L. J. "POP" Barnes opened the doors of Fresno Oxygen in the winter of 1949 in an unheated corner of the "Owl Transfer" moving and storage building at the corner of Kern and "P" Streets in Fresno, California.  POP and Red Barnes "POP" had been a truck driver and salesman for the Stewart Oxygen Co. in Hanford, California. He wanted to go into business for himself so he cut a deal with Stewart Oxygen to resell their gas and welding supply products from their old "warehouse location" in Fresno, California.  Pop started with one employee and with hard work and long hours built the business up to the point he had to hire three more employees.  In 1959 Pop's son "RED" Barnes joined him in the family business as the 5th employee after completing 4 years active duty in the U.S. Air Force.  Over the years the company has moved the main store three times, built a Cylinder filling plant and now has a total of eleven retail Stores with Salesmen and Route trucks covering Central California.  As Retail Store locations are added outside of the Fresno Distribution area they are named Barnes Welding Supply. Fresno Oxygen and Barnes Welding Supply are the same company. It would not be practical to add a new name each time we opened a store in a new town.  Pop Barnes retired in 1969 and "Red" Barnes became President of the company.  Red's three sons Mike, Steven, and David all entered the business after graduating from High School. David Barnes is serving as Vice President in charge of branch operations. Steven Barnes works out of our central distribution warehouse. 

In 1995 Red's oldest son Mike became Corporate President of the company adding new enthusiasm and drive to the business. Red Barnes remains active in the business serving as Chairman of the Board.  That's a brief review of the Ownership side of the business, what follows is a break down of what the 140 most important people in the company do day in and day out that has brought us to be the number one distributor in our coverage area. I am referring to our employees, the best in the business!   1. We have an in-house Welder Service Department. Our people are factory trained and warranty service authorized for the major brands of welding equipment such as Miller, Lincoln, Thermal Dynamics and others. The service includes a mobile truck for emergency in shop service.  2. We have Eleven Retail Branch Locations serving the communities of Fresno, Bakersfield, Citrus Heights, Clovis, Madera, Modesto, Porterville, Sacramento, Salinas, Stockton and Visalia. All carry a full line of welding equipment and supplies.  3. We have a very competent and experienced Outside Sales Force to call on you at your place of business to discuss with you any needs you may have regarding welding, compressed gases, or bulk cryogenic product applications.  4. We have a large Central Distribution Warehouse and a fleet of delivery trucks to supply our own branch stores, direct shipments to customers via our route trucks, and freight shipments to our catalogue sales customers. It is Central Distributions' job to get the products to their customers by the most timely and efficient method possible.  5. We have a state of the art Data Processing, Billing and Accounting system. All locations are linked to each other "on line" and in "real time" allowing all locations to have current information on your account and the products you have purchased from us. All branches have the ability to "check stock" at other branches or in our main warehouse in Fresno. Our system allows you to purchase products or inquire about your account at any one of our locations.  6. We have our own Gas Production Plant located in Fowler California where we fill our own cylinders. We are currently filling Oxygen gas and Liquid, Nitrogen gas and Liquid, Argon gas and Liquid, Carbon Dioxide gas and Liquid, Helium gas, Acetylene gas, and Alternate fuel gases for cutting and heating. We mix and test our own multi-component and ultra pure gases for welding and other processes. We test and re-qualify cylinders to meet D.O.T. and other government regulations.  7. We own and operate a 3,300 gallon Bulk Nitrogen Transport Tanker. This helps larger nitrogen customers to maintain product levels. Applications include food packaging, and Laser Cutting.  8. In 2012 we implemented a cylinder tacking system (ACM - Advanced Cylinder Management) to help us to verify the accuracy of our cylinder rental billing system. This electronic system "tracks" the movement of cylinder between fill plants, stores, and our customers.