started its life as welding and radiator repair shop in Hendersonville, North Carolina, before becoming a medical gas, industrial gas and welding equipment distributor – a decision that cemented the fledgling company’s success and established the diversification strategy that would carry Andy Oxy through more than six decades as an independent distributorship. Over the years, the company has chang
ed its initial focus, its name and its headquarters location, but among the things that have never changed are the company’s dedication to customer service and its passion for creating a work environment that makes employees feel like part of the family that has owned Andy Oxy since day one. Anderson as Hendersonville Welding Co., a welding and radiator repair shop in Hendersonville, North Carolina. In 1948, the local National Cylinder Gas Company (NCG) distributorship became available, and Anderson was quick to seize the opportunity. Initially, the sale of welding supplies served only to supplement the company’s welding and radiator repair business. However, by 1960, demand for welding supplies far outstripped that for the company’s other services, so Anderson shut down the welding and radiator repair side of the business to devote all of his efforts to selling welding supplies. As part of this shift in focus, he changed the company’s name to Andy Oxy Co., derived from “Anderson Oxygen.”
“NCG had a full line of equipment—a medical line, along with welding equipment and torches,” says Andy Oxy President Bill Anderson, son of founder W. Anderson. “We were an NCG distributor for many years, and that full line pretty well covers what we still do now. We were very lucky in those early years to have a supplier that was medical-oriented as well as in the welding and industrial gas business.”
Bill Anderson says he has worked at Andy Oxy just about all his life; he joined the company full time in the mid-1960s. In 1970 he oversaw the opening of Andy Oxy’s first branch location in Asheville, North Carolina, which quickly outpaced the company’s Hendersonville headquarters in sales. Four years later, the Asheville branch moved to its current location and became Andy Oxy’s corporate headquarters, complete with a high-pressure fill plant. In 1977, Andy Oxy added an acetylene plant in Asheville to complement the high-pressure filling facility. Today, Andy Oxy comprises 48 employees and six locations: its corporate headquarters in Asheville and branches in Hendersonville, Andrews and Franklin, North Carolina; Jonesborough, Tennessee, serving the Tri-Cities of eastern Tennessee, which include Kingsport, Johnson City and Bristol; and Taylors, South Carolina, serving the Greenville metro area. In addition to President Bill Anderson, the company’s core management team includes son-in-law N. Britt Lovin, who joined the company in 1995 and serves as vice president and general manager, and son Jeff Anderson, who joined Andy Oxy full time in 1998 and serves as vice president of finance.
