For two decades, Mallory Safety and Supply has grown into one of the nation’s leading independent distributors of industrial safety products — in large part due to an ambitious acquisition strategy.
The Longview, Washington-based distributor, which dates back to its beginnings supplying the area’s logging industry in the 19th century, first acquired Brenton Safety in 2004, and, by its count, added another 20 companies between 2005 and 2022 — including four in one year.
Those deals gradually grew the company to more than 30 locations across a footprint that included the Midwest and Eastern Seaboard.
Mallory, however, continues to house most of its operations across the West, and, in more recent years, the company has chosen to pursue more acquisitions closer to home.
Early last year, the company added JG Tucker and Sons, a Southern California safety and industrial supply distributor that Mallory officials said would bolster its fleet and MRO operations in the Los Angeles area.
And at the beginning of this year, Mallory announced a pair of deals that officials said would enhance its scope in the mountain states, adding Rocky Mountain Industrial Supply of Casper, Wyoming, and Safety Station of Colorado Springs, Colorado, for undisclosed prices. The acquisitions added a second Mallory location in Colorado, joining a branch in suburban Denver, and brought Mallory’s operations to Wyoming for the first time.
Rocky Mountain Industrial dates back to 1960 but traces its modern history to 2007, when longtime industry veteran Jim Golay and his wife Shelly acquired and renamed Casper distributor Underwood Supply.
The company later added second and third Wyoming locations in Rock Springs and Cheyenne, respectively, along with a sales office in North Dakota. Today, it provides safety products and other supplies to the oil and gas industries in those states, along with the region’s manufacturing, mining, construction and transportation segments. RMI also operates instrumentation and fall protection services, water and hydraulic hose manufacturing, and an imprinting and embroidery facility.
Mallory CEO Tim Loy said the deal, which closed Jan. 15, would bolster its customer service in the mountain region and fit within its broader growth strategy. It would also, he noted, combine two members of the Affiliated Distributors buying group.
The RMI acquisition announcement also mentioned the company’s purchase of Safety Station — although that deal was actually finalized weeks earlier. That transaction included Safety Station’s sister company, imprinting and customization business Ink 182, as well.
Mallory officials wrote on LinkedIn in November that the acquisition would bolster its lineup of products, services and expertise “tailored to the specific needs of this growing area.”
The deals brought Mallory’s total footprint to 38 locations nationwide, and could help the company climb further up the ranks of North America’s leading industrial distributors; it has steadily risen from no. 50 on ID’s 2019 Big 50 list up to no. 41 in the latest rankings.
