this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . september 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message reliance steel & aluminum co. type public traded as nyse rs industry metals founded 1939 founder thomas j. neilan headquarters two california plaza los angeles california u.s. key people david hannah chairman gregg j. mollins ceo products metal products revenue us 10.45 billion fy 2014 1 operating income us 0.617 billion fy 2014 1 net income us 0.376 billion fy 2014 1 number of employees 14 900 march 2015 https www.google.com finance cid 657257 website rsac.com reliance steel and aluminum co. rsac nyse rs is a fortune 500 company and the largest metals service center msc corporation in north america . 2 headquartered in los angeles california reliance operates hundreds of metals service centers globally . it provides metals processing services and distributes a line of approximately 50 000 metal products including aluminum brass alloy copper carbon steel stainless steel titanium and specialty metalproducts to fabricators manufacturers and other end users . in an industry dominated by small family owned businesses reliance grew from a single metals processing center in los angeles into a major corporation by acquiring dozens of competitors . in an interview with an industry publication in 1992 joe d. crider then president and chief operating officer explained you can pay the bill for higher market share through price cutting or through paying goodwill to buy a competitor . in cutting prices you often trash the marketplace . so over time the latter route is usually the less expensive as long as you buy at a reasonable price . contents 1 history 1.1 key dates 1.2 growth through acquisition 1939 87 1.3 specialty metals since the late 1970s 1.4 going public in 1994 1.5 soaring in the late 1990s 1.6 still consolidating after 2000 2 principal brand names 2.1 principal competitors 3 current leadership 4 select products 5 acquisitions 6 divisions 12 7 subsidiaries 13 8 references history edit key dates edit 1939 reliance steel products company is formed in los angeles california to produce steel reinforcing bars rebar . 1948 reliance begins manufacturing aluminum and magnesium products . 1957 william t. gimbel succeeds company founder thomas j. neilan as president . 1960 phoenix competitor effron steel is acquired . 1961 norther california s westates steel is acquired . 1963 drake steel supply of fresno and san diego are acquired . 1966 texas metals service centers are bought from delta metals inc. 1968 rival catalina steel is acquired . 1972 san diego s southern equipment & supply metals service center is acquired and expanded . 1975 a new metals service center is opened in houston . 1976 the company s first specialty store is set up in santa fe springs california through its tube service company subsidiary . 1977 california s bralco metals is acquired . 1980 supracote coil coating subsidiary is sold to management ; tube distributor foucar ray & simon is acquired . 1984 the company s houston service center is closed . 1988 sales exceed 350 million . 1994 initial public offering is made . 1995 a half interest in american steel is bought for 19 million . 1996 reliance enters the southeast with the purchase of tennessee based siskin steel & supply company for 71 million . 2001 pitt des moines pdm is acquired for 97.5 million . 2006 earle m. jorgensen co. emj is acquired for 984 million 3 2013 metals usa is acquired for 772 million 2016 best manufacturing inc. is acquired the company expands it s manufacturing capabilities 4 growth through acquisition 1939 87 edit reliance steel & aluminum company was founded in los angeles on february 3 1939 by thomas j. neilan . originally named reliance steel products company the business made and sold steel reinforcing bars rebar for the construction industry . in 1944 the name was shortened to reliance steel company . in 1948 reliance steel also began manufacturing products of aluminum and magnesium . as william t. gimbel neilan s nephew who joined the company as a trainee in 1947 later told metal service news we started out in 1939 with the dirty old down in the gutter carbon steel but that became a world commodity . so we decided that we wanted to upgrade into something that had a little bit more pizzazz and we picked aluminum and magnesium . gimbel who started as a warehouse man succeeded neilan in 1957 as president of the company a year after its name was changed to reliance steel & aluminum company . under gimbel reliance began its long running territorial expansion naming a resident sales agent in phoenix in 1958 . two years later reliance acquired a small phoenix based competitor the effron steel company . with the purchase of another competitor the westates steel company in santa clara reliance steel expanded into northern california in 1961 . in 1963 reliance continued its growth through acquisition by purchasing the drake steel supply company which operated metals service centers in fresno and san diego california . with the purchase reliance also acquired the services of joe d. crider who had joined drake in 1949 as a billing clerk and worked his way up to fresno sales manager . after several years as manager of reliance steel s los angeles division crider was named executive vice president in 1975 teaming up with gimbel to form what metal service news would later call perhaps the best known management team in the service center industry . in 1966 reliance extended its reach into texas by acquiring metals service centers in dallas and san antonio from delta metals inc. two years later the company bought out another los angeles competitor the catalina steel company its fifth acquisition in ten years . by then reliance steel had also established supracote a coil coating division in cucamonga california . it became a separate subsidiary in 1973 and was sold to a management group in 1980 . reliance steel acquired southern equipment & supply company san diego s oldest metals service center in 1972 and immediately launched a 1.8 million project to double the size of the san diego facility . two years later the rapidly growing company announced a 4 million expansion in los angeles . reliance steel also wanted to strengthen its position in texas and after attempting to acquire a houston business temporarily abandoned its acquisition philosophy and opened a new metals service center in the port city in 1975 . gimbel told metal service news we had spent probably two years trying to buy out somebody but at the time there was a big boom there and everyone felt the streets of houston were paved with gold . we just could never make a deal to buy someone . so we started our own company . reliance closed the houston center in 1984 due to a slump in the oil industry . reliance ventured into the eastern part of the united states for the first time in 1975 when it acquired the purchased steel products company in atlanta . the move never panned out however and reliance sold the center in 1987 . gimbel told metal center news we learned a lesson in atlanta . if we re going to go further east that probably means the chicago area . and you don t move into chicago on a shoestring . specialty metals since the late 1970s edit after more than three decades of operating full service metals service centers reliance opened its first specialty store in 1976 forming the tube service company in santa fe springs california . the subsidiary specialized in tubular products . a second tube service opened three years later in milpitas california . in 1977 reliance also acquired bralco metals in pico rivera california which specialized in brass aluminum and copper . to manage its aluminum magnesium and stainless steel products reliance created a nonferrous metals division reliance metalcenter in 1980 . also in 1980 reliance also acquired foucar ray & simon a specialty tube distributor in hayward california with a branch in portland oregon . the hayward center was eventually merged into the reliance center in santa clara . the portland operation foundered and then closed in 1984 . gimbel told metal service news the acquisition had been a mistake . foucar was probably the second oldest service center in california with a good reputation . they d done well over the years but i guess they d gotten rigor mortis . we thought that we could change all that . we tried and tried to change it and it didn t work . so we had to admit defeat and close up the place . the setback however did not slow the company s aggressive growth . in 1981 reliance purchased the cd a service center in salt lake city utah from spokane based cd a steel service center . the company then acquired circle metals in carson california in 1983 and tricon steel & aluminum in fremont california and arnold engineering in fullerton california in 1984 . arnold engineering was renamed arnold technologies inc. and relocated to anaheim . in the mid 1980s reliance gobbled up assets of the ducommum metals in phoenix and los angeles the lafayette metal service corp. in long beach california and the assets of the livermore california metals service center from capitol metals company . the company also acquired the valex corporation in ventura california which made stainless steel components for electronic and pharmaceutical applications the dallas fort worth russell steel division of the van pelt corp. and the morris steel & aluminum company in albuquerque new mexico . in 1988 reliance also acquired the los angeles sheet & steel division from earle m. jorgensen company . the acquisitions certainly fueled growth . by 1988 the company s 50th year sales topped 350 million . nevertheless reliance continued to expand . over the next two years it acquired the assets of albuquerque new mexico based smith pipe & steel and the los angeles and phoenix operations of lusk metals . other acquisitions in the 1990s included affiliated metals an aluminum and stainless steel specialty center in salt lake city utah and the wichita kansas operations of national steel service center inc. which stocked aluminum plate sheet and coil for the aerospace industry . the national steel acquisition marked reliance steel s first foray into the midwest . going public in 1994 edit in 1994 after 55 years as a closely held operation reliance issued its first public stock . at the time the company had about 180 stockholders most of them employees or relatives of founder thomas j. neilan . reliance had previously considered and rejected going public several times . in 1984 gimbel told metal service news we d go and talk to the brokers but unfortunately anything with the name steel in it didn t get them very excited . in its prospectus reliance also signaled its intention to continue growth through acquisitions stating traditionally metals service centers have been small family owned businesses that lack the diversity of experience and successful operating techniques of reliance and thus have and may in the future become candidates for acquisition or consolidation . a year after the initial public offering reliance acquired a 50 percent interest in american steel l.l.c. for 19 million . this shareholding was raised to 50.5 percent in may 2002 . that was followed in 1996 with the acquisition of vmi corporation an 11 year old nonferrous metals service center in albuquerque new mexico and ccc steel inc. which operated carbon steel service centers in los angeles and salt lake city . reliance also announced the acquisition of the siskin steel & supply company inc. with metals