Company History
In 1945, R.B. (Bill) and Pearl Gilmore sold their house and scraped together everything they owned to buy the Medina Trucking Company of Sunnyvale. The company was renamed Sunnyvale Transportation Services (STS) and managed by Bill and Pearl from a small house on the back of the property. STS's main business came from transporting fruit for the canneries, and in the slow season from hauling cement. In order to get the most out of its trucks, STS began to buy lumber and bring it into Sunnyvale on "backhauls." This lumber was then sold in truck and trailer quantities on a wholesale basis. Lumber wholesaling became so profitable, that within a couple of years it became their primary business.
After a few years of successful wholesaling, STS recognized a need for job site delivery of packaged lumber. To meet this need, they began to bid projects for local builders and became established as a contractor lumberyard. The lumber operations became so successful that trucking (with the exception of hauling lumber) was discontinued, and the name was changed to Sunnyvale Lumber Sales. In the years that followed, the Gilmore family worked hard to make Sunnyvale Lumber Sales the premiere building material supplier in Sunnyvale.
In 1964, they incorporated and became officially known as Sunnyvale Lumber, Inc. The latter half of the 70's was a difficult time. Growth was sluggish and competition was getting fierce. This continued into the early 80's and the Bay Area housing market fell deep into recession. Sales plummeted, but through the hard work and dedication of Roy and Diane Gilmore, the Company was able to stay profitable and weathered the storm.
In 1983, the Roberts family took over the business and set out to reestablish Sunnyvale Lumber. We brought in some new faces, revitalized an aging fleet of trucks and equipment, and automated our information processing system. These enhancements allowed us to grow at an incredible rate, and sales tripled in just four years.
Today, Sunnyvale lumber is a prominent name in residential building material supply. We are well positioned in the marketplace to effectively serve the needs of our customers. It is our intention to be the best supplier of residential building materials in the Bay Area.
