Forty years to the day after it opened its doors and made its first sale, the Fastenal Co. commemorated the event in style—executives of the Winona, Minn.-based fastener distributor rang the opening bell of the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York City's Times Square.

The Nov. 28 ceremony was a double feature for Fastenal—the date also marks the 20th anniversary of its debut as a publicly traded company.

In the years since its inception, Fastenal has expanded to 2,150 stores worldwide, including locations in all 50 of the United States, each province of Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Singapore, the Netherlands and China. The company also has 12 distribution centers located in the U.S. and Canada and is adding a 13th in Monterrey, Mexico.

Fastenal's $1.81 billion in revenues during fiscal 2006 earned the company the 11th spot on INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION's 2007 Big 50 list of distributors.

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