The History of Cardinal Steel

Cardinal Steel Supply was founded in 1976 as a small St Louis metal fabrication shop. It began as a single-shift operation with approximately 500 tons of inventory and a 15,000-square-foot warehouse, selling to ornamental iron shops and welding and machine shops.

Cardinal steadily grew over the next few years, and in 1981 sales exceeded one million dollars for the first time.

Tony Greer (left) in 1996 while working as a Cardinal Steel hauler

In 1987, Cardinal came under new ownership and grew to 2,000 tons of stock, expanded from a one-shift to a two-shift operation, and sharpened its focus on being a steel supply company to the St Louis region and beyond. 

In 1990, Tony Greer, our current warehouse manager, began his career at Cardinal. His first job was in maintenance, sweeping the floors. Five years later, he became one of Cardinal’s steel haulers, serving our customers behind the wheel for nearly twenty years until 2022 when he was promoted to his current position overseeing operations.

In 1995, Cardinal acquired a new location one mile south of the original Broadway location. Fully remodeled, the new 45,000-square-foot warehouse had separate drive-through doors and three five-ton overhead cranes, making Cardinal a fully operational general-line metal fabrication and steel service center. Since then, our customer base has grown to include structural fabricators, small service centers, construction companies, and general contractors.