1856 - 1923 |1924 - 1963 | 1964 - 1980 | 1981 - Present
| 1856 | Patrick Edward (P.E.) O'Hair is born in Charles City, Iowa. |
|
1874
(circa) |
Patrick moves with his family to Chico, California. |
| 1880 | Patrick, age 24, enters the hardware business with Farrell & Company in Chico. |
| 1882 |
Twenty-six year old Patrick Edward O'Hair marries
Cora Anna Allen
in Chico.
Patrick travels to San Francisco to investigate business opportunties. See letters from Patrick to Cora by clicking here. |
| 1888 | Patrick, Cora, and their children move to San Francisco, California. Patrick co-owns the O'Hair & Cole livery stable at 745 Howard Street. |
| 1895 | Patrick works in a hardware business at 135 4th Street, Oakland, California. |
| 1897 | Patrick owns a hardware store at 213 4th Street in San Francisco. |
| 1905 | P.E.'s oldest sons, Donald and Neil, are photographed in front of their father's hardware store at 213 4th Street in San Francisco. |
| 1906 | Patrick's home and hardware store are destroyed April 18 by earthquake and fire. His insurer does not cover damage claims. Patrick is forty-nine years old. He briefly moves with his wife and daughters to Chico, California. He returns to the San Francisco area a few months later. |
| 1907 | Patrick is employed at O'Hair and Proctor Company, a plumbing supply business located at 1964 Post Street, San Francisco. |
| 1908 | Patrick and his son Donald are employed at D.L. & P.E. O'Hair & H. Proctor Company plumbing supply at 1964 Post Street. |
| 1909 |
Patrick, Donald, and Patrick's son-in-law
Johan Frithiof "Fritz" Bowman
work at
P.E. O'Hair & Company
at 1964 Post Street.
The family opens Oakland Plumbing Supply in Oakland, California |
| 1911 |
P.E. O'Hair & Co.
relocates to 857 Mission Street, San Francisco.
The company advertises bathroom remodels in the program of the Alcazar Theatre. |
| 1914 |
Fresno Plumbing Supply
, owned by P.E. O'Hair & Co., opens at
1310 Broadway
in Fresno, California.
John Hinton
manages the branch until his death in 1951.
P.E. O'Hair sends his extended family a letter encouraging them to vote for James D. Phelan for U.S. Senate |
| 1923 | Patrick Edward O'Hair dies in San Francisco at the age of 67. The business he started, completely destroyed in 1906, is now worth nearly $1 million. His oldest son, Donald, becomes President of P.E. O'Hair & Co. Neil O'Hair is Vice President |
| 1925 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. relocates in May to a new building at 945 Bryant Street. This will remain the company's headquarters for over fifty years. |
| 1927 |
The U.S. Board of Tax Appeals, in a
review
of the estate of P.E. O'Hair, determines that the company is a partnership of P.E. O'Hair's widow and children: 50% owned by Cora Allen O'Hair, 10% by Donald O'Hair, 10% by Neil O'Hair, 5% by Ethel O'Hair Bowman, 5% by Patrice O'Hair, and 5% by Cora Jospehine O'Hair.
The Internal Revenue Service audits all heirs and business partners and requires additional income tax payments for the years 1923 through 1926. |
| 1929 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. builds a new facility in Oakland, at 209 Fourth Street. The business operates under the name Oakland Plumbing Supply. |
| 1931 |
P.E. O'Hair & Co., in a one-third partnership with Richmond Sanitary Supply Company and Whiting Mead Company, acquires plumbing supply businesses in Monterey, San Jose, and Stockton. The three stores are combined into a new company named
Western Plumbing Supply. The Monterey business is later sold and the company buys a business in Salinas.
Cora Allen O'Hair, Patrick's widow, dies in San Francisco at the age of 68. |
| 1932 |
P.E. O'Hair & Co.
is incorporated on April 20 as a California corporation. The bylaws authorize issuance of 12,500 shares of stock at a par value of $100 per share, and the appointment of five directors. On June 17, 85% of the stock is granted to the business partners: 24.9% to Neil O'Hair, 22.4% to Donald L. O'Hair, 10.7% to Patrice O'Hair, 10.7% to Cora O'Hair Escalle, 10.6% to Ethel O'Hair Bowman, 3.1% to Fritz Bowman, 1.7% to John Hinton, and 1.3% to Milton Horner.
At year end, the company has a net worth of $1 million. |
| 1939 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. enters a partnership with J.R. Deterding to operate a plumbing supply business in Sacramento, California. |
| 1946 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. opens a new branch in Redwood City to serve the growing market on the San Francisco Peninsula. |
| 1947 |
Donald L. O'Hair
dies at the age of sixty-three. His brother
Neil
succeeds him as President of P.E. O'Hair & Co.
