The Brickyard > Family Owned and Operated
So what your family owned?
Lots of companies claim to be family owned & operated. What does that really
mean? Well, in today's market of BIG BOX stores it is nearly impossible to
get the service you want and, when making major home decisions, the service
that you NEED. Back in the "Good Old Days" as my Dad likes to call them, all
you had to do was stay true to your word to get repeat business. Today, you
have to hustle a little more for business, but our 50 year old motto still
rings true. Take care of your customer.
My grandfather, the original founder of Badger Blocks in Los Angeles,
California was born in 1908 in Ashland, Wisconsin. Stanley E. Johnson grew
up on a farm and then received his engineering degree at the University of
Wisconsin. In his very late 20's he joined the US Army. While serving, he
became a mining engineer and, spent 2 ½ years as a POW in World War 2. Upon
returning home, he found that my Grandmother, Ruth Marjory Thomas (yes, she
was quite independent) Johnson had invested all the money she had been
getting from the military into apartment buildings. He then left the
military and started making block in 1948. He opened the first yard in 1951
in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California. It is still there today.
My father, Mike Johnson, returned home from Vietnam in 1971. After a few
months of uncertainty, he decided to learn the block business as well. In
1974, he married Maureen Gant and joined my Grandfather in supplying masonry
to Los Angeles County throughout the 1980's. In 1986, their curiosity
brought them to the Grand Valley to take a look at a masonry supply retailer
in Grand Junction, Colorado. I very distinctly remember my Dad saying,
Girls, we are moving to Grand Junction in 5 years. I was like.."Yeah right
Dad, WHATEVER!" (Come on- I was a Valley Girl in the 80's!) So, to my 15
year old dismay, 5 years later we moved to Grand Junction and opened the
Brickyard. Thank goodness they got us out of L.A. in one piece!
In 1990, we
purchased an old, run down block plant on D Road where today, we are capable
of making 3 million masonry units per year. Our business has continued to
grow through the years, with our newest yard opening up in Montrose,
Colorado in April of 2004. My sister and I are the 3rd generation of this
business. Upon returning from Germany for an overseas military tour, my
husband Shawn, daughter Brooklyn and I have recently come back to Grand
Junction to learn the family business. So far, it is proving challenging and
rewarding to be part of such a family tradition.
SO! Now that you know a little about us, you can understand why we are so
dedicated to the business of block, masonry & helping families make their
houses into homes. When you think about masonry & landscape, think of us and
"Put the BRICKYARD in YOUR yard."
SUPPLIER LIST:
- Acme Brick
- ClayPave (Austrailia)
- Coronado Stone Products
- Davis Color
- Diedrich Masonry Cleaners & Restorers
- Dur-a-Wall Reinforcing
- Endicott Brick
- EZ Mix Cement
- Glaze n' Seal
- Goldblatt Tools
- Holcim Cement
- Interstate Brick
- Lakewood Brick
- Marshalltown Masonry Tools
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- Pavestone
- Pittsburgh-Corning
- Proseco Cleaning Products
- Quikrete Cement
- Rockwood
- Rose Masonry Tools
- Rumford Fireplace Supplies
- Smith & Crick Levels
- Stone Construction Equipment
- Summit Brick
- Sunset Stone
- Target Saws
- Techni-Seal
- Versa-lok
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