Products
- Gear Reducers & Gearmotors
- Bearings
- Belt, Sheaves & Pulleys
- Pipe, Tube & Hose Fittings
- Chains & Sprockets
- Couplings
- Industrial Control
- Pipe, Tubing & Hoses
- Electric Motors
- Pneumatics
- Hydraulics
- Capacitors, Resistors & Diodes
- Wiring Devices
- Clutches & Brakes
- Gears
- Distribution Equipment & Accessories
- Linear Motion
- Paints, Equipment & Supplies
- Fasteners
- Enclosures, Cabinets & Racks
- Chemicals
- Fuses, Blocks & Holders
- Tensioners & Idlers
- Tools
- Gaskets & Packing
- Hardware
- Hand Tools
- Hangers, Struts & Fasteners
- Bushings
- Conveyors & Conveyor Parts
- Safety & Security
- Fleet & Vehicle Maintenance
- Janitorial & Facility Maintenance
- Indoor Air Quality
- Material Handling, Storage & Rigging
- Tapes
- Testing & Measuring
- Batteries & Accessories
- Abrasives
- Portable Lighting & Flashlights
- Clamping, Workholding & Positioning
- Lawn, Garden & Outdoor Equipment
- Lubricants & Coolants
- Adhesives & Sealants
- Purvis Industries Specialty Products
- Cutting Tools & Metalworking
- Power Generation & Transmission
- Power Tools
- Machinery
- Alarms, Security & Signaling
- Automation Products
- Labels, Signs & Printers
- Transformers
- Valves & Actuators
- Welding & Soldering
Contact
Locations
Services
Purvis Industries
Locations
OUR HISTORY
For nearly 75 years, since 1945, Purvis Industries is proud to be a family-owned and operated industrial distributor that does business the old-fashioned way: sell quality top-tier manufacturers, know their products and the application challenges that they solve, and have the product available on the local branch's shelf.
Purvis Industries got its start in Waco, Texas in 1945. Brothers George and Cecil Purvis opened an auto parts and tractor supply store on Washington Avenue in Waco called Purvis Bros. By 1948, the brothers changed the name of the company to Purvis Automotive Supply. George was a tinkerer and inventor, and he loved to experiment with plastics. When he was looking for parts to build his machines, he realized that Waco needed a dedicated bearing and power transmission supply store. So, in 1950 Purvis Bearing Service was born.
In 1954, George founded Plastic Domino Manufacturing Company to sell domino sets he produced in the back of the Purvis Bearing Service store. By 1956, the bearing and domino businesses were doing so well that the brothers closed the automotive supply company to focus on the two booming businesses. As the business continued to grow, they moved to larger space on Franklin Avenue in 1960.
From its founding, Purvis Bearing Service was founded on service . George Purvis always said that service was so important that it should be in our name! As the reputation of the company spread, so did the demand for the kind of customer service, product knowledge, and local inventory that Purvis Bearing Service provided. In 1974, the company opened its second location in Temple, Texas, expanding the footprint of Purvis Bearing Service for the first time. This additional location, located 30 miles south of Waco, provided more opportunities to serve the central Texas market with quality bearings and power transmission components.
By 1978, Cecil Purvis had retired, and George’s son Bob had joined the business. The business continued to flourish, and a steady stream of expansion began with branches in Corsicana and San Antonio. In 1984, the company made its first acquisition, purchasing Granbury Bearings in Dallas. Over the next 15 years, the company continued to expand both its footprint and its capabilities, including moving the corporate headquarters to Dallas in 1995 and acquiring Amerimex in Bryan, Texas, which was renamed to Conveyor Aggregate Products Corporation…and today we know it as CAPCORP.
At the turn of the century, the company had 24 locations (22 Purvis Bearing Service, 2 CAPCORP) and stretched from the Red River to the Gulf and Rio Grande, with stores in Texarkana, Houston, Pharr, and Corpus Christi and all points in between. Growth continued through aggressive expansion and acquisition, always staying true to the core beliefs that first made George and Cecil Purvis successful: know your industry and products, serve your customer, sell the top-tier manufacturers, and have it on the shelf locally.
As the company grew, additional products besides bearings, power transmission, and conveyor belting and services were added: electrical components such as variable frequency drives and controls, fluid power products (hydraulic & pneumatic). In January of 2007, to better define the complete range of products the company offered, the business was rebranded as Purvis Industries, which featured 5 business units to support all facets of their customers’ needs. The business units were Purvis Bearing Service, CAPCORP, US Conveying Systems & Equipment, Triad Industrial Automation, and HydraAir Fluid Power Products. These business units all embraced the core beliefs of the company but offered their customers so much more breath and depth of product, knowledge, and experience.
In 2011, Purvis Industries acquired Bearing Solutions in Houston and Odessa, Texas and changed their name to National Petroleum Oilfield Products (NPOP). This brought oilfield expertise and a range of new products and applications to offer to our customers. Geographic expansion also continued, with store openings as far north as Billings, Montana, and the company’s largest acquisition, Bates Supply in St. Louis, Missouri and The Mine Supply Company in Illinois, Missouri, and New Mexico. The Mine Supply Company brought another new industry expertise to Purvis Industries – that of hard rock underground mining. The acquisition of IMS in Pheonix and Elko, Nevada cemented Purvis’ expansion into mining.
Today, the company has 92 locations in 15 states and is one of the largest independent bearing and power transmission distributors in the country. As we grow and continue to expand, our customers find that we stay true to what George believed nearly 75 years ago: if you know your products and how to apply them, you sell the best products, and you have it on your shelf to take care of your customer, you will be successful. Let Purvis Industries show you how we put these principles into practice every day for you!
