When most people mention “tools” and “shelves” in the same sentence, it’s to describe where they keep their wrenches, hammers and pliers. But for many industries that have expensive tools and strict inventory rules, shelving has fast become a key tool of the trade.
And it’s become a profitable niche for specialty shelf-makers.
So it made sense earlier this month when New Britain-based tool-making giant The Stanley Works bought InnerSpace Corp., a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based specialty shelving maker that caters to hospitals, selling carts and shelves for catheters, endoscopes and other medical supplies.
InnerSpace, which employs about 75 people, will become part of the Stanley Vidmar division of Stanley Works, its Allentown, Pa.-based specialty unit focused on selling industrial cabinets and carts.
Financial terms of the InnerSpace Dealer were not disclosed.
The acquisition represents something of a new direction for Stanley, a brand name found more commonly in industrial settings rather than hospitals.
With the InnerSpace deal, Stanley gets a range of products that can be marketed to hospitals, including carts used in clinical settings and lockable storage cabinets used to hold medical inventory.
