In Memoriam: Mark Andol of the Made in America Store

A tireless supporter of domestic manufacturing, Mr. Andol’s stores stocked exclusively American-made goods.

If Mark Andol wasn’t American manufacturing’s best friend, he was certainly its most ambitious advocate.

Andol, the passionate founder and owner of the Made In America Store in Elma, New York, passed away on Tuesday, July 15 at the age of 59. He was a tireless proponent of all things manufactured in the United States who fervently entertained thousands of guests at his store, which stocks only products that are 100 percent American made.

Andol often worked alongside the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) with a mission to convince consumers to buy more American-made products, stressing the need to save and create American manufacturing jobs.

In 2020, he owned eight locations of the Made In America Store in Western New York. He was also featured in the “American Made Movie,” a 2013 feature documentary that tells Andol’s manufacturing story as owner of General Welding & Fabrication. The film became part of the National Education Initiative.

“Mark was a true hero of American manufacturing,” said Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul. “I first came across Mark and the Made In America Store in 2011 when I read about his efforts to launch his retail store in Western New York. I saw his story come to life in American Made Movie and was lucky enough to meet Mark and visit his store in 2013. When I told Mark that we couldn’t find a metal, Made in USA countertop paper towel roller, his fabricating shop made one for us.

“That’s the kind of guy he was. Over the years I saw Mark expand his store, online presence, and offerings. He was proof that if you put your mind to it, you could definitely make it in America. Mark will be greatly missed.”

From his General Welding & Fabricating shop in Elma, Andol turned a business disaster into a Made in America success story. In 2007, Andol lost two multi-million-dollar accounts to Chinese companies on the same weekend, which forced him to lay off half of his workforce and close two of his four welding and fabrication shops.

An ardent businessman, Andol was inspired to launch the Made In America store despite pleas from family and friends that the idea would never take hold.

“Everybody bet against me, and I didn’t care,” Andol told AAM in January. “They said you’ll last a week; you’ll last a month. They said people no longer cared about where a product was manufactured.”

But the assiduous Andol made a believer out of his doubters. The Made in America Store launched in the vacant showroom of a closed auto dealership in 2010 before moving to a brand-new flagship store in 2016.

The inventory when the initial store opened consisted of 50 products made by a handful of manufacturers. Today the store features approximately 15,000 products that are 100% American made.

Andol discovered a bonus to his store when busloads of people would stop for an afternoon on their way to nearby Niagara Falls. Andol relished the opportunity to speak to visitors and sate their curiosity about what is still made in America.

The Made In America Store celebrated its 15^th anniversary in April and welcomed its 1,500^th busload of curious shoppers in June.

Jack Kaufman, Vice President of Timi’s Tours in Moweaqua, Illinois said Andol played a unique role in the tourism industry by building a destination around patriotism and hospitality.

“He personally greeted the bus groups that came through and made them feel like family,” Kaufman told Bus & Motorcoach News. “We added his store as a stop on our Niagara Falls tours and people would come back saying it was the highlight of their trip.”

Andol appeared on television programs, radio shows and podcasts always trying to get the word out that Made in America meant in top quality products and that buying them helped the nation’s communities. He was always eager to enliven a conversation about the benefits of manufacturing in America.

Andol liked to say that “manufacturing is the heart of America.” We can confidently say that manufacturing was also the heart of Mark Andol.

Andol is survived by fiancé Linda Sherry; children Bryan, Jake, Zack, and Jessie Andol; parents Richard and Janet Andol; and many siblings, nieces, and nephews.