From Basement To Warehouse: One Supplier's "Fasten-ating" Story

Founded by Bob and Linda Dey in 1987 as a "business in a box" operating from their Brick, New Jersey home, Manasquan has since become an indispensable resource for clients ranging from local builders and do it yourselfers to international builders and contractors

Manasquan Premium Fasteners Celebrates 25th Anniversary - Dedicated to the Supply of Quality Stainless Steel Fasteners

Brick, New Jersey Manasquan Premium Fasteners. LLC, a leading provider of stainless steel fasteners to the residential, commercial and marine construction industries, has celebrated its 25th anniversary as a "Project Oriented" supplier of quality stainless steel and specialty fasteners. Founded by Bob and Linda Dey in 1987 as a "business in a box" operating from their Brick, New Jersey home, Manasquan has since become an indispensable resource for clients ranging from local builders and do it yourselfers to international builders and contractors located throughout North America, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.

“Reputation is everything to us,” says Linda Dey. “We’ve grown from a mail-order, catalog company working from our dining room table with stock in the basement to one of the most-recognized firms of our kind. We achieved this by paying attention to detail and providing each customer, large and small, the best possible care. In fact, Bob once drove over 200 miles round trip one night to personally deliver an urgent order before Hurricane Irene hit New Jersey.”

Manasquan Premium Fasteners was originally formed to fill a local market void for stainless steel nails. This opportunity unfolded prior to 1987 when Bob and Linda sought to replace the deteriorating composite lap siding on their home in Wall, NJ with high quality redwood bevel siding. Upon researching the "American Redwood Association" installation guidelines, it was determined that stainless steel fasteners were recommended as the best choice to eliminate unsightly black streaking around the nail heads. Unfortunately, at that time stainless steel nails were nowhere to be found in New Jersey or the surrounding states, not even at the largest hardware stores and lumberyards. "No one stocked these products in those days,” says Bob. ‘Hardware stores and building supply centers even denied the existence of stainless steel nails."

"It was amazing,” explains Linda, “that we stumbled into this incredible niche that would eventually become our future. We persevered, finished our siding installation and ultimately formed Manasquan Premium Fasteners, initially stocking nails and screws supplied from a Baltimore-based manufacturer.”

During the early years, the Deys also ran the fledgling company from their home basement, which was transformed into a mini-warehouse with shelves stocked with various stainless steel fasteners. Together, Linda and their youngest daughter, Jessica, picked and packaged orders, while maintaining all the company’s records by hand. Manasquan then began its next stage when Bob retired from the chemical industry and joined with Linda to more proactively promote and grow the business. This included creating and launching the company website in 2001 and moving into their first warehouse facility a few years later.

Since that time, Manasquan has steadily grown into one of the industry’s most-noted suppliers of high-quality stainless steel and specialty construction fasteners. With a larger warehouse in Brick, New Jersey, the company today stocks thousands of items from leading stainless steel fastener manufacturers such as Simpson Strong-Tie®, Starborn Industries®, EB-TY®, Tiger Claw®, GRK® fasteners and others. This includes a complete line of hand nails, collated nails, staples, bolts, joist hangers, framing connectors & straps, nuts & washers, threaded rods, screws, hidden deck fastening systems and numerous other building-related items.

A true family-run business, Linda serves as the principal company owner responsible for finance, inventory and website development and maintenance. In addition, Bob is known as the "technical information" person with control over marketing and new product acquisitions. Nicole, the Dey’s eldest daughter, also currently serves as the office manager in charge of order processing and other office functions.

"We’re proud to be one of the pioneers of a niche service that is now embedded in several international markets,” states Bob. “Most orders are filled from the inventory we maintain in our warehouse. If an item is needed that is not a product we normally carry in our stock inventory we’re happy to source special order and custom items to meet a customer's needs. For instance, we recently worked with a leading window coverings company to provide a custom stainless steel staple designed with a special friction-activated adhesive that sets securely during product assembly.”

As for the future, Bob and Linda are positioning the company to reach beyond their present customers to attract a larger, worldwide contractor base. “We’re already ramping up for the next wave of activity,” adds Linda. “Fortunately, we weren’t hurt that badly by the housing and construction slump. Our customers are widespread geographically and always seem to be building somewhere. Plus, professional builders and home owners alike have come to realize the benefits of stainless steel fasteners that will last a lifetime. Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on constructing a home or several thousands on a deck only to use nails, screws, joist hangers, framing connectors and other fasteners that will streak, stain and ultimately fail due to corrosion and cause safety issues?”

Founded in 1987, Manasquan Premium Fasteners is a leading provider of stainless steel and concealed decking fasteners to the residential, commercial and marine construction industries. For more information please visit www.manasquanfasteners.com, call 1-800-542-1979 or contact Bob Dey at [email protected]. On most days, Bob Dey is likely to answer and provide his first-hand expertise on any number of fastener issues.

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