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Ganahl Lumber Spans 126 Years, Five Generations
Anaheim-based Ganahl Lumber Co. dates back to 1884, when Austrian immigrant brothers Christian and Frank Ganahl bought $1 tickets from St. Louis to Los Angeles to get in on Southern California's building boom.
Flash forward to today, and brothers Peter and John Ganahl run the lumber business their great great uncle started more than a century ago.
Peter is Ganahl Lumber's president. John is chief financial officer.
Their company was honored with the longevity award at the annual Family Owned Business Awards lunch hosted by the Business Journal and California State University, Fullerton's Family Business Council on Nov. 1 8 at the Hyatt Regency Irvine.
The company's founders "saw past the orange trees and into the forest," Peter said as he accepted the award.
Ganahl Lumber runs eight home improvement stores in Orange County and Corona. A ninth store is planned for Pasadena next year - a bit of a throwback for the company, which at one time counted several lumber yards in the LA. area.
The company has 525 workers, including four Ganahl family members
The story of the company goes something like this.
After moving to Los Angeles, Christian Ganahl bought a lumber company and called it C. Ganahl Lumber Co.
After several years of product additions and ownership changes, the company became Ganahl Lumber Co. in 1 964.
Peter and John, two of eight children, grew up in the business, sweeping floors and doing other chores.
John, who's known as John...