Company History

Alabama Machinery and Supply was established April 1, 1902. Brothers Arthur and William K. Pelzer foresaw the need for a supplier to the state’s growing number of industrial, lumber, and mechanized farming concerns. By 1906 the company had outgrown its original space and purchased two adjacent buildings on Coosa Street, a location which is today listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1922, Alabama Machinery acquired the G.W. Barnett Hardware Company and began distributing hardware to dealers across Alabama. In 1926, the company opened the Daylight Machine Shop and Bama Foundry on North Court Street. The machine shop was so named because of its innovative steel construction with extensive use of glass windows, providing much improved interior lighting over brick constructed buildings. These two new operations supplied parts and did repair work for the local mills. As Alabama became an important lumber-producing state, the company decided to manufacture its own sawmills. The popular Bama Saw Mill was the first in the South to have its carriages and mandrels equipped with roller bearings.

Alabama Machinery was purchased by F.G. “Micky” Reinehr in 1966. In response to the area’s building boom, he discontinued the company’s wholesale hardware line and opened, instead, building products and construction supply divisions to serve home builders and heavy contractors. In 1974, he established a wholesale metal-working cutting tool specialty division, Cobal-Tru, which marketed drill bits, taps, endmills, holesaws, and threading dies nationwide.

Today, the company is operated by C.M. “Mike” Reinehr. After earning a B.S. in mathematics from the Georgia Institute of Technology and an MBA in finance from Georgia State University, Mike returned to the family business and learned the ropes under his father’s direction.

In 1995, after 93 years, Alabama Machinery moved from its original location into newer, more modern facilities on Bibb Street. The move was clearly necessary to prepare the company for doing business in the twenty-first century.

Alabama Machinery is known and appreciated for its willingness to listen to customer needs, find the supplies they want, and make them available quickly. “Our only true business is customer service,” says Mike. “We are here solely to serve Alabama’s construction and industrial businesses.”

But perhaps the company’s strongest sales tool is its dedicated staff, made up of expert individuals. “We have always been a very people-oriented company,” says Mike. “We value our employees as individuals, and we try to make this a satisfying place to work.” That philosophy has paid major dividends in the form of employee longevity and expertise—two major reasons customers keep coming back.

323 Bibb Street
Montgomery, AL 36104
(334) 269-4351 • (800) 392-5815
sales@ams-co.com

Open Monday-Friday, 6:30am–4:00 p.m.

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