Joseph A. Hardy

Joseph A. Hardy III (born January 7, 1923) is an entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of 84 Lumber Company and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort.

Joseph Alexander Hardy was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a son of Norman and Katherine Hardy, middle class parents in the jewelry business. In 1946, he began working for his father in the jewelry store, Hardy & Hayes. During the four years he worked there, he attended the University of Pittsburgh as a part time student and earned a degree in Industrial Engineering. To gain supplemental income to support himself in college and a growing family, he sold fresh fruit door to door.

After Hardy graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in industrial engineering, he took the advice of a close friend and opened the Green Hills Lumber Company, with his brothers Norman and Bob in 1946. In 1955 Joe left Green Hills Lumber Company to experiment with other projects including prefabricated homes and real estate. But in 1956, Hardy, again with his brothers opened a “cash and carry” lumber yard in the rural town of Eighty Four, Pennsylvania. Hardy liked the name of the small town and decided to name his new company 84 Lumber.

Throughout the 1960’s, 84 Lumber continued to expand locations. This was accomplished largely by keeping overhead low and adopting a 'no frills' warehouse-style approach to most of its stores (many of which are unheated, even in cold-climate locations), as most of its clients were commercial customers not overly concerned with aesthetics or the like. However, as new home construction waned in recent years, some stores have taken on more of a look and feel to appeal to retail customers.

During the 1970’s, 84 Lumber’s business grew and opened 229 stores. In 1984, the company undertook an expansion plan to open at least 30 new stores. Along with grand openings, stores were remodeled and renovated from no-frills lumber yards to new and improved building materials stores. In 1987, as the improvement plan generated success, the business opened their strict policy of cash-and-carry to options of using credit.

In 1992, after 34 years of running the company, Joe Hardy handed the daily responsibility of 84 Lumber to his daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, who had served as Executive Vice President. The company continued to expand, opening its 400th store in 1997.

With Hardy Magerko as leader, 84 Lumber began targeting construction customers and thus added a professional sales force, consisting of 450 new sales representatives, to the team. While this proved to be successful, the company was still facing stiff competition from big-box retail stores and saw the need to expand into the growing do-it-yourselfers crowd.

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