Stahl's Company History Stahl's Nursery was started in the fall of 1958 by Paul Stahl. He started his nursery with a few shrubs, a station wagon and a small trailer. He had been a top seller with Stuart Nurseries, a door-to-door sales company, but left the company to move to Ohio.
While trying to start his nursery, Paul began working for Kaiser Aluminum, from which he retired 28 years later. He would trade for evening and midnight shifts with the other employees so he could operate his nursery during the day. He purchased a corner lot and house from his in-laws on which he began his nursery. He started out selling lawn mowers and equipment as well as nursery stock. He later added concrete statuary and fountains.
In 1975, his son Tom joined the business after graduating from LaRoche College in Pittsburgh with a BA degree in graphic arts. He became the landscape designer for the company and also managed the landscape crews. On the side, Tom also started the Gallery of Arts, a collection of paintings and lithographs that he had created. Tom's wife, Sharon, joined the company after the birth of their first child in 1981. She took over the bookkeeping and helped with sales. Later that year, Paul's wife, Helen, decided to begin a year round Christmas shop. It has over 30 fully decorated trees each with its own theme.
The company has increased in size over the last several years to include a 45 acre farm, another 2-1/2 acres for the garden center as well as the Christmas shop and gallery. Tom and Sharon currently manage the garden center and Christmas shop, but Paul is still very active taking part in all of the day to day activities.
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