Who Owns Fastenal?

Bob Kierlin founded Fastenal in 1967 in Winona, Minnesota, a small city along the Mississippi River. He was 27 years old and working as a salesman for a screw machine products company. Kierlin noticed that local manufacturers struggled to source fasteners quickly and at fair prices. The existing supply chain was slow, fragmented, and dominated by regional jobbers with limited inventory. He pooled $30,000 in savings with a few partners to open a single store selling bolts, screws, and nuts.

The first year was rough. Sales totaled just $36,000. Kierlin and his team loaded orders into the trunks of their cars and drove them to customers. But the model worked. Manufacturers needed a reliable local source for fasteners, and Fastenal filled that gap. By 1970, the company had opened its second branch in nearby La Crosse, Wisconsin. Growth was steady through the 1970s, driven by a simple formula: open branches near industrial clusters, stock inventory locally, and deliver same-day.

Fastenal went public in 1987. The IPO raised capital that funded a dramatic acceleration of branch openings. Between 1987 and 1990, the company opened roughly 100 new locations. By the mid-1990s, Fastenal had over 500 branches across the United States. The company joined the NASDAQ National Market and, later, became an S&P 500 constituent. Revenue crossed $100 million in 1994 and $500 million by 2000.

The 2000s brought a strategic shift. Fastenal had built its business on walk-up counter sales at local branches. But large industrial customers wanted more. They needed inventory managed on-site at their own facilities. Fastenal responded with two innovations: FASTBin and FASTVend. FASTBin is a managed inventory bin system installed directly at customer locations. FASTVend is a vending machine that dispenses safety gear, tools, and cutting supplies using employee badges or PIN codes. These devices connect to Fastenal's inventory network and automatically trigger restocking orders. By 2025, Fastenal had 136,638 weighted FASTBin and FASTVend installations in the field, generating $2,675.0 million in annual sales, or 32.2% of total revenue.

The company also built out its Fastenal Managed Inventory (FMI) program. FMI places Fastenal personnel on-site at customer factories to manage stock, procurement, and supply chain logistics. In 2025, FMI generated $3,712.7 million in sales, accounting for 44.7% of total revenue. FASTStock, the company's e-commerce and digital fulfillment platform, added another $1,037.7 million, or 12.5%.

Geographic expansion followed. Fastenal entered Canada in the 1990s and later expanded into Mexico, Europe, and Asia. As of 2025, the company operated in 25 countries with over 3,500 in-market locations. The United States accounts for the majority of revenue, but international markets contribute a growing share.

The 2010s saw Fastenal push further into digital tools. The company launched FAST360, a data analytics platform built on Microsoft Power BI that gives customers visibility into inventory levels, spending patterns, and supply channels. Fastenal also invested in eCommerce capabilities, allowing customers to order online with same-day fulfillment from local inventory.

In 2025, Fastenal reported net sales of $8,200.5 million, up 8.7% from $7,546.0 million in 2024. Net income reached $1,258.4 million. The company executed a two-for-one stock split on May 21, 2025. CEO Dan Florness, who took over in 2016, has focused on expanding on-site inventory programs, growing the digital platform, and deepening relationships with large national account customers. Fastenal signed 25,892 new FASTBin and FASTVend agreements in 2025, down 7.5% from 27,984 in 2024, but installations in the field grew 7.6% year over year.