Grossman's Inc history

In 1927 L. Grossman and Son's purchased the wreck of a large five-masted schooner, the Nancy, that had run up on the beach at Nantasket.

His first major coup came in the wake of the 1938 hurricane that devastated New England, killing hundreds of people and felling millions of trees.

The company formed the Grossman Surplus Company in 1946 and purchased a one-hundred acre site in Braintree, Massachusetts, to store unused war supplies.

By the time he took charge of the company in 1948 he had already established his reputation for turning disaster into profit.

In 1950 the company bought the 240 buildings of Passamaquoddy, an abandoned Seabee camp, which it attempted to restore to usefulness.

In 1954 the company took over the abandoned mill property of the Goodall-Sanford textile mills in Sanford, Maine, and found new tenants for the space within a year, thus ensuring the town’s economic stability.

In 1958 Grossman's embarked on a new campaign to expand the market for home improvement supplies, coining the slogan, "Do It Yourself--Or We'll Do It For You." The company hoped to entice those novice homeowners who were uncomfortable with tools and projects to turn to Grossman's for assistance.

When it was sold in 1969, it had stores in seven states from Maine to New York.

By 1980 the company’s corporate parent had attracted the attention of corporate raider Victor Posner, who began to purchase stock in Evans through Sharon Steel, a company that he controlled.

Bianco, Anthony, “Victor Posner Isn’t Sitting Pretty Now,” Business Week, March 25, 1985.

Throughout 1986 Evans struggled to emerge from bankruptcy.

In 1987 Grossman's benefitted from a robust economy in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, its primary stronghold.

By 1988 the company had established a prototype store in Hanover, Massachusetts, for its $75 million remodeling plan, which included a much wider array of merchandise and features designed to attract female shoppers.

In February 1989 the company announced that it might sell off all or part of its operations.

In 1993 the company announced that it would expand its Contractor's Warehouse concept to the Midwest.