Our History

Gardner Marsh was conceived over dinner one Sunday afternoon by Charlie and Audrey Gardner and Red and Mae Marsh.  At that time, Charlie and Mae were associated with the gas industry.  Charlie was manager of the retail operations for SunGas, Inc. and Mae was manager for a gas wholesale distributor, Continental Equipment Company, both owned by Clem Childers. (Continental Equipment later became Controls, Inc.). Red Marsh was a farmer while Audrey was a full-time homemaker.

While having dinner, the two couples began to talk about the opportunities of providing equipment to the newly emerging propane industry.  As the industry continued to grow, they realized the opportunity was there and opened for business on October 16, 1961.  The first Gardner Marsh facility was a 5000 square foot warehouse with a small stocking supply of equipment.  Charlie and Red were on the road in North and South Carolina making sales calls while Audrey and Mae worked in the office.  Mae, having experience in an equipment wholesale business, was the telephone contact and Audrey was the “warehouse staff”. 

The four original members of Gardner Marsh made a good team and were rewarded with a successful business venture.  In addition to selling propane equipment, Gardner Marsh services included helping many gas dealers start their own propane distribution businesses.  Gardner Marsh’s services included storage tank installations, locating gas suppliers and tank manufacturers and training new dealers in safe propane operations.  As the Propane industry continued to grow, Gardner Marsh expanded the operation to serve dealers in Virginia.  After five years, Gardner Marsh had a staff of seven people.  1969 saw another milestone as the size of the business demanded more warehouse space.  Gardner Marsh moved into a new 14,000 square foot office/warehouse on Pleasant Valley Road in West Raleigh.

In 1971, the first major change in the business occurred.  Due to different business philosophies, Charlie and Red decided to divide the business.  The growth had now expanded to include customers in the central Atlantic Seaboard area.  In an amicable agreement, Red Marsh opened Marsh Equipment Company, a distribution facility in Florence, SC and began serving South Carolina and Georgia.  Charlie Gardner remained in Raleigh and served customers in NC and areas to the North.  Looking to the future, Charlie hired his son, Dale to work in the Raleigh warehouse.  Dale was to learn the distribution business from the “ground floor”. Gardner Marsh continued to grow with the propane industry and became recognized as one of the leading equipment supply companies in the country.

As continued growth dictated another warehouse expansion, the company was hit by its first real crisis.  In 1987, as Charlie was planning for a larger facility, he was diagnosed as having advanced stages of cancer.  Charlie continued active in the business while fighting the disease and worked sharing his knowledge with Dale and the GM staff emphasizing service to the customer was the most important product Gardner Marsh could offer.  After a brief attempt to fight the disease, Charlie passed away one year later.  Charlie left Gardner Marsh with a strong competent staff, an excellent reputation for service, and plans for yet another expansion to a 25,000 square foot facility.

This move was a result of GM’s continued growth as a gas equipment and appliance distributor.  The move did not come quickly enough.  As plans were being finalized for a new warehouse facility, a tornado struck the building in 1989.  Extensive damage to the building caused the offices to be moved to temporary office spaces while the warehouse was patched to make do until the new facility was completed.  Although over one half the warehouse was damaged, GM only lost a few days shipping equipment to customers.  The new facility was completed in August of 1990.

Just a year later, Red Marsh decided to retire, and sold the assets of Marsh Equipment Company to Charlie’s son Dale, which reunited Gardner Marsh into a single entity once again. The acquisition also brought a new service category to the business: delivery truck fabrication. In 1992, Dale enlarged his truck fabrication business by purchasing Propane Trucks in Apex from Hendrick Phillips.

With the dream of “keeping the Gardner in Gardner Marsh,” Dale hired his daughters, Angi and Laura, to carry the business into its third generation. Today, Gardner Marsh Gas Equipment Company serves customers from an expanded 50,000-square-foot facility in Raleigh, in addition to an office and warehouse in Florence, SC. A premier wholesale supplier of propane and natural gas equipment, Gardner Marsh has evolved over the years to include a vast inventory of the latest equipment and technologies, and a team of highly skilled industry professionals.

With a commitment to adhere to the core business plan established by Charlie, Audrey, Red and Mae back in 1961, sincere, dedicated employees strive to serve customers and the gas industry as a premier Value-Added Distributor.

Our Mission

Our mission at Gardner Marsh Gas Equipment Company is to strive to supply the gas industry with the highest quality gas equipment and technical support in a timely and professional manner. As a value-added distributor, we understand that customer satisfaction earns customer loyalty. Our employees pledge to work together as a team to provide the exceptional customer service needed to satisfy customers daily. Our goal is to offer our employees a pleasant working environment conducive to personal and professional growth. We are committed to being a leader in the gas industry through continuous training in the safe and efficient use of quality gas equipment.

Our Services

At Gardner Marsh, we provide everything from regulators to flare nuts to tankless water heaters. We are a leading distributor of the Rinnai Tankless Water Heater and Fisher Valves and Regulators, and, with our deep inventory, customers can expect same day shipping or can pick up on site for more immediate needs.

Our product categories include:

• Brass
• Commercial Heat
• Containers
• Decals
• Fire Boxes
• Gas Logs and Burners
• Gas Pipe
• Grills

• Installation Equipment
• Leisure Products
• Liquid Transfer
• Regulators
• Remotes
• Residential Heat
• Vent Pipe
• Water Heaters & Accessories

Over the decades, we’ve built a reputation for not only offering high-quality equipment and product expertise, but also a full range of services to go along with a product purchase.

Essentially, it’s not just that we’re experts in the industry, it’s that we apply this expertise to offer our customers greater overall value. Our comprehensive training and certification services teach our customers how to select, sell, install and service the products we offer, and we provide technical assistance after the sale to make sure our customers have everything they need to successfully retail our products.