MARYSVILLE – Marysville-based Central Welding Supply will open its first store outside the lower 48 states when it opens for business Feb. 27 in Wasilla, Alaska.

Dale Wilton, CEO of Central Welding Supply, said while the they’re eager to open the doors, the state isn’t unexplored territory for the company.

“We’ve served customers in Alaska for many years through regular shipments to central and southeast Alaska, Kodiak, and the Aleutian Island chain,” Wilton said. “The Wasilla market is a great fit. The new location will provide more immediate access to needed equipment and supplies for customers in Alaska.”

The Wasilla location is Central Welding Supply’s 22nd retail outlet. Wasilla, pop. 9,780 is a growing city in a relatively remote location 43 miles north of Anchorage, with the Chugach Mountains as a backdrop.

The company in October opened its first out-of-state store when it acquired United Welding Supply in Portland, Ore.

Central Welding last month completed buildout of the Wasilla retail store, warehouse, offices and cylinder storage yard.

The new location will support retail sales for walk-in customers, and serve as a central point for distribution throughout the Mat-Su Valley, Wilton said. Central Welding Supply will provide direct delivery to customers in Wasilla, Anchorage, and Palmer, with some limited deliveries to Seward and the Kenai Peninsula.

He added that while the primary focus will be local service, close proximity to Anchorage shipping lines and air freight will allow for delivery of needed equipment and supplies throughout the interior of Alaska, and port towns unreachable from Seattle.

Central Welding Supply’s products and services range from welding technology to in-house equipment repairs, rental welding gear, bulk and micro-bulk gas systems, safety supplies, medical, specialty and beverage gases, and more.

Central Welding opened in 1975 in Lynnwood as a small start-up created by founder Mickey Wilton, Dale’s father.

Mickey saw an underserved but growing niche area to meet full-service welding supply and industrial gases needs for including aerospace manufacturing at The Boeing Co. plant and Paine Field, marine industries in the Seattle and Ballard areas, and points in between.

The company in 2006 relocated its corporate offices to Marysville near Smokey Point Boulevard and 136th Street NE.

Over the past decade, Central welding has double its campus size to five acres, adding a filling facility, retail store, cylinder maintenance building and warehouse that stores and distributes all retail outlets. The Central Welding Supply family of companies employs 270 people, with more than $80 million in annual revenues, becoming the largest independently-owned distributor in Western Washington, and one of the top 100 privately-owned companies in Washington state.