Moving Metal

Durham, North Carolina. By 1997, Chatham was reporting revenues of $166 million based on sales of carbon and stain- less steel products and had built up a strong and distinctive corporate culture. “My father and his two brothers instilled positive values of working hard and being charitable,” said Chatham’s Vice President at the time, Sheldon Tenenbaum. “One of the most important things is that we were fortunate to have the people working for us that we did. We had very little turnover.” Not surprisingly, when Chatham went up for sale there were a number of interested buyers. Chatham management did not know Reliance in advance but appreciated what they learned. Reliance closed the acquisition deal on July 1, 1998. “We sold to the right people,” said Sheldon Tenenbaum. This was confirmed in subsequent years as Reliance kept the family management and corporate culture in place even while sharing its metals service center expertise. “Chatham has become more profitable since Reliance bought us,” noted Sheldon Tenenbaum. “Better practices, shared experiences, learning from others.” Sheldon’s cousin Arnold Tenenbaum put it more simply: “They know when and how to be helpful, andwhen to leave us on our own.” For its part, Reliance gained not only a valuable subsidiary, but also important new talent in the form of third-generation family members. After the acquisition, Sheldon Tenenbaum joined Reliance as Director of Supplier Relations, eventually moving up to became Senior Vice President, Supplier Development in 2009. Reliance expanded its presence in Northern Califor- nia by acquiring Lusk Metals in September 1998. Founded in 1960 in Hayward, California, Lusk specialized in precision cut aluminum plate and aluminum sheet and extrusions. The acquisition was particularly gratifying for Gregg Mollins since

said Almond, “they could help us realize what we really were.” The Phoenix acquisition more than lived up to its potential, growing from five to thirteen locations and pushing process- ing out to its various locations, boosting revenues more than 400 percent over the next fifteen years. Reliance itself continued to grow and expand, particu- larly in the Southeast, through additional acquisitions in the second half of 1998. Chatham Steel Corporation, based in Savannah, Georgia, was founded in 1915 by Polish immigrant Samuel Tenenbaum, who started the company as a scrap iron and metal business only three years after his arrival in the United States. In the 1930s, Samuel’s three sons diversified into plumbing and industrial supply and in the late 1940s, the company went into the steel warehousing business. In the next few decades the third generation of the family took over the leadership of the company and expanded into Columbia, South Carolina; Orlando, Florida; Birmingham, Alabama; and

Bar angle at Chatham Steel, the eighty-three-year-old company purchased by Reliance in 1998.

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