Local ball bearing Local distribution company to expand By CAMILLE H. GAMBLE The Daily News A Memphis-based ball bearing distributor is expanding its business by moving to a new 16,000-square-foot facility at 3643 Winchester Road which is currently under construction. Memphis Bearing and Supply Co. Inc. will move from its current location at 3871 Watman Ave. when the building is complete. Memphis Bearings current buildings are owned by the companys primary owner, Wayne L. Burton, who leases the property to the company. Burton said after the company moves, Moore Distributors Inc., which is located behind Memphis Bearings office, will lease the space from Burton. Moore, which distributes commercial locks, will remain in its current space and expand into the old Memphis Bearing buildings. Burton said the reason for the expansion was the need for more space. The business operates now out of a 10,000-square-foot facility. Burton said the new building will not only have more square footage but will be taller to accommodate more storage. "The economy is real good," Burton said. "We are a service-oriented company, and our business is just booming. Its been great for about three or four years. "We really just cannot stock any more material here, and our new facility will allow us to actually stock four times the inventory that we are stocking now," he said. The new Memphis Bearing facility is expected to be complete in December. Chris Woods Construction Co. Inc. is the general contractor on the project. Building permits filed in the Shelby County Construction Code Enforcement Office valued the project at about $372,000. Memphis Bearing was started in 1983, but Burton said he has been in the ball bearing business since 1968. The company employees about 14 people has plans to hire about three more after the move. Memphis Bearing mainly sells to local industry, Burton said. "We have more than 800 accounts in the Memphis area," he said. "We do some walk-in retail business for any type bearing or power transmission, but most of our business goes to local plants." Memphis Bearing also operates four regional stores in the Mid-South in Covington; Savannah; Batesville, Miss.; and Wynne, Ark. Burton said he has plans to open at least one new store per year.