Grainger Expands Product Offerings Grainger, a distributor of facilities maintenance supplies, said it planned to add more than 39,000 products to its 2006 catalog that was scheduled to launch April 3. This brings the number of products offered through its catalog from 82,000 to more than 115,000. The expanded offering consists of about 30,000 different fasteners such as screws, bolts and nuts and an additional 10,000 products spread across diverse product categories including electrical, cleaning, material handling, plumbing and ventilation.

The company announced its intentions at the National Plant Engineering & Maintenance Show and Conference in Rosemont, IL, and to celebrate the event, Grainger commissioned a large fastener sculpture by Chicago sculptor Erik Blome, which was displayed at the show. The sculpture, comprised of thousands of fasteners and related products, stands 7 feet tall and weighs about 500 pounds.

In addition to the new larger catalog, the company said it will stock more than 4,000 fasteners locally in most of its 400 U.S. branches, with the balance available for shipping from distribution centers. Customers can visit www.grainger.com [Please link] for help with product selection based on factors such as grade, size and material. Grainger, based in Lake Forest, IL, serves more than 1.7 million customers from the manufacturing, commercial, government, transportation and contractor markets.