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Welding supply shop opens Turlock location
Barnes Welding
Rosalio Leal and Chris McDiffett of Barnes Welding Supply believe their new store’s customer service sets them apart from the rest (ANGELINA MARTIN/The Journal).

Name of business: Barnes Welding Supply

Type of business: Welding supply shop

Location: 1105 Lander Ave., Turlock

Hours: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to noon Saturday

Contact information: 209-216-5592

Specialty: Customer service

History of business:

Barnes Welding Supply may have just opened up its new, Turlock shop on Thursday, but the store already has fans.

“Everybody that’s been coming in has said, ‘Oh my gosh, finally!’” employee Rosalio Leal said.

Barnes Welding Supply operates numerous locations throughout the Valley, from Citrus Heights to Bakersfield. There’s a shop in Modesto as well, store manager Chris McDiffett said, and the farming community that both surrounds and is integrated in Turlock made the city a perfect fit for the company’s newest location.

“I always have people coming into the shop in Modesto who have to drive from Turlock to pick up stuff. They’re always complaining that they have to drive to Modesto,” McDiffett said.

Barnes Welding Supply is a one-stop shop for welders, whether they’re individuals who need the equipment on their farm or at home in the garage, or companies that need the best products for their welding employees.

The shop offers abrasives and cutters, air compressors, engine-driven welders, soldering equipment and much, much more, catering to every facet of welding from the beginning of a project to its end.

“We get the corporations who buy from us, but then we even get guys by themselves who just weld on the weekends,” Leal said. “We have a knowledgeable staff and no matter what, we strive to make the customer feel like this is a one-stop shop.”

Customer service is what sets Barnes Welding Supply apart from other stores, Leal and McDiffett agreed, from working with the local school district to ensure their welding classes have the proper equipment to making sure a farmer knows how to fix his broken fence.

“If you go to (corporations), you’re just a number and they don’t know you personally,” McDiffett said. “Here, you can get what you want, and you can get to know the person who’s helping you.”