Grainger

In 1927, W.W. Granger started as an electrical supplies distributor. The insight was simple. Factories constantly need maintenance, repair, and operation supplies. The demand was reliable. Every factory, hospital, office and plant needed belts, bearings, fasteners, lubricants, that need didn't disappear in recessions. Essential supplies stay essential. Granger built a catalog business around demand. Millions of products were stocked. A factory manager could call and order what they needed. Granger would deliver. Inventory breadth became the moat. No one else carried that many products in that many categories. Granger became default because completeness mattered more than any single product's quality or price.