American Refrigeration Supplies, Inc.

American Refrigeration Supplies, Inc., (ARS) is a wholesale distributor of refrigeration, air conditioning and heating parts, supplies and equipment. We sell primarily to licensed contractors for the repair and replacement market. Today we stock approximately 17,000 items from approximately 300 different vendors and have a company inventory of approximately $25,000,000.

The Early Years

ARS began in 1940 as several partners bought the company located at 231 S. Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona and formed J. Carl White Refrigeration Supplies Distributor Company with $5,000 worth of inventory. In 1945, Bill Miessemer bought out the other four partners and changed the name of the company to Arizona Refrigeration Supplies. The Tucson, Arizona store was opened through an acquisition in 1948. A few years later, the Yuma, Arizona store was opened at 1480 Second Avenue. This branch is still open in its original location. Two years later in 1958, ARS moved its main store and Corporate Headquarters to a new 6,000 square foot building located at 20 South 17th Street in Phoenix, Arizona.

Growth

In 1970, Bill Miessemer passed away. He left the company in trust with the First National Bank of Arizona. Kitchell Corporation and Al Owens formed a holding company to purchase all of the outstanding stock of ARS in March of 1970. Mr. Owens became the President and General Manager of ARS. Kitchell Corporation has been the majority owner of ARS since that time. Later that year, rapid growth spurred the design and building of a new facility at 2326 East Magnolia. The new 16,000 square foot building became the Corporate Headquarters and main store in December 1971. A new Mesa, Arizona store was opened in 1972. A North Phoenix store opened in 1973 as the fifth ARS location. In 1975, the Mesa, Arizona store moved into a new building located at 1112 S. Sirrine. Inventory hit the million dollar mark that same year.

1976, brought the formation of Virginia Refrigeration Supplies, Inc. in Norfolk, Virginia as an ARS subsidiary. A new store was opened at 3002 W. Weldon Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona in September of 1977. ARS bought Refrigeration Suppliers, Inc. (RSI) with stores in El Paso, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico in October of 1979. ARS stores were then located in four states.

In January of 1980, a new Scottsdale, Arizona store was opened. Later that year the Corporate Headquarters and Central Warehouse were moved to a new 45,000 square foot location. The eleventh ARS store was opened in Tempe, Arizona in April of 1982. A second Tucson store was opened in June of 1982. In May of 1983, the first California store was opened in Santa Fe Springs doing business under the name California Refrigeration Supplies, Inc. (CRS).

In 1984, ARS grew from 13 to 24 stores in a 45 day period through a five store acquisition in West Texas, a two store acquisition in Phoenix, Arizona and the opening of four new stores in Tucson, Arizona, El Paso, Texas, Glendale, California, and Newport News, Virginia. The following year, ARS sold the five stores in West Texas.

A store in Anaheim, California was acquired in 1990. In 1992, Al Owens, sold his ownership in ARS to Kitchell and Stephen Martin was named President of ARS. In 1996, the Corporate Headquarters and Central Warehouse were moved to our current location at 2632 E. Chambers Street in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1998, ARS acquired Hinshaw Supply Company with five locations in Northern California. M & M Refrigeration Supply in Las Vegas, Nevada was purchased in April of 1999 and the new 10,000 square foot Chandler, Arizona store was opened.

Six Companies Become One

The company name was changed to American Refrigeration Supplies, Inc. in 2000. Prior to the name change, ARS was operating under six different names. All locations with the exception of the Virginia stores changed their name. This left two companies, American Refrigeration Supplies, Inc. and its subsidiary, Virginia Refrigeration Supplies, Inc.

In July of 2002, the two Mesa stores combined and moved into a new 15,000 square foot location located at 554 W. Iron Avenue in Mesa, Arizona. The four VRS locations changed their name to ARS in September of 2002. This provided name recognition on a nationwide level.

ARS Continues To GrowIn October of 2002, the twelfth California location was opened in Santa Rosa, California. In March of 2003, a warehouse addition opened in Tucson, Arizona, allowing expanded stocking levels.  

In May of 2004, our Peoria, Arizona location moved to a new location at 12040 N. 91st Avenue, just two blocks north of the old location with a much larger showroom and warehouse. The growth continued with the addition of two new stores in the month of June 2004. A store was added in Las Cruces, New Mexico with the purchase of Pro Source Supply, Inc. and later in June, a new store opened in Reno, Nevada.

In February of 2005, the Phoenix, Arizona Weldon store moved to 3024 W. Weldon Ave., just a few doors down from the old location, but more than double the size of the old store. In June, ARS added a new location in South San Francisco, CA. 

ARS has grown from one store to 31 locations. We are pleased to have been serving our customers since 1940 and pride ourselves in providing quality products and service to our customers.