1995 Business Journal Article: "Racking Up Sales"

McNamee refurbishes industrial equipment

Warehouse Rack & Shelf, LLC
    200 Long Rd. Suite 220
    Chesterfield, MO 63005

     Business Activity: Warehouse Rack & Shelf, LLC capitalizes on excess warehouse and dock equipment in the St. Louis Industrial community. The company takes used equipment, such as pallet storage racks, shelving, forklifts and conveyors, and reconditions, fabricates and paints it to the customer's specifications. Warehouse Rack & Shelf, LLC also sells new pallet rack and shelving made by Ridg-U-Rak, one of the nation's oldest and largest pallet rack manufacturers. They offer the highest quality rack at the lowest prices.

EMERGING

COMPANIES

Revenue: 1995 revenue is expected to be more than $3 million. McNamee said revenue has nearly doubled each year.

     Company history: Warehouse Rack & Shelf, LLC was started by McNamee in 1991. He set up shop, using a wood table, in the basement of his parents' home. The company had been known as Warehouse Liquidator, but changed its name about two months ago to reflect the growing end of the business. Warehouse Rack and Shelf is a division of Warehouse Rack & Shelf LLC, a 13-year-old St. Louis manufacturers representative agency started by Brad's father, Bernie J. McNamee.
     Professional services: Commerce Bank is the company's bank, although much of the capital for the firm comes from a group of private investors, including Bernie McNamee. Investors have received anywhere from 5% to 20% on their investments. Larry Scherer of The Botax Co. is the company's accountant.
     Materials: The misfortunes of some local companies has enabled Warehouse Rack & Shelf, LLC to acquire used warehouse and dock equipment at fairly inexpensive prices. Some of it has come from McGraw-Hill, Wetterau and Central Hardware.

Brad McNamee in front of some of the material his company sells.

McNamee's firm, after purchasing the equipment, must often take the racks and shelves down, pay the freight charges, pay for the forklifts and the operators, pay the warehousing housing costs and reconditioning costs. This requires that he buy the material at a low cost to be able to resell it at a significant savings to the customer.
The future: McNamee said the future of warehousing is heading in the direction of computer-aided storage retrieval systems. He sees the need for shelving and racks as companies run into record-storage problems. A recent Occupational Safety and Health Administration ruling requiring Seismic Zone 2 earthquake requirements in the St. Louis area means many new warehouses, such as those built in Corporate
Woods and the Missouri Research Park, must adhere to these standards. This requires special shelving and racks.

July 1995
St. Louis Business Journal