Fidelitone opened for business in 1929 as a manufacturer and distributor of phonograph needles for record players and jukeboxes. When our founder, Arthur Olsen, saw that the industry needed a longer-lasting needle that provided better sound, Fidelitone developed the Diamond Stylus — now a featured collectors' item on eBay. The new needle was manufactured in Fidelitone's plants in the United States and Scotland — and distributed around the world.

Vinyl records gave way to audiotape in the 1970s. Always entrepreneurial, Fidelitone turned its decades of experience into a new business - parts distribution. The company became the exclusive private-brand parts distributor for the largest provider of product repair services in the country, concentrating primarily on electronics. As product repair services expanded, so did Fidelitone. We added additional product lines - and soon became a leader in the repair parts distribution industry.

In addition to expanding our product lines beyond electronic parts in the 1980s, we pioneered the individual drop ship program. Fidelitone Logistics was the first distribution company to bypass one or more mid-points and ship directly to the end user — to a customer's home, a service center, a retail store or a manufacturing plant. Our innovation improved customer satisfaction and is now the industry standard.

1990s: Fidelitone Logistics' expansion
Fidelitone Logistics diversified in the 1990s. In 1991, to ensure adequate capacity, we built a new facility in Wauconda, Illinois. We expanded our consumer electronics lines and acquired companies that specialized in parts and maintenance, repair, operations (MRO) supply and services, retail distribution and lighting.

In 1994, the nation's largest provider of home services designated Fidelitone Logistics as a Master Source and we added 350 more parts lines. In 1997, we began distributing the AeroBed® to specialty catalog houses — and opened a door to new business opportunities. Fidelitone Logistics acquired Aero® Products International later in the year and added product development, contract manufacturing and marketing of finished products to its list of services. Our customers, then as now, ranged from large and established firms to small and start-up companies in the U.S. and around the world.

In 1998, we expanded our warehouse automation initiative to increase efficiency and productivity — which translates into faster service, accuracy and cost control for our customers.

In 1999, Fidelitone Logistics entered into a strategic partnership with Black & Decker™/DeWalt™. We purchased their parts inventory and set up a 102,000 square foot distribution facility in Hampstead, Maryland. Today, we distribute repair parts and related items to all of Black & Decker/DeWalt's service centers and customers in the U.S. and to many of its operating facilities around the world.

In 2001, to increase our parts support services for the home services company, we acquired additional product lines in the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning, appliance and floor care industries.

Fidelitone Logistics established an operating unit, National Parts, to provide collaborative, technology-based supply chain management processes for Best Buy™. National Parts provides order management services and coordinates shipments with manufacturers and distributors that are best suited to Best Buy's business and service rules.

In May 2001, Fidelitone Logistics set up a strategic partnership with Direct Marketing Services Incorporated. DMSI markets home fashions and decorating items, housewares, children's products and home furnishings through catalogs and the Internet. Fidelitone Logistics provides the vendor interface for DMSI's inventory procurement and distribution.

In 2008, Fidelitone Logistics partnered with Dedicated Logistics, LLC. providing warehouse management and dedicated logistic services from nationwide locations. The white-glove/last-mile delivery and installation services expands Fidelitone Logistics service offering.

Today, millions of shipments leave our facilities — all sizes, shapes and weights — and with any carrier.

We are positioned for the future. In addition to our commitment to providing the best and most comprehensive supply chain services to our customers, we continue to explore and develop new business opportunities with the same entrepreneurial spirit that has always guided our company.