Nor-Cal Supply Company was founded in 1950 by Sam Johnstone, a former Captain in the U.S. Army Air Corps.
The company started as a war assets distributor for the War Assets Administration of the federal government and
specialized in airplane parts, equipment and hardware. By the late 1950's, Nor-Cal Supply narrowed its line of
distribution to fasteners and related hardware, ended its partnership with the federal government and became a
California Corporation. The company was first located at several Quonset huts on the north field of Oakland
International Airport and moved to its present location, a 20,000 s.f. office and warehouse facility in San Leandro,
in 1960.

Sam Johnstone continued to lead the company and served as President for the next four decades. In 1999,
Sam Anderson, Sam Johnstone's grandson, joined Nor-Cal Supply full-time. Although Sam Anderson had worked at
the company off and on since he was 10 years old (in the warehouse, pulling stock, sweeping the floors, etc.), it wasn't
until he graduated from college that he was brought on full-time. Today, Nor-Cal Supply Company is in its third
generation of family ownership being lead by Sam Anderson.