Supplier Profile

Gray Metal South, Inc.

We at McCall’s Supply, Inc. realize that to be successful we must align ourselves with successful suppliers. We are proud to highlight Gray Metal South, Inc. as our supplier of the Quarter. We value our relationship with Marguerite, Joey, Jamie, Bill, & staff and do appreciate the fact that it is this relationship with Gray Metal that enables us to be an Industry leader. Thank you Gray Metal South, Inc. for your friendship & continued support!

In 1890, two brothers, William H. Gray and Malcolm Gray formed Rochester Can Company. Marketed under the trade name “Iron Horse”, Rochester Can manufactured a speciality line of metal products sold to wholesale and hardware companies. Items manufactured under the “Iron Horse” name were buckets, assorted pails, coal hods, grain troughs and metal cooking utensils. In 1910, William would patent the corrugated garbage can, which today remains a popular staple in most households. Eventually, the two brothers went their separate ways, with Malcolm Gray maintaining control of Rochester Can, gaining esteemed recognition for his design and implementation of the 5 day workweek, which Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone would later study and implement themselves at their own factories. William H. Gray would, however, start a small metal forming company which would incorporate in 1932 under the name Gray Metal Products, Inc. in Rochester, New York. During this time, William would accomplish designing and patenting gutter hangers and caps for ½” round gutters. Around this same time, William H’s son, William J. Gray would enter the business, expanding marketable products to include a line of round pipe and adjustable elbows for the old style gravity furnaces used for coal burning.

During the next 20 years, Gray Metal Products business would be built primarily by selling to contractors in Rochester and surrounding areas. In 1953, William J. Gray would begin an aggressive campaign to expand the distribution channels to include HVAC wholesalers throughout the state of New York. In 1975, William J. Gray would be succeeded by his son and daughter-in-law, Richard E. Gray Sr. and Carole L. Gray. The following years would lead to an explosion in automation techniques and a re-direction of Gray Metal’s target market away from contractors and to an exclusive base of wholesale distributors and wholesale/hardware chains. These tactical acts would serve as the foundation for positioning the Gray family into expansions that today include four additional plants throughout the east coast.

With metal operations in Avon, N.Y., Dunn, N.C., Cleveland, Ohio and Georgia and an Insulated Flex and Metal division in Coats, N.C., the Gray Family is not only a full line manufacturer of heating and air conditioning products, but becoming one of the top three manufacturers on the east coast. Currently, the Gray Family businesses are under the direction of the third and fourth generations. One of the advantages of running a successful family owned business is the luxury of raising each succeeding generation around the principles and standards of yesterday’s and today’s business practices. In doing this, key ingredients of success are instilled in future generations and translated into the successes of tomorrow. The GRAY FAMILY has made a tradition out of this fundamental business strategy to assure that success in its most basic form will continue in the years to come.