Arrow Electronics history

The business was incorporated as Arrow Electronics, Inc. in 1946.

In 1968, Glenn, Green & Waddell, a partnership formed by three recent graduates of the Harvard Business School, B. Duke Glenn, Jr., Roger E. Green, and John C. Waddell, led a private investor group that acquired the controlling interest in Arrow.

1971: Arrow becomes the tenth largest electronic parts distributor in the United States.

In 1974, Arrow also became the first distributor of electronic parts to introduce an online computerized inventory system to speed up delivery.

Arrow was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1979.

In 1982, sales held steady at about $550 million and Arrow lost $1.19 a share.

But in 1983, with the recession in the electronics industry over, sales reached $1.4 billion and Arrow earned 85 cents per share.

1985: Arrow buys 40 percent of Spoerle Electronic, Germany's largest electronic parts distributor.

Arrow resumed its growth strategy in 1988 by acquiring Kierulff Electronics, then the fourth largest electronics distributor in the United States, for $125 million.

In 1993, Arrow became the first electronics distributor to claim a global reach when it acquired Components Agents Ltd., the largest multinational Pacific Rim distributor with operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China, and South Korea.

By 1996, Arrow was the world's largest distributor measured by sales.

In 1997, Arrow bought the electronic components distribution business of U.K.-based Premier Farnell PLC. It also purchased Conson, Inc., a distributor of mass storage products, and 51 percent of Support Net, Inc., one of IBM's largest distributors of midrange servers and networking products.

1998: Arrow buys United States distributor Scientific and Business Minicomputers and Unitronics Componentes, a distributor in Spain and Portugal.

In 1999, Arrow bought Richey Electronics, Inc. and the electronics distribution group of Bell Industries, Inc.

By 2001, the company faced significant declines in its revenues and profits.

Sales continued their decline during 2002's first half.

The company relocated its headquarters office to Centennial, Colorado in 2011.