A-Boy Supply is a chain of plumbing and electrical supply stores located in the Pacific Northwest United States. This privately held company is headquartered in Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

. The company has 5 stores in Oregon. They specialize in plumbing and electrical supplies, but they also have a mix of products similar to a neighborhood hardware store. The largest A-Boy store is the Barbur location and it also has a seasonal plant nursery, and lumber. They also sell a limited selection of their product line, mostly faucets, via their website.

History

A-Boy Supply was founded by John Dolan in 1960 in a former grocery store in southeast Portland, Oregon. They first sold plumbing fixtures, electrical supplies and appliances. Lighting products and lighting supplies were added later. In 1962 he opened a second store in Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Milton-Freewater is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The city received its current name in 1951 when the neighboring rival cities of Milton and Freewater voted to merge. The population was 6,470 at the 2000 census...

- 300 miles away from the first store in Portland, Oregon. Although the store did well, distance made management difficult and, in 1969, John sold it.

The family then directed focus on developing stores in the Portland metro area beginning with a store in Tigard, Oregon

Tigard, Oregon

Tigard is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States. The population was 48,035 at the 2010 census. As of 2007, Tigard was the state's 12th largest city. Incorporated in 1961, the city is located south of Beaverton and north of Tualatin, and is part of the Portland metropolitan area...

. In November 1975, 2 stores were opened. One in Beaverton, Oregon

Beaverton, Oregon

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley.As of the 2010 census, the population is 90,267. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city...

, and one in the Northeast Portland Hollywood neighborhood. The Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

 store opened just in time for the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, a stratovolcano located in Washington state, in the United States, was a major volcanic eruption. The eruption was the only significant one to occur in the contiguous 48 U.S. states since the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak in California...

. The Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro, Oregon

Hillsboro is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and is the county seat of Washington County. Lying in the Tualatin Valley on the west side of the Portland metropolitan area, the city is home to many high-technology companies, such as Intel, that compose what has become known as the...

 store was opened in 1984 and the Portland Northwest Vaughn Street store in 1996.

In July 2009, two months after announcing plans to liquidate their stores, the president of A-Boy Supply Co. bought out his family members and reopened 5 of the company's 6 stores, all of the Oregon locations.

Supreme Court Case: Dolan v. City of Tigard

A 1991 application to the City of Tigard to redevelop the Tigard A-Boy store site was halted due to a dispute with the city of Tigard. After John Dolan died in 1993, his wife Florence Dolan pursued the case to the US Supreme Court. In June 1994, she won the Supreme Court decision Dolan v. City of Tigard

Dolan v. City of Tigard

Dolan v. City of Tigard, , more commonly Dolan v. Tigard, was a United States Supreme Court case argued before the Court in 1994. It was a landmark case regarding the practice of zoning and property rights, and served to establish limits on the ability of cities and other government agencies, to...

, that found the City of Tigard in violation of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...

.

After the court victory, and a delay in collecting restitution from the city, the new store was completed in 1999.