page_title: Menards
section_title: Company history
hierarchical_section_title: Menards / Company history
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of US States with Menards Stores
context_page_description: Menards is a chain of home improvement stores located in the Midwestern United States, owned by founder John Menard Jr. and Nick Orr through his privately held company, Menard, Inc.
  The company, headquartered in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, has 350 stores in 15 states: Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Kentucky, and West Virginia. It is the third-largest home improvement chain in the United States, behind Lowe's and The Home Depot.
context_section_description: In 1959, John Menard Jr. began building post-frame buildings to finance his college education. By the end of 1959, he found it necessary to hire extra crews, and to purchase more equipment to keep up with demand. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 1962, Menard purchased land in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and built an office and shop.  The company was founded in 1960  and incorporated in 1962.
  Menards was founded as Menard Cashway Lumber. In the mid-1980s, the "Cashway Lumber" name was dropped and the business became simply known to this day as Menards.
  In 2007, Menards opened its third and fourth distribution centers in Holiday City, Ohio, and Shelby, Iowa, which are 669,000 square feet (62,200 m²) and 735,000 square feet (68,300 m²), respectively.
caption: States with Menards stores
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