P.E. O'Hair & Co. completes buyout of its Western Plumbing Supply business partners and assumes complete ownership. |
| 1952 | Board of Directors revises bylaws, authorizing a 10:1 stock split of 125,000 shares at par value of $10.00 per share |
| 1955 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. opens a new branch in Santa Rosa, California. In 1959, the Santa Rosa branch relocates to a larger facility. |
| 1960 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. is profiled in October 1960 issue of Supply House Times, an industry magazine. The company has 265 employees and nine stores. |
| 1962 | Fire destroys a P.E. O'Hair & Co. warehouse located behind (south of) the 945 Bryant building. |
| 1963 |
Company president
Neil O'Hair
dies at the age of seventy-five.
William Meuser
is elected by the Board of Directors as the President of P.E. O'Hair and Co. He is the first president not related to P.E. O'Hair.
P.E. O'Hair & Co. buys out the Detterding family's share of the Sacramento partnership. The wholly-owned affiliate is renamed O'Hair Supply Company. |
| 1965 |
Company expands its warehouse at
945 Bryant Street, constructing a new building on Bryant Street adjacent to the 945 building.
945 Bryant is used as a set for the film Once a Thief, featuring Ann-Margaret, Jack Palance, Van Heflin, and Alain Delon. |
| 1966 |
Company president
Bill Meuser
dies.
C. Douglas Williams
is elected by the Board of Directors as President and Chief Executive Officer of P.E. O'Hair & Co.
A new facility opens in Fresno, replacing the store opened in 1914. |
| 1974 |
Board of Directors revises bylaws to authorize issuance of 200,000 shares at par value of $10.00 per share. Aggregate par value increases from $1.25 million to $2 million.
Board of Directors authorizes merger of P.E. O'Hair & Co. with Western Plumbing Supply and O'Hair Supply. |
| 1975 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. builds new facilities in Pittsburg and Salinas, California. |
| 1979 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. converts a portion of its 945 Bryant warehouse to office space to accommodate its expanded data processing needs. |
| 1981 | Doug Williams retires. Kevin Krausgrill, a great-grandson of P.E. O'Hair, is elected by the Board of Directors as the sixth President of the company. |
| 1982 |
P.E. O'Hair & Co. builds new facilities in
Fresno
and
Santa Rosa.
Board of Directors authorizes 10:1 stock split, allowing issuance of 2,000,000 shares at a par value of $1.00 per share. Company headquarters relocates to 840 Brannan Street. |
| 1983 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. opens a new branch in Bakersfield. |
| 1984 |
The Board of Directors receives an offer to purchase all assets of P.E. O'Hair & Co.
Management team developes five year business and marketing plans to guide the company's growth. New branches open in Santa Maria and Fresno |
| 1985 |
President and CEO Kevin Krausgrill forms a Management Committee of officers to oversee development of middle management and Company-wide unified training.
P.E. O'Hair & Co. has a net worth of over $34 million. Annual sales are over $120 million. The Board of Directors receives offers to purchase all assets of P.E. O'Hair & Co. P.E. O'Hair & Co. opens a San Bernardino branch by purchasing "Pipe N' Stuff". |
| 1986 | Board of Directors amends bylaws, authorizing appointment of between eight (8) and eleven (11) directors. |
| 1988 | P.E. O'Hair & Co. is sold on August 31 to United Westburne Industries, Inc. of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. P.E. O'Hair & Co. retains its name and becomes an independent subsidiary of United Westburne. The P.E. O'Hair & Co. management team continues to operate the business. P.E. O'Hair & Co. has 14 branches and 460 employees, with projected annual sales of $160 million. |
| 1989 | Cora O'Hair Escalle, the last living child of P.E. O'Hair, dies in San Francisco at the age of eighty-six. |
| 1990 | United Westburne restructures P.E. O'Hair & Co. Westburne adds stores in Tempe, Arizona, Denver and Grand Junction, Colorado, and Albuquerque and Santa Fe, New Mexico to the P.E. O'Hair & Co. name. Westburne also reduces the number of officers at P.E. O'Hair & Co. Westburne begins a multi-year effort of consolidating branches and integrating P.E. O'Hair & Co. with its other plumbing supply affiliates. |
| 1997 | United Westburne discontinues use of the P.E. O'Hair & Co. name. All locations assume the Westburne Supply name. |
| 2000 | United Westburne is acquired by the Rexel Group, itself a subsidiary of Pinault-Printemps-Redoute. Westburne Supply, now a subsidiary of Rexel, continues to operate eight former P.E. O'Hair & Co. branches: Bakersfield, Redding, Redwood City. Sacramento, Salinas, Santa Maria, Santa Rosa, and Stockton. |
| 2001 | Rexel Group sells Westburne Supply to Wolseley plc (Reading, England) for approximately $600 million. Wolseley operates Westburne through its Ferguson Supply subsidiary. |