Our History

Our History

Carl Trostel founded his lumber company in Fort Collins' original business district in 1929. The flagship store, on Linden Street, supplied lumber and building materials to the growing Northern Colorado construction industry. Bob Sears, son-in-law of Mr. Trostel, took over management and operations in 1948, and for the next 30 years, ownership remained with the Sears family as the company became a mainstay of the downtown business community.

In 1981, two employees, Steve Schwartz and Curt Viehmeyer, purchased Sears Trostel Lumber from the Sears family and began to transform the company. The partners recognized and responded to a growing need for quality hardwood lumber and sheet goods along the Front Range and in mountain communities, and restructured the company to better meet demand. This resulted in a dramatic expansion of the company's moulding inventory and custom millwork services throughout the 1980s.

Strategic Growth

By the early 1990s, Sears Trostel embarked on an aggressive expansion strategy to serve a growing region beyond Fort Collins, and in April 1994, opened a 40,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art lumber distribution and moulding manufacturing facility on Airpark Drive in Fort Collins. Winter 2004 saw the relocation of the original Old Town location to a larger facility at 1500 Riverside Avenue. 

Now employing over 50 people, Sears Trostel offers an array of products and services to customers throughout Colorado, Wyoming, and parts of Nebraska. The company's offering includes quality custom millwork, hardwood and softwood lumber, sheet goods, urban and reclaimed lumber, hand and power tools, woodworking supplies and more. The company's Lean Manufacturing millwork facility is unmatched in the region, and its customer-focused delivery systems allow the highest quality custom mouldings to be delivered in the fastest, most efficient manner possible.

A Lasting Legacy

Northern Colorado has changed dramatically since 1929 and Sears Trostel continues to be a mainstay of a growing region, with a commitment to quality and service that has remained unchanged since day one.