5500 W. Howard St., Skokie 60077, 708-982-9000
– Founded: 1927
– Fiscal year-end: Dec. 31
– Chief executive
David W. Grainger, 64, since 1968
1991 cash compensation: $917,443
Shares owned: 6.6 million of 52.8 million common shares
– Employees: 8,778; 2,467 in Illinois
– Foreign sales: none reported; of $2.07 billion total in 1991
– May 1, 1992, value of $1,000 in company stock:
Purchased May 1, 1991: $1,277
Purchased May 1, 1987: $2,213
– Founded by the father of the current chairman, Grainger is a leading distributor of electrical components and supplies for industrial and commercial use. The firm handles more than 32,000 products, including electric motors, compressors, hand tools and refrigeration components.
– In 1991, the company recorded its first $2 billion sales year. Despite the recessionary environment, sales grew 7.3 percent to $2.07 billion.
– The firm`s acquisitions department has been busy. In 1991, the firm acquired Ball Industries, a California-based commercial sanitary-supply business with 1990 sales of $28 million; it took over Rice Safety Equipment Co. in the Pacific Northwest (1991 sales of $23 million); and this past March announced it had reached agreement to acquire Janesville, Wis.-based Lab Safety Supply Inc., a direct marketer of safety products with 1991 sales of $117 million. The acquisition of Lab Safety will make Grainger the third largest company in the safety-equipment field.
