Primrose founders, Craig Yarde and Bob Wren, met in 2000, while on a trip to China and Taiwan to source aluminum and stainless steel products. Bob, with his extensive knowledge of stainless and alloy, and Craig, with his family’s background in the aluminum distribution industry in New England, formed a close personal and professional bond that enabled them to continue to formulate business success over the next six years.

After Craig’s family business was sold in 2007, he went on to start a trading firm with Bob. The two founded Primrose Alloys under an umbrella which made use of their individual expertise: Bob led the stainless carbon and alloy developments and Craig ran the aluminum automotive and aerospace product lines. This solid structure stands as the backbone of Primrose Alloys today.

In 2008, the Primrose Stainless Division closed major deals with G.E. Power, Babcock and Wilcox, Boiler Tube Company of America, and Helfrich Company for coal powered energy plants. Primrose’s boiler tube is manufactured exclusively by Seah (Changwon Integrated Special Steel), South Korea. They also developed a global distribution business representing manufacturers in Japan, Korea, Italy, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Italy, for a variety of pipe, fitting, flanges in stainless, nickel-alloy, alloy, and carbon grades.

Primrose Alloys acquired the assets of The Channel Corporation in 2010. Primrose renamed Channel Alloys because of their diverse product selection in many hard-to-source Aluminum products. Channel Alloys has five distribution centers across the United States and offers online ordering and live inventory pricing for its customers. Today, Channel is running strong, stocking material from Russia, Taiwan, Czech Republic, Germany, and China. The company specifically stocks aluminum rod, bar, and specialty aluminum tube products and plate. It also offers excellent cost benefits by stocking approved Aerospace and automotive alloys right here in the U.S.A.

By 2011, Primrose acquired the assets of Xi-Dong Partners, a B2B direct Asian sourcing metals distributor. Xi-Dong (East-West) Partners cuts down on expensive warehousing and shipping cost by enabling direct contact with approved mills from around the world. The distributor has engineered many successful partnerships between top Aerospace factories. The strategic partners included within the customer base include medical, aerospace, automotive, and other top U.S. distributors.

In 2012, Primrose Alloys bought the assets of Aerotech Alloys, an AS certified distributor with bar and plate cutting services located in southern California. While Primrose was mostly a net imported company, Aerotech provided products from the U.S. and around the world to top tier manufactures in the U.S. Defense and commercial aerospace industries. Customers include Lockheed Martin, Arconic, PCC, and many vital government contractors. By 2015, Primrose Alloys completed the sale of Aerotech Alloys to Reliance Steel and Aluminum.

Primrose Alloys celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2017. Both Bob and Craig are proud of the amazing team they have assembled to navigate challenging political and economic times in a global marketplace.

Craig M. Yarde captures the essence of their success: “Primrose Alloys, as a small family owned and operated business, survived a decade of both political and economic uncertainty. We accomplished it with integrity and persistence where many failed. We met difficulties along the way, but also have grown and nurtured many partnerships around the globe with top producers and industrial icons. We look forward to the next 10. And we believe Primrose diversity is the key to our longevity.”

Primrose Alloys currently operates in 22 countries and imports over 500 containers of specialty metal products per year into the U.S.A. Primrose specializes in stainless and aluminum tubing and bar products and sells in nearly every state in America.