Lindemanns offer fasteners, paints to automotive, industrial customers

By: Charlie Mathews, Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC — Chris and Kerry Lindemann have four children, but it is another family they pay close attention to fueling their business success.

"It sounds so old-fashioned, but we are a family-run business that treats our customers like family going the extra mile and offering superior service," said Chris, 43. He started Wisconsin Fastener Supply in 1985, right out of high school, and serves as president.

Compared to its national competitors, "Our forte is we are local with personalized service plus the owners are right here," Kerry said, company vice president. "And our pricing is often more competitive," Chris added.

On Tuesday, Rene Jelinek was at their business, 4461 Custer St., buying paint for his 1911 Yale motorcycle. Count him among the Lindemann's satisfied customers.

"The way paints are changing it's nice to have somebody who can inform you about the newest technology," Jelinek said, seeking "French gray" for his nearly century-old two-wheeler.

Jelinek was a customer of Body Supply & Fastener, a division of Wisconsin Fastener Supply.

In essence, the Lindemanns have two complementary businesses with fasteners a common link.

That is a generic term for a piece of metal or plastic joining two parts together — they don't sell Velcro — that might be part of a vehicle or part of a piece of equipment used or manufactured in an industrial setting.

Nuts and washers, body bolts, threaded inserts, door hinge pins, trim panel retainers and cap screws in thousands of shapes and sizes are part of their catalog.

But in addition to automotive paints and repair adhesives, the Lindemanns also sell spray equipment, welding protection products, shop tools, abrasives and items as low-tech as shop toweling.

"We are well known and one of the biggest players in the automotive market," said Kerry, company vice president.

But the couple sees growth opportunity in the industrial market, including Manitowoc County with its dozens of manufacturers and fabricators, large and small.

Tripled their sales

The Lindemanns moved from 2,000 square feet of sales, warehouse and office space in Valders to their current location in 2004. They have about 8,000 square feet in what had been a cabinet shop.

"We have more than tripled our sales since we moved," said Chris, noting they have added semi-automated packaging equipment, as well as several abrasive and paint lines to an expanded inventory in their warehouse enabling quicker delivery.

For example, Paint Over Rust is the brand name for a line of paints available to both automotive and industrial customers. While it comes in a limited number of basic colors, it can be top coated with one of thousands of standard automotive colors.

About 80 percent of their business is from Manitowoc County, another 10 percent from the rest of Wisconsin and about 10 percent comes from out of state.

Their biggest customer, out of hundreds, represents about 30 percent of their revenue, with about 15 accounts comprising some 75 percent of their business.

The Lindemanns have about 10 independent sales representatives in several states, in addition to their own sales force that are part of the 15 employees (including themselves) who are part of the company.

Internet-generated leads are becoming more common, though still just a small fraction of their business. If a Google visitor types in "automotive clip" the Lindemann's Web site, www.bsfco.com, pops up as one of the three top sponsored links.

Nothing can replace direct, face-to-face customer service like that offered to Jelinek by Tim Steffen who joined the Lindemann's business in April 2008.

He said he enjoys serving a variety of customers, including those referred by national competitors because of the more diverse inventory the Lindemanns offer.

The couple said they actually have very little contact with each other during the day even though their desks are only about 15 feet apart.

Working together for more than 20 years hasn't been a strain they said. "We respect each other a lot, have different duties and are each other's best friend," Kerry said.

And, yes, Kerry has driven the 1971 Cutlass convertible that Chris bought out of a junkyard at age 12, restored with a cousin over five years, and was the impetus for getting into the automotive parts business.

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