The Fastenal story began in 1967 when Bob Kierlin pooled together $30,000 with four friends and opened the first Fastenal store, a 1,000 sq. ft. shop in his hometown of Winona, MN. (The original business plan was to dispense nuts and bolts via custom vending machines, but the technology proved impracticable at the time. Several decades would pass before Fastenal finally popularized industrial vending.) more... See more text