About Us

The name “Stanford” was first adopted back in 1939 when Stanley Piekarski, a carpenter by trade, built his first model home on a portion of land in Washington Township, Pennsylvania.

Stanford was arrived at by contracting the words “Stanley go forward”, and the model home was christened “Stanford Acres”.

Faced with a weak economy and no qualified buyers, Stanley decided to move into the model home with his wife, Tillie, and their three children; Robert, Lorraine and Carl.

A short time later, a woodworking shop was attached to the basement portion of the house for the production of interior wood staircases and wood moldings by the Piekarski family on a part-time basis. The name “Wood Mold products Company” was used for a period of time until additional expansion in facilities and product offering occurred.

In 1952, the name was changed to “Stanford Lumber Company” and in 1959 we moved to our Apollo location.

This site had rail car unloading and some existing buildings which still remain today.

In 1967, a second location was established in Holiday Park and was known as “The Stanford Building Center”. This location flourished until a disastrous fire leveled the entire facility on December 22, 1972. Undaunted by this major setback and encouraged by the business activity in the Holiday Park area, a new site was selected for the construction of an even larger store.  The name “Stanford Home Center” was chosen for this new facility.

In 1976, a third location was added. An existing car dealership converted to what we call or “Leechburg store” at Weinel’s Crossroads in Allegheny Township.

From these early beginnings in Washington Township, Stanford has grown to two home centers and one distribution center employing well over 100 employees with a strong look into the future.