Cub matures into powerhouse
Grizzly Industrial grows in stature and popularity
by Matt Bucher

More than 22 years ago Shiraz Balolia, president of Grizzly Industrial of Bellingham – fourth on Northwest Business Monthly’s Top Private 100 list with more than $100 million in estimated sales – nurtured his Grizzly cub into one of the largest tool and machinery companies in the nation.
Progress has been ongoing at Grizzly Industrial and, despite an economic downturn that crippled many major players in the woodworking industry, Grizzly has continued to achieve double-digit growth year after year.
“Our business model has been to buy in large quantities and sell directly to the end user, bypassing the dealership network and passing the savings to our customers,” Balolia said.
Frustrated by the high cost of stationary woodworking and metalworking machinery, Balolia started Grizzly Industrial, Inc. as an alternative for anyone, like himself, looking for quality, heavy-duty equipment at an affordable price.
“This whole thing started off as a hobby,” Balolia said. “Every time I went shopping for machinery, I was appalled at the high prices. I started off by buying used machines, rebuilding them and reselling them. Soon after I migrated into importing new machines and selling to customers like myself who were on a limited budget.
“Grizzly has now grown into a hobby of mammoth proportions because I still remain a devoted user of tools and machinery.”
Today, Grizzly Industrial has grown into a very successful mail order and Internet-based company providing woodworking and metalworking machinery to a broad customer base across the nation ranging from home hobby users to large industrial users like Gibson Guitar and Boeing. Despite Grizzly’s phenomenal growth, the company has never lost sight of the basics that have made Grizzly successful over the years.
“The company has laid a foundation by emphasizing strong quality control and after-sale service to give customers a trouble-free experience when shopping with us,” Vice President Don Osterloh said. “We have offices in Taiwan and China staffed with over a dozen quality-control engineers. Coupled with our aggressive marketing, strict quality control requirements and a penchant for listening to our customers, our sales have continued to grow steadily.”
While Grizzly is primarily an import-based business, they have demonstrated a commitment in their support of the U.S. workforce. Grizzly employs nearly 350 people nationwide, with more than 100 located at the corporate headquarters in Bellingham, which is sprawled over a 10-acre campus, just southwest of Woburn and Iowa streets, and includes an impressive showroom.
Grizzly welcomes over half a million visitors into its showrooms and warehouse facilities, strategically located in three locations across the country. The company currently occupies nearly a million square feet in Missouri, Washington, and Pennsylvania and owns 80 acres of land.
“Many of our customers want to touch and feel the equipment before making a major purchase,” Balolia said. “While Bellingham is the smallest of the three showrooms, we have created destination points and it is very common to see vehicles from several states in our parking lots. Our Missouri and Pennsylvania showrooms are very large and feature wood galleries, lounges, cafeterias and demonstration areas.”
Balolia has had the foresight to purchase additional land to accommodate future expansion as well. Cranes and bulldozers have become a background scene that employees at all three locations have become accustomed to. Recently, its Bellingham location finished one of two expansions with an additional 40,000 square foot warehouse and an eye catching glass sky bridge that spans from the warehouse to the next building housing the corporate offices. Another 70,000 square foot building will soon break ground on Kentucky Street in Bellingham to be used for additional warehouse space.
“Plans are on the drawing board for expanding the showroom space in Missouri by 20,000 square feet, plus an additional 200,000 square feet of warehouse building within eighteen months,” Balolia said. “We always use local architects and contractors for our projects. Over the years, we have developed excellent working relationships with them.”
The economic clout of Grizzly Industrial and its positive impact on the Northwest is significant. Grizzly processes more than three thousand packages a day, many of which ship from the Bellingham facility, making them one of the largest users of shipping services in the region. When Grizzly prints more than one million copies of its main catalog each year they require about 54 railroad cars of American-made paper. The catalogs are printed for 2 weeks straight, 24 hours a day, which supports an army of good paying jobs.
Balolia is proud of his employees, particularly the many who started with Grizzly at an entry-level position and wage package and, because of Grizzly’s policy to provide opportunity from within, have advanced to a wage that allows them to support their family and purchase homes.
“I love Bellingham, with its excellent living conditions and the outdoors,” Balolia said. “I also have always enjoyed the small-town nature of our city and it is always wonderful to see young couples prosper in this area with opportunities that always follow companies that grow.”
Of the companies more than $100 million in estimated sales, most is generated from Grizzly’s annual catalog. This catalog is an impressive publication that showcases more than 12,000 machines, tools and accessories and reaches the hands of more than a million tool enthusiasts nationwide. The catalog grew from just over 40 pages in 1983 to 564 pages today.
Grizzly Industrial has earned favorable standing as an industry leader because of its rapid order fulfillment, quality equipment, competitive pricing and after-the-sale service.
“From our new 150 seat call center in Pennsylvania, state of the art bar code scanners, efficient warehousing and a dedicated group of employees, we are able to ship over 98 percent of all orders received the same day,” Balolia said. “We keep a large inventory on hand at all three locations to enable our warehouse managers to meet their goals for on-time deliveries.”
Like many companies, Grizzly has been challenged with managing their rapid growth. Balolia and his high caliber management team anticipate the needs of the company years in advance and act to eliminate the challenges before they take shape. During the early stages of development of his company Balolia decided he would purchase land outright and build his warehouses instead of leasing them. After this was successful, he was inspired to purchase surplus land to accommodate future expansion.
In 2005, Grizzly rolled out more than 500 innovative new machines and accessories. As orders steadily increase, Balolia and his staff consistently improve and update products and procedures to maximize efficiency and customer satisfaction. With the growth they are achieving annually, Grizzly Industrial now boasts of being the second largest woodworking and tool company in the U.S. Balolia expects the growth of Grizzly Industrial and its affiliate companies to continue well into the future.

Editor’s note:
Grizzly Industrial did not release sales figures except to say they exceed nine figures or $100 million.