In 1964 Paul F. Willis started a company specializing in the installation of doors, frames and hardware. The company was Willis Contractors and Paul originally ran the business from his home in Anaheim, California. Paul’s son Wayne worked summers and weekends with his father until he graduated from college, joining the company full-time in 1971.
The business was a big success, and in 1972 began supplying finish material securing a small warehouse in Stanton. In 1974 a second warehouse was added as well as additional staff. The company became Willis Wood Products and a move was made into commercial construction. In 1976 the company incorporated and added a third warehouse.
In 1981 Willis Wood Products consolidated operations and moved to a new location in Anaheim, California with larger office and warehousing space as well as a secured materials yard. An early adopter of computer technology, the company began automating the business to allow for faster, more accurate project handling. They were at that time, serving four of the fastest growing counties in Southern California including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange and Riverside.
The company was growing quickly year-to-year and the Willis team was looking for opportunities to diversify and grow their commercial contracts. By the end of 1986 a new hardware division, Heritage Hardware, was added giving the company greater purchasing power. And in 1992 the opportunity was presented to supply material to a construction site outside of Anchorage, Alaska, a project that would prove to be a stepping-stone for other projects across the United States. Willis Wood Products continued to develop its commercial business lines with great success and in 1993 was awarded a two-year US Government contract to supply for the Lockheed Skunkworks facility in Palmdale, California.
By 1995 the California economy was deep in recession. Housing starts were down and a decision was made to re-locate to the Pacific Northwest. By the end of 1996 Willis Wood Products had opened a new facility in Sherwood, Oregon offering strictly commercial material sales.
The business grew rapidly, and in 1998, Wayne and Rosemary’s son Travis moved his family to Oregon to become a part of the company. By the year 2000, the Willis Wood Products name no longer accurately represented the products and services and the type of business the company had under contract, so the name was changed to Architectural Building Services and the company moved to a new, larger facility in Tualatin, Oregon.
Paul Willis passed away in 1978, but his legacy of honesty, integrity, and hard work has been passed down through each successive generation of the Willis family.
ABS continues to expand and improve to meet the needs of their customers, recently adding a new division, Commercial Building Supply, providing a complete line of Doors, Frames and Hardware for the Building Industry.
