Our New Factory

What was the new home of Pacific Hardware and Steel Company in 1910 is now the home of Schoolhouse Electric & Supply Company 101 years later!

The San Francisco based company needed an outpost in Portland, Oregon, for their growing hardware and tool business and so the heavy timber Douglas fir and brick structure was designed and built by notable Portland architect John Virginius Bennes.

The building went from hardware storage to wool storage - for the Columbia Wool Warehouse Company until 1918 - to paint supply storage for W.P. Fuller & Co. The most recent occupant was Coffee Bean International until our purchase in 2010.

Putting the past into perspective through the eyes of the building, Schoolhouse Electric was a natural fit! From hammers and bin pulls to wool blankets and throws, paint brushes, paint and coffee beans. How Portland! Where do I sign up?

We’re thrilled to take part in the Portland tradition of the Pacific Steel and Hardware Co. building - now known as the Schoolhouse Factory!