
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 18, 1990                   TAG: 9007180141
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE DISTRIBUTOR TO MERGE/

Jones Safety Supply Inc. of Roanoke, a distributor of safety supplies in three states, said Tuesday it is merging into W.W. Grainger Inc., an Illinois national distributor of industrial equipment.

Jones Safety, of 719 Gainsboro Rd. N.W., is expected to keep its name after the merger, said Reid Jones Jr., the company's owner. He plans to be an adviser to Grainger. The transaction, involving transfer of stock, is to be completed by Sept. 30.

Jones started the company in 1954 and it expanded to branches at Chesapeake; Greensboro, N.C.; and Columbia, Md. The company has annual sales of $12 million and 42 employees, almost half of whom work in Roanoke.

Grainger operates a Roanoke branch of its equipment supply business on Fifth Street Northeast. It has 317 branches in 50 states and reported annual sales of $1.7 million. It distributes equipment, components and supplies for the commercial, industrial, contractor and institutional markets.

by CNB