LFS was founded in 1967 as a storefront commercial fishing gear supplier in Bellingham, Washington by fishermen James and Gary Nelson in partnership with Momoi Net, a Japanese netting manufacturer. The fledgling company, originally called Lummi Fishery Supplies, sold web, floats, rope and twine to commercial fisherman and contracted with fishing net hangers who worked in nearby web lockers. In 1973 Gary Nelson built the first LFS Marine Supplies store in the current Bellingham, Washington location. By the early 1980s the company had expanded with a commercial fishing and marine supplies outlet in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood and seasonal stores in Naknek and Dillingham serving Bristol Bay salmon fishermen. The company name was changed to LFS Inc. in 1983 to reflect its growth and diversification. Two more stores were opened in Alaska, and a trawl design and manufacturing division was established in Bellingham by the time the company was purchased by Trident Seafoods in 1988. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in March 1989 shut down the Cook Inlet commercial fishery and led to the closure of LFS stores in Homer and Kenai, Alaska. Those losses were offset by the opening of a marine supply store in Dutch Harbor that same year, serving the Bering Sea crab and trawl fleets. In 1990 a fire completely destroyed the marine supply store and corporate offices in Bellingham; the store reopened days later in portable buildings and containers on site, and offices were set up in space generously made available by harbor neighbor, Bellingham Cold Storage. It was a challenging time, but with the support of the local community, loyal customers and parent company Trident Seafoods, LFS weathered the
storm; a new building was constructed in the same location and opened in 1992. In 2005 LFS opened a store in Cordova, Alaska. Further expansion into Alaska was accomplished by a series of acquisitions beginning with the purchase of Donalson’s
Marine Supplies’ Anchorage and Kenai locations in 2013. Murray Pacific Supply in Sitka was added in 2015, and in 2016 former competitor Redden Marine Supply, with corporate
headquarters in Bellingham and stores in Anchorage, Cordova, Homer and Kenai. LFS now has six year-round stores in Alaska in Anchorage, Cordova, Dutch Harbor, Homer, Kenai, and Sitka; two seasonal Alaska stores in Dillingham and Naknek; and two year-round stores in Washington state in Bellingham and Seattle. The company continues to grow, through well-established core businesses, and through opportunities that have evolved over the years including industrial and sports netting sales, hydraulics sales and service, wholesale industrial sales, and an internet sales division, all based in Bellingham, Washington. Our strength here at LFS is our people, and we are working hard to blend our many locations into one corporate family. We think the future looks bright.
