Company History

How We Started

H & G Sales, Inc. was founded on a simple philosophy: to develop better methods of getting materials to customers on time. Its founders, Irv Hill and Don Guenther, achieved this goal with the help of another skilled and experienced hollow metal expert, David Buehrer.

Today, forty years later, their vision continues to help the company maintain its position as one of the most successful door and hardware distributors and fabricators in the nation.

Founded in St. Louis in 1967, H & G Sales operated out of a small warehouse in Westport Industrial Park, fabricating and distributing hollow metal doors and frames. The company was small, which provided plenty of room for growth through the sale of standard profile doorframes, steel doors and hardware.

At the time, many architects specified custom-made frames which mandated long lead times. To make matters worse, custom frames that had to be shipped long distances by truck, often incurred damages. Project delays were common. If the architect modified a design after materials had been ordered, delivery was expected to be delayed even further.

How We Succeeded

H & G realized that shifting from custom-manufactured products to customized standard frames would eliminate many problems inherent in made-to-order products. The centralized location of the shop in St. Louis provided customers with a local source for doors, frames and hardware