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 Serving You Since 1884 |
Company History
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When Neil McPhail opened his livery stable back in 1884, he never dreamed that it was the beginning of a company that would grow to become a multimillion dollar corporation that would deal in appliances electronics, fuel, building materials, heating, sheet metal and contractors’ supplies. In 1884 founder Neil McPhail, a Canadian of Scotch ancestry, opened a livery stable in San Rafael. Teams of McPhail’s horses transported railroad and PG&E work crews as well as the fashionable visitors from San Francisco vacationing at the Hotel Rafael. |
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In 1924, when use of the automobile caused the livery business to decline, Neil’s sons, John and Graham, joined him in creating the McPhail Fuel Company. With a power-driven saw and a Model "T" Truck, they cut and delivered wood to Marin County homes. Coal was soon added to their fuel supply, and by 1927 fuel oi1 had become a major item
McPhail’s natural expansion to heating equipment and appliances occurred in the 1930’s, and about the same time the company purchased two other companies, Grady Building Materials and Checla Company, in order to balance out the seasonal fluctuations in sales and to provide year-round work for their employees.
McPhail’s first large ready-mix contract was to provide concrete materials for the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge and later for the gun emplacements which were built to protect the entrance to San Francisco Bay. Later, McPhail’s Ready-Mix was to provide concrete for both tunnels.
In 1939 McPhail’s constructed a ready-mix concrete plant to supply concrete for the new subdivisions being developed in Marin County after the completion of the Golden Gate Bridge. McPhail’s building supplies were used everywhere, and its concrete trucks rolled through Marin County during the great expansion of the late 1940’s and 1950’s.
McPhail’s continued its growth by purchasing an oil business in Santa Rosa and a heating and sheet metal business in Petaluma. It soon opened appliance stores in both of those communities.
The last expansion which founder Neil McPhail lived to see was the opening of the San Rafael appliance store and showroom in 1950. McPhail’s newest store included the latest merchandise to be added to the McPhail line – television.
During the next 20 years, McPhail’s built another ready- mix concrete plant in Novato, opened a heating and air conditioning shop in San Rafael and continued the conversion from fuel oil to propane.
In 1974, the company opened its 20,000 square foot Appliance Distribution Center In Petaluma.
In 1978, the company expanded its boundaries by opening a contractors’ appliance outlet in Sacramento. In 1980, it entered the South Bay market by acquiring Miller’s Appliances in San Jose. McPhail’s building materials outlets were expanded by its purchase of Nor-Cal Building Materials in Sonoma County in 1982.
In 1985, McPhail’s converted an old Santa Rosa automobile showroom into a high-tech appliance and electronics warehouse store, the largest of its kind in the north Bay area. McPhail’s was named "Business of the Year" in 1985 by the San Rafael Chamber of Commerce and the City of San Rafael in recognition of its contributions to the community.
McPhail’s ventured into another field in 1986 by developing the Marin Home Center in San Rafael, a 37,000 square foot shopping center devoted to retailers of select home improvement products.
In the summer of 1986, McPhail’s created Excel Distributing, a subsidiary, to distribute major lines of appliances to dealers In Northern California and Western Nevada.
On May 30, 1994, McPhail’s sold its Ready-Mix/Building Materials operations.
Future directions of McPhail’s include an orderly, well- planned expansion into markets similar to those in which the company has been successful.
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