March 10, 2006

Out of the Past

OSH marks 75th anniversary by embracing
the past and looking toward the future

Hardware giant will build gardens in local schools to celebrate

“Take good care of our customers and they’ll take good care of you.”—OSH motto yesterday and today

By Jeanne Carbone Lewis
Staff Writer

The past embraced the present at Orchard Supply Hardware’s flagship store on San Carlos Street recently. Reading like a who’s who of the valley of heart’s delight, memories were shared about the importance of the retailer in Santa Clara Valley on its 75th anniversary.

OSH’s 75th anniversary brought together the past with the future. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

To celebrate Orchard Supply Hardware’s [OSH] many years in the valley, CEO Rob Lynch announced a partnership to build gardens at a school near each store location. The company will provide seeds, materials and employee expertise to create the 5-foot by 8-foot gardens by the end of this school year.

“California has taken a leadership role in recognizing how planning and working in a garden can teach kids about biology, climate and math, not to mention hard work, cooperation and patience,” said Lynch. “Working with the State Department of Education and other organizations, every OSH store will have a nearby school garden to build or improve. This is a perfect fit for OSH’s mission to build and teach.”

Besides the “old timers” whose families worked, invested and shopped at OSH through the years, many public officials were in attendance to celebrate the California retailer.

“As a long time resident of this valley, I commend OSH for 75 years of success in the valley,” said Mayor Ron Gonzales. “Not only have you served this valley but employed a lot of people and that’s very important. We appreciate the philanthropy of your company. You recognize that you put back in the community what you take out.”

Besides Mayor Gonzales other speakers attending the celebration of OSH’s 75-year legacy were San Jose City Councilmember and mayoral candidate Dave Cortese, Councilmember Ken Yeager, Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, President and CEO of San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce Pat Dando and Andrew Laufer, Assistant to California Department of Education Deputy Superintendent William Ellerbee.

Orchard Supply Hardware on San Carlos Street circa 1960s. Photo courtesy of WW Lester III

OSH history
1931 was a difficult year for farmers in the “Valley of Heart’s Delight.” Two years of drought, crop failures and the Great Depression hit the agricultural area hard.

The Orchard Supply cooperative started that year when 30 farmers and orchard owners paid $30 each to help buy and share needed farm supplies. The group rented a warehouse on Bassett Street, stockpiling picking pails, sprays and other farming supplies geared toward vegetable or tree crops. Non-farmers recognized Orchard Supply as the place to shop for hardware, gardening supplies and house wares as well as helpful advice. Needing a larger site the co-op moved to Vine Street in 1933.

“My dad invested in OSH because it was like a co-op, a place for growers trying to find tools they needed oriented toward farm operations,” said Carl Voss. “No tractors, but fertilizers, ladders, pruning shears. My dad’s original investment just before World War II was $400. When he died in 1974 it was worth about $37,000. When my mother died in 1987, there were three of us brothers who evenly divided the OSH stock worth $100,000. This investment has meant a lot to our family, but so has Orchard Supply.”

Gilda Firenzi was born in the house that still stands across the street from OSH’s oldest store on San Carlos Street. Her family sold the land where the first store was built in 1946. The purchasing cooperative had 2,000 members at the time and was recognized as a leading hardware store in San Jose.

Gilda Firenzi shares the history of her family selling the property where OSH’s first store was built on San Carlos Street with present CEO Rob Lynch, who lives in Almaden. Photos by Jeanne Carbone Lewis

“When I started to work for OSH at the store on West San Carlos, there were three stores and it was like a big family,” said Martha Neilsen. “The stores would get together and have summer picnics. I worked there for 28 years and became good friends with Al [Al Smith was the son of OSH founder Stan Smith]. He loved trains and had them put on the OSH calendars. He even bought two engines for the 3,200 acre ranch near Santa Cruz. He died in 1993.”

The “Valley of Heart’s Delight” grew with thousands of new homeowners and the burgeoning electronics industry in the 1950s. Farmers retired and farmland was sold to make way for residential homes and strip malls. The Orchard cooperative changed with the times and became a retail business and soon established stores throughout the county. In 1973, Orchard Supply Hardware opened the Capitola store, the first of many built out of Santa Clara County.

In the mid 70s, a 19-acre warehouse and office complex in San Jose was purchased from Sunsweet Growers to serve as a distribution center for all OSH stores. It was called the “Prune Palace” in memory of the area’s disappearing past. It closed in 1992 when a new storage facility opened in Tracy. It still serves all of OSH’s 84 stores from Redding to Laguna Niguel.

Mayor Gonzales congratulates OSH CEO Rob Lynch on receiving a commendation for the Chamber of Commerce while San Jose City Councilmembers Ken Yeager and Dave Cortese are all smiles.

Today
Rob Lynch is president and CEO of OSH, owned by Ares Management LLC in Los Angeles and Sears Holdings Corporation in Hoffman Estates, Ill. He joined OSH in 2004 after rising to the rank of vice president of store operations at Home Depot and named “Rising Retail Stars: 40 Executives Under 40” by Chain Store Age.
Lynch lives in Almaden Valley with his wife Debbie and their three daughters.

“We’re very excited,” said Lynch who arrived at the celebration in a 1931 Model T truck accompanied by Dando. “This is a huge milestone. It’s not everyday you have a 75th anniversary. We want to take a look back, celebrate and recognize the community, our customers and our employees.”

With more than 45,000 products in each of the 84 OSH stores, the 6,000 associates still serve California with the same philosophy developed 75 years ago: “Take good care of our customers and they will take good care of you.”