About Brickyard Masonry and Landscape Supply

So what, you’re family owned?

Lots of companies claim to be family owned & operated. What does that really mean? Well, in today’s market of BIG BOX stores it is nearly impossible to get the service you want and, when making major home decisions, the service that you NEED. Back in the “Good Old Days” as my Dad likes to call them, all you had to do was stay true to your word to get repeat business. Today, you have to hustle a little more for business, but our 50 year old motto still rings true. Take care of your customer.

My grandfather, the original founder of Badger Blocks in Los Angeles, California was born in 1908 in Ashland, Wisconsin. Stanley E. Johnson grew up on a farm and then received his engineering degree at the University of Wisconsin. In his very late 20’s he joined the US Army. While serving, he became a mining engineer and, spent 2 ½ years as a POW in World War 2. Upon returning home, he found that my Grandmother, Ruth Marjory Thomas (yes, she was quite independent) Johnson had invested all the money she had been getting from the military into apartment buildings.  He then left the military and started making block in 1948. He opened the first yard in 1951 in the San Fernando Valley of Southern California. It is still there today.

My father, Mike Johnson, returned home from Vietnam in 1971. After a few months of uncertainty, he decided to learn the block business as well. In 1974, he married Maureen Gant and joined my Grandfather in supplying masonry to Los Angeles County throughout the 1980’s. In 1986, their curiosity brought them to the Grand Valley to take a look at a masonry supply retailer in Grand Junction, Colorado. I very distinctly remember my Dad saying, Girls, we are moving to Grand Junction in 5 years. I was like..”Yeah right Dad, WHATEVER!” (Come on- I was a Valley Girl in the 80’s!) So, to my 15 year old dismay, 5 years later we moved to Grand Junction and opened the Brickyard. Thank goodness they got us out of L.A. in one piece!

In 1990, we purchased an old, run down block plant on D Road where today, we are capable of making 3 million masonry units per year. Our business has continued to grow through the years, with our newest yard opening up in Montrose, Colorado in April of 2004. My sister and I are the 3rd generation of this business. Upon returning from Germany for an overseas military tour, my husband Shawn, daughter Brooklyn and I have recently come back to Grand Junction to learn the family business. So far, it is proving challenging and rewarding to be part of such a family tradition.

SO! Now that you know a little about us, you can understand why we are so dedicated to the business of block, masonry & helping families make their houses into homes. When you think about masonry & landscape, think of us and “Put the BRICKYARD in YOUR yard.”