Lots of interesting nuggets in the Fastenal’s 3Q 2012 press release. In addition to growing sales at a double-digit rate for the quarter, the company continued on its remarkable trajectory of branch openings and the installation of company-branded vending machines for MRO supplies within customer facilities. Sales for the Winona, Minn.-based MRO specialist sales increased 10.4% during its most recent quarter and 14.9% YTY.

But what really blows my mind is that Fastenal, has so far this year opened up 73 stores – giving it a total of 2,650 branches – and installing 9,560 new industrial vending machines during the first nine months of 2012. As a point of comparison, the five largest full-line electrical distributors – Sonepar, WESCO, Rexel, Graybar and CED – has a combined total of “only” 2,322 branches, according to Electrical Wholesaling estimates. In addition to its2012 branch openings, Fastenal opened up 94 branches during the first nine months of2011, giving it a running total of 167 new branches in the past two years. Details