Masaya Suzuki, president and CEO of MonotaRO, will also head up Zoro starting Feb. 1.

Masaya Suzuki, a long-time veteran of W.W. Grainger Inc. who helped launch the company’s fast-growing Zoro and MonotaRO web-only businesses, will head up both operations as head of Grainger’s “endless assortment” business, the industrial products distributor announced today.

Grainger said its endless assortment businesses grew revenue by 19% last year to $1.9 billion, which compares to total sales growth of 2.5% to $11.5 billion.

“As managing director, endless assortment business, he will add oversight and accountability for Grainger’s entire endless assortment portfolio—which includes Zoro in the United States, the United Kingdom and Europe—to his current role as president and CEO of MonotaRO,” Grainger said.

“Masaya was on the founding team of MonotaRO [in 2000] and played a critical role in the launch of Zoro in 2011,” Grainger CEO D.G. Macpherson said on a 2019 fiscal year conference call with stock analysts today, adding: “Masaya’s expertise will help us provide even greater value to the customers we serve through our endless assortment portfolio.”

Suzuki, who will start in his new position on Feb. 1, will replace David Rawlinson, who is leaving Grainger to head up research firm Nielsen Holdings plc’s Global Connect business unit.

Grainger positions Zoro and MonotaRO as providers of millions of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products through a “streamlined purchasing experience” designed for small and mid-sized businesses. MonotaRO supplies some 20 million products, and Grainger says Zoro is on pace to have 10 million within the next three to five years.

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