Arrow Electronics

Infobox_Company
company_name = Arrow Electronics, Inc.
company_
company_type = Public (NYSE|ARW)
foundation = 1935, New York City
location = Melville, New York
key_people = William E. Mitchell Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Peter S. Brown Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary

Kevin J. Gilroy Senior Vice President and President, Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions
Michael J. Long Senior Vice President and President, Arrow Global Components
John P. McMahon Senior Vice President, Human Resources

M. Catherine Morris Senior Vice President and President, Arrow Enterprise Computing Solutions
Paul J. Reilly Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Vincent P. Melvin Vice President and Chief Information Officer
num_employees = 12,600 (2007)
industry = Electronics Wholesale
revenue = profitUS $15.98 Billion (2007)
net_income = profitUS $407.7 Million (2007)
homepage = [http://www.arrow.com/ www.arrow.com]

Arrow Electronics NYSE|ARW is a Fortune 500 company headquartered in Melville, New York. This company specializes in distribution and value added services relating to electronic components and computer products.

History

The company started in 1935 as a retail store for radio parts on New York City's Radio Row in Lower Manhattan, and incorporated in 1946. In 1961, Arrow went public, with two stores and a distribution center. Three friends from Harvard Business School — Duke Glenn, Jr., Roger Green and John Waddell — began in 1968 to transform the stores into a much larger corporate entity, acquiring GCS Electronics Division, and two refiners of lead (necessary for components), Schuylkill Products Company and Schuylkill Lead Corporation. Glenn and Green would die in a tragic accident twelve years later.

By 1971, Arrow was one of the nation's Top 10 distributors of electronic equipment, and acquired National Electrical Supply Company that year. The acquisition of Kay Electric Supply Company in 1973 followed, and the next year, Arrow developed its own computerized distribution system. The decision was made in 1976 to get out of retail business and to concentrate on distribution and refining. That year, Arrow went from 10th largest to 5th largest electronic distributor in the nation. The company got a listing on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979, with the symbol ARW, and acquired Cramer Electronics the same year.

Tragedy in 1980

On the morning of December 4, 1980, the executives of Arrow Electronics held a budget planning meeting at a conference room on the second floor of the Stouffer Inn of Westchester, New York. At 10:20 a.m., an electrical fire swept through the hotel killing 26 people. Among the 13 Arrow officers killed were two of the founders, Duke Glenn (President) and Roger Green (Executive V.P.)

Worldwide Acquisitions 1982-present

Despite the setback, the company continued to grow. In 1982, it acquired Computrend, Computer Products Supply Co., and High Technologies Distribution. In 1984, nine regional distribution centers were added and Arrow purchased Canada's Cesco Electronics. Foreign acquisitions continued, with a 40% ownership of Germany's Spoerle Electronics GMBh (1985), and Britain's Axiom Electronics Ltd. (1986). Automated distribution began in 1987, and the company-- now 2nd largest electronics distributor in the United States-- bought the 4th largest, Ducommun Inc.. Arrow began a joint venture with Japan's Teksel Company, creating the Arrow/Tek division, while divesting Schuylkill.

The company continued to grow, picking up Capstone Electronics, Connector Assembly Supercenter, RR Electronics Ltd. and Retron Group (1989), and the distribution centers for Schweber and Almac Electronics, a 50% interest in Italy's SilverStar Ltd. and the Netherlands' Diode Electronice (1990). More acquisitions followed: European Lex Service PLC (1992), Zeus Components, Microprocessor and Memory Distribution), Amitron S.A., ATD Group (Spain), CCI Electronique (France) and CAL Group (Hong Kong) (1993); Gates/FA Distributing, Anthem Electronics, TH Electronik AB (Sweden), Exatec A/S (Denmark), Megachip Group, and Field Oy, Texney Glorytact, Veltek Australia Pty Ltd., and Zatek Australia Pty Ltd. (1994); Ally Inc. and Lite-On Group (both of Taiwan), Components Plus Instrumentation Ltd. (New Zealand) (1995); Eurelettronica S.p.A. (1996) ; FES Group (part of Premier Farnell) (1997); Consan Inc., SupportNet, Inc., and Scientific and Business Minicomputers Inc. (1997); Richey Electronics, Bell Industries, Unitronics Componentes, S.A., Industrade AG (Switzerland) (1998); majority interest in Panamericana Commercial Importadora S.A. (Brazil) and in the Elko Group (Argentina) (1999); Jakob Hatteland Electronics (Norway) and Tekelec, and majority interest in Dicopel S.A. (Mexico), in Israel's Rapac Electronics (2000).Pioneer-Standard's Industrial Electronics Division (IED) in 2002; Disway AG (2004); DNS.int AG and 70% interest in Taiwan's Ultra Source Technology Corp. (2005), and SKYDATA Corporation, Alternative Technology, Inc., and InTechnology plc's storage and security distribution business (2006).

In 2007, Arrow completed its acquisition of Agilysys KeyLink Systems Group.

External links

* [http://www.arrow.com/ Company website]