastenal may be the only retailer with 2,000 stores worldwide - including three in Eugene-Springfield - that you know nothing about.

Unless you're a manufacturer. Maybe a mill operator or a contractor. Or an ordinary tools-and-hardware consumer who's not intimidated by shopping with the big boys.

"We do stuff with everyone from fence companies and light construction through heavy construction," says Joe Mellow, manager of the newest local Fastenal outlet - at 495 Highway 99N - which opened a few weeks ago. "We kind of run the gamut, but it is almost all business-to-business.

"But we are open to the public. Some of our locations do a lot with the public, especially in smaller towns."

With modest-size stores that average 5,000 square feet and a mostly commercial clientele, the Minnesota-based hardware supplier operates mostly under the retail radar. You're excused if you didn't know about the existing local stores - at 730 Conger St. in Eugene, and at 46th and Main in Springfield.

"We kind of keep an eye on all the businesses that move in out here," says Eddie Vasquez, owner of Recretec, a manufacturer of whitewater rafting frames at 4660 Main St. - two storefronts away from the Springfield Fastenal.

"We just happened to see them (moving in) and I talked to them about whether they could get some of the stuff we get from our other vendors. They had it right there, and they're competitive, as far as price goes."

Vasquez's business uses an assortment of aluminum nuts, bolts and rivets, some of which are hard to find and had to be special-ordered through a previous supplier. But Fastenal offers to keep items in stock for specific customers, to deliver orders and even to custom manufacture parts that cannot otherwise be found.

"I give them (an order), and it's here in 15 minutes to a half-hour," Vasquez says. "I've been dealing with them, it's going on my second year with them now, and it's just a great fit."

Fastenal's bread-and-butter products are fasteners - stuff like screws, nuts and bolts, rivets, nails and staples - but they also carry a selection of tools that runs from screwdrivers to industrial grinders. And a whole lot of miscellaneous - a total of 750,000 items are on the company's product list, and an average of about 6,000 to 7,000 are stocked at the local stores.

Ray Hammon, general manager of Tuff Shed at 1133 Shelley St., in Springfield, is another customer who's been impressed with Fastenal's selection and service.

"We are the world's largest supplier of storage buildings and garages, so we use a lot of fasteners," says Hammon, whose company has 56 locations nationwide.

"(Fastenal representatives) do milk runs - they come out weekly," he says. "They look at my inventory and stock me as needed. I get everything from staples to paper towels to hand soap."

The first Fastenal store in Oregon showed up in Salem about a dozen years ago, but the company is making a strong push in the Western states, according to Mellow.

"It's definitely different here," he says. "We're Minnesota-based, so it's a little more of a household name there than it is here. But the company is definitely starting to invest in the West Coast."

Retail Notebook runs on Fridays. Joe Mosley can be reached at 338-2384 or [e-mail].