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History | Plumbers Supply Co

History


Plumbers Supply Co. was established as a wholesale distributor business in 1921 by its founding father, John J. Werst, Sr., and six other partners.

The first location was opened at 610 E 3rd St in Lexington, KY with Charlie Werst serving as manager. The second location opened the following year in Evansville, IN at the corner of 7th St and Pennsylvania Ave (now Division St).

In 1930, the Louisville location opened in its present 1000 E Main Street location. One of the founding partners, Robert George, opened the Indianapolis store at 2015 Martindale Ave on the North Side. Indianapolis moved into a larger building at 11th and Cornell in 1940, remaining there until construction of I-65 in 1967. A new Indianapolis warehouse was then built at E Raymond St., which remains in operation today as our Indianapolis hub.

Our Evansville, IN warehouse closed in 1972, then reopened in 1983 at its current location on W. Michigan Street.

Continued expansion into south central Kentucky occurred when we opened a facility in Bowling Green, KY in 1987. Plumbers Supply returned to Lexington, KY in 1990 at our present location on the corner of Industry Rd and Eastland Dr.

Additional branches have been added in strategic Indianapolis and Louisville suburbs including Fishers, IN, Franklin, IN, Ft Wayne, IN, East End of Louisville, KY, Elizabethtown, KY and Clarksville, IN.

Today the Louisville 1000 E Main St location remains as the only location in continuous use, strategically located at the intersection of the Butchertown, Phoenix Hill and NULU neighborhoods near the East End of Main Street.

The company is now under third and fourth generation management with John J. (Jay) Werst III serving as Chairman, and Jay Johnson as President and COO.