Since 1973
Three generations, one Northern Maryland supply house.
Arrow Electrical Supply Co., Inc. is family owned and operated, and has been trading in the same corner of Maryland since 1973. Fifty-three years is not a number worth mentioning for its own sake. It is why somebody standing at the counter today can recognise a part number off a fixture that has not been manufactured in twenty years, and tell you on the spot whether it is worth chasing or worth replacing.
Five moves, fifty-three years
Every address changed. The market never did.
Founded in Fallston
Arrow Electrical Supply started as a single storefront in Fallston, Maryland, supplying Northern Maryland with electrical material at a time when the nearest alternative was a long drive.
Bel Air, and a second door in Havre de Grace
Four years in, Arrow moved to a more central spot on Ellendale Street in Bel Air and opened a second location in Havre de Grace to reach customers further north.
Havre de Grace becomes Aberdeen; the main store moves again
The Havre de Grace location relocated to its current Aberdeen address on Philadelphia Boulevard. The same year, the main store left Ellendale Street for six years on Bel Air's Main Street.
220 Gateway Drive
Arrow built its present-day Bel Air building at 220 Gateway Drive and has run the main counter from it ever since, longer than any of its earlier addresses.
Elkton opens
A third location opened in Elkton to put a counter inside Cecil County itself, rather than asking that county's electricians and homeowners to drive to Harford County for parts.
What three generations looks like
The sign was hand-painted. The habit did not change.
The photograph below is the original Fallston-era storefront, hand-painted sign and all. The one beside it is an older Arrow sales counter, Cutler-Hammer stools and wall pegboards included. Neither is staged. Both are the same job the counter still does today: someone who knows the stock, standing between a customer and the wrong part.
“Great service. I thought I knew what I wanted to fix my outdoor light fixture. They told me my fix was not going to work, even though it meant no sale. Honest and helpful place.”
“Irv does an excellent job of customer service at the counter! Nice to go somewhere that actually has everything needed for a project, and the friendly staff is a bonus.”
The building today
Bel Air is the main counter. It is not the only one.
220 Gateway Drive has been Arrow's main location since 1986, the longest any single address has held that title. Aberdeen and Elkton are not earlier chapters of the same story. They are open, staffed counters in their own right, each with its own phone line and its own hours, and each carrying the same line card as Bel Air.
Come see the counter that has been here since 1973.
Three counters across Harford and Cecil County. Bring the part, the fixture or the job, and someone who has seen it before will tell you straight what it takes.