GWW vs NUE Comparison

Founded in 1927, W.W. Grainger originally distributed various motors via a mail-order catalogue. Over the course of the 20th century, the firm expanded into new industrial product categories and launched its first digital catalogue in 1995. Today, the company organizes itself into two segments focused on different customer bases. Its larger segment, high-touch solutions, offers a vast array of maintenance, repair, and operations, or MRO, supplies and bespoke inventory management services to larger businesses. Its smaller segment, endless assortment, operates two online platforms, Zoro and MonotaRO, that offer comprehensive catalogues of MRO supplies to smaller businesses. Grainger has operations throughout the world but primarily generates sales within the US.

Nucor Corp manufactures steel and steel products. The company's reportable segments are steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. A majority of its revenue is derived from the steel mills segment, which is engaged in producing sheet steel (hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized), plate steel, structural steel (wide-flange beams, beam blanks, H-piling, and sheet piling), and bar steel products. Nucor manufactures steel principally from scrap steel and scrap steel substitutes using electric arc furnaces (EAFs) along with continuous casting and automated rolling mills. The steel mills segment sells its products mainly to steel service centers, fabricators, and manufacturers located in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.