State Supply

The State Supply Co., Inc. of Saint Paul, Minnesota , was founded in 1933 during the depths of the depression by an Italian immigrant named Joseph Lombardo. Embattled by an economy that produced few opportunities and on the brink of both financial ruin and family disintegration Joe took the desperate step of starting a new company - from the trunk of his 1926 Dodge Dappler. Quite often Joe would obtain an order from a customer , go down the block to a local supplier and buy the products. That same day he would go back to his customer and present him with the order - while "marking-up" the products to make some money. Today we call this "One Sourcing. Yesterday they called it survival. Joe made $1,490 that first year - And counted his blessings. And Joe and his family did survive. Oh sure, World War II arrived and all sorts of product became scarce. It was not a good time to make a living but Joe made do.