'We can help out a company that needs metal fast because perhaps a mistake was made on a project, or we can also assist the artist doing metalwork in Amana,” said Heller. Heller said customers range across various industries, including tool-and-die shops, manufacturers, fabricators, maintenance managers, contractors and construction companies as well as artists and DIYers. Staff can do precision custom-cutting, shearing or punching.

Metal Supermarkets carries metal supplies from aluminum and steel, to brass, bronze and copper. ,” he said, noting the store's proximity to Interstate 380. 'The accessibility to our store was a key factor in determining where we put down our roots. 'We have a very active manufacturing and metalworking base in Cedar Rapids and have already received inquiries from local businesses and consumers,” Heller said. Owner Rick Heller said Metal Supermarkets Cedar Rapids offers customers instant access to any metal, cut to size and ready fast, with no minimum-order quantity. Now a retail version has opened its doors - a metal convenience store - in Cedar Rapids.

There are many along Lake Michigan, in Indiana and Illinois. Large manufacturers - appliance makers, for example - in turn buy what they need, often custom-cut at the warehouses to specified sizes. The warehouses buy from the steel plants. In manufacturing, they are referred to as metals warehouses - giant structures that stock vast amounts of giant sheets of steel, stainless steel, aluminum and copper - often with railroad tracks or other major infrastructure nearby, to better haul product in and out.

Metal supermarket