The History of Hoskin & Muir
By Don Ross, President

In 1946 Ed Hoskin hauled a trailer load of decorative aluminum (counter edging, Formica caps, mirror and carpet molding, etc.) purchased from the William L. Bonnell company in Youngstown, Ohio, to San Francisco, California. He struggled along wholesaling the trim for a couple of years, advertised for a financial partner, and one day, Dennis Muir showed up on his doorstep. They formed a partnership and in 1948, Hoskin & Muir was born. For the next several years Ed worked inside answering the phones and packing and invoicing the orders and Mr. Muir hit the road drumming up business. By the way, Dennis Muir was probably the most unforgettable character I've ever known. A native New Zealander (he carried a green card all his life), brilliant (a doctorate of law from the University of London), trial lawyer, an entrepreneur who made his fortune in the outback of Australia during the depression but lost it all at the beginning of WWII, author of a bestselling novel, etc. In 1956 Mr. Muir (we always addressed him formally) bought Ed Hoskin out of the partnership and the business continued successfully for many years.

In the fall of 1970, Mr. Muir advertised in the Wall Street Journal for a salesman partner - someone to succeed him in the business. I, a 29 year old ex-Apollo aerospace engineer, showed up on his doorstep. I and many others were put through a series of competitive exams, extensive interviews, etc., and in four months I was offered the position. For the next fifteen years we sold lots of aluminum trim from Aga'a, Guam to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I was on the road, Al Johnson (now in our Louisville facility) worked the order desk and Wes DeSoto (also in Louisville) packed the orders. Our customers included hardware stores and lumber yards, floor covering shops, glass houses, and various building subcontractors.

In the mid 1980's, we started selling aluminum to shower door manufacturers and this segment of our business became increasingly important to us. In 1993 we had a falling out with our largest customer, a shower door manufacturer, which inspired us to go into that business. We formed a partnership with another customer, Arizona Shower Door out of Phoenix, and started selling their product outside the state of Arizona. Mikel Kinser (Livermore) landed Height's Glass in Chicago as a customer in 1994, which led me to think - if we can effectively service a large mid-western account out of Livermore, how much eastern U.S. business could we get if we had an eastern location? I talked with our extrusion supplier, Cardinal Aluminum, and they suggested Louisville would be the perfect location.

In January of 1995 I moved to Louisville and together with Doc (James Dachenhaus in Livermore), built storage racks bought and installed fabrication equipment, and loaded in inventory. Business in Louisville took off quickly thanks to many people, but especially Curtis Young, the best inside sales guy I've ever known and Wes DeSoto, who ran the shop. We bought Arizona Shower Door out of the partnership in 1996 and started adding distribution facilities: Cerritos and Texas in 1999, Hawaii in 2003, and Boston and Sparks in 2004. In 2007 we added a glass fabrication and tempering facility, a powder-coat line, and a kiln for making cast glass. Today, Cardinal Shower Enclosures is not only one of the largest shower door manufacturers in the country, but is highly respected as being the most progressive and innovative company in the business.

Now, Hoskin & Muir has the largest stock of decorative aluminum extrusions in the country. With a wide range of finishes, we've got what you need. Last fall we built a powder-coat line in our Louisville office to provide custom powder-coating to our customers. All our stock extrusions are now available to order online. With a huge inventory and excellent customer service, Hoskin & Muir has what you're looking for. Call us today! 800.826.2577