Exhibit 31.1

               PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I, Robert W. Grubbs, certify that:

(1)      I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Anixter
         International Inc.;

(2)      Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any
         untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact
         necessary to make the statements made, in light of circumstances under
         which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the
         period covered by this quarterly report;

(3)      Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all
         material respects the financial condition, results of operations and
         cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in
         this quarterly report;

(4)      The other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and
         maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange
         Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and have:

         a)       Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                  such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                  our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                  to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
                  made known to us by others within those entities, particularly
                  during the period in which this report is being prepared;

         b)       Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                  controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                  conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                  and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                  report based on such evaluation; and

         c)       Disclosed in this report any change in internal control over
                  financial reporting that occurred during the most recent
                  fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably
                  likely to materially affect, the internal control over
                  financial reporting; and

(5)      The other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most
         recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
         auditors and the audit committee of the board of directors:

         a)       All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                  design or operation of internal control over financial
                  reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the
                  ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
                  information; and

         b)       Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                  or other employees who have a significant role in the internal
                  control over financial reporting.

November 12, 2003                          /s/ Robert W. Grubbs
                                           ---------------------------
                                           Robert W. Grubbs
                                           President and Chief Executive Officer