As the stapling and nailing industry grew and matured throughout the 1960's and 1970's, it moved from a niche product line to a mainstream product. With this growth, the market became crowded with various types of stapling and nailing guns from many different manufacturers, especially for on-site construction.
By the early 1980's, a growing number of dealers were having difficulty with customers who had purchased nailers and staplers from various sources and were looking for fasteners. In most cases, the dealers weren't sure where to get staples or nails for these various guns, but even when they could find the fasteners, the dealer didn't want to stock multiple lines if they could avoid doing so. These dealers preferred one source for all their fasteners, but such a source did not exist.
Interchange Brands was founded in 1982 with the idea of selling generic nails and staples, and rapidly became the largest suppler of interchangeable fasteners in the country. At the time of its inception, generic sources were very fragmented, and to a great extent, involved importing the fasteners from France, Germany and other European countries. Hence, very few fasteners were available generically. Additionally, some nails were covered by patents and others were protected because of the uniqueness of their collation.
Essentially, Interchange Brands set out to bring order out of chaos. Supplying dealers with staples from a number of different suppliers was the first goal of the company, but soon they branched out. Hitachi had entered the nail and staple gun market with excellent tools, but did not have a fastener program, so Interchange Brands set out to rectify that.
The company's founders recognized the need for a merchandising program and uniform packaging to clearly and consistently identify the fasteners. The name "Interchange" was chosen for obvious reasons: the fasteners were interchangeable to fit with dozens of tools.
The Interchange Brands Nail and Staple Catalog was developed soon thereafter, and is considered the "bible" of the industry and continues to be the most comprehensive listing of pneumatic tools and the fasteners they use.
Today, the product line has expanded from its basic collated nail and staple line to include pneumatic tools, parts kits, air compressors, air accessories, hose, lubricants and other products..
Interchange Brands is committed to providing our customers the highest quality products in a cost effective and timely manner. We will accomplish this by constantly measuring our quality, understanding our customers needs,
offering higher margin customized packaging
and delivering on our commitments.
No excuses!