For Friedman’s Home Improvement, both shopping local AND giving local is a way of life. Nonprofits, teams, schools, and organizations for seniors can all count on Friedman’s for support and advocacy.
At COTS, Friedman’s has been a mainstay of our programs for families with children since our very earliest days. Not only does Friedman’s fund COTS generously, the company provides us with free and discounted materials and lots of skilled volunteer labor. If you want a volunteer who knows how to paint, repair and build, recruit from your local family-owned home improvement store!
We also appreciate Friedman’s visits to check out how we’re doing. They are truly interested in how we help homeless kids and parents regain housing. We love the fact that they regularly donate advertisements on KZST for us. And we could never put on our Thanksgiving feasts without Friedman’s annual avalanche of turkeys. Next time you’re behind a green Friedman’s truck on the freeway, imagine it full of turkeys and you’ll get an idea of how much we depend on them every November.
We’re not alone in our gratitude. Jane Hamilton, the Executive Director of Rebuilding Together, has counted on Friedman’s for over a decade. “They are a solid community partner,”’ she says. So far in 2020 alone, when several of her projects had to be postponed, Friedman’s funded a host of Rebuilding Together projects, including home repairs and accessibility alterations for an 82-year-old widow, a veteran with physical challenges, and a man who is paraplegic. “Friedman’s is a true Hometown Hero, always there to give back to the community” Jane says. And Jane is one of many nonprofit leaders eager to sing Friedman’s praises.
We at COTS are proud of our 32-year history, but Friedman’s has us beat by more than 40 years. The first store was founded by Joe and Benny Friedman, two brothers who came home to Petaluma from World War II. Benny’s son Bill Friedman took the helm in the 1980s. Barry Friedman, Bill’s son and Benny’s grandson, became CEO in 2013.
The company has grown to include four North Bay Area retail stores and extensive facilities and services for contractors. Much of its expansion has taken place in recent years with the reopening of the Petaluma location in 2014 and opening of the Distribution Yard in 2018, which helped the company increase its offerings to the region’s contractors and support the vast building efforts needed here over the next decade.
Friedman’s has played a role in the North Bay’s recovery from fires and floods—and, now, a pandemic.
As an essential business, all of the Friedman’s Home Improvement stores remain open during the pandemic. Like all essential businesses, they’ve had to adopt new safety practices and incur new costs. “The pandemic has made it abundantly clear what is important: the people in our lives, our families and basic human needs. At Friedman’s our mission is to deliver the human side of home improvement,” Barry says.
When asked why his family company gives so widely and so generously, he says simply, “Friedman’s believes in supporting the community that has supported us for 74 years.”
And community involvement is more important than ever, Barry says. “Supporting each other, our team, our customers and our community: we are people helping people.” The pandemic offers a unique opportunity, Barry says, “to truly understand what it means to be a community, celebrating our differences and finding the common threads that unite us all. We are in this together.”
Thank you, Friedman’s Home Improvement!
Want to read more stories about our business sponsors? Visit our Business Gives Back homepage by clicking here!
Share this story with your friends and family: