Fastenal Co. founder Robert A. “Bob” Kierlin, 85, died February 10, 2025.

Born in Winona, MN — the town his business made famous — Kierlin co-founded his legendary fastener distribution business in 1967 after earning a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota. Together with fellow Winona entrepreneurs Jack Remick, Van McConnon, and Steve Slaggie — to be later joined by Mike Gostomski — Kierlin launched a small hardware business called Fastenal Co., opening the first store in his father’s former auto shop in downtown Winona.

Kierlin’s original vision for Fastenal was dispensing fasteners out of franchised vending machines. After being turned down by at least 30 potential investors, he finally convinced his friends Remick, McConnon, Slaggie, and Gostomski to invest. But there was little demand for fastener sizes and quantities that could be vended, so the idea was tabled in favor of a store-based model. Fastenal opened its first branch in Rochester, MN, in 1971 and stored inventory in rented garages around Winona. Kierlin and his partners grew the business, which went public in 1987 and cracked the S&P 500 in 2008.

Kierlin’s vending machine vision became reality in 2010, when Fastenal began sending vending machines to major customers for instant and on-demand inventory. Now the company operates over 100,000 vending machines in 25 countries.

Kierlin served as Fastenal CEO from 1968-2002, as well as its president from 1968-2001. He retired from the Board of Directors in 2014, which he'd been chairman of since the company’s incorporation in 1968.

From 1999-2006, he also served in the Minnesota Senate, working to establish early childhood education programs, secure state funding for the nascent Great River Shakespeare Festival, and support veterans and small businesses.

In his later years, Kierlin and his wife, Mary Burrichter, created the Hiawatha Education Foundation, which donates to Montessori schools across Minnesota. In addition, the couple founded the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, as well as the forthcoming Minnesota Masterpiece Hall — a concert hall and art venue that seeks to host world-class classical musicians and attract visitors from across North America to Winona.

His funeral is planned for February 15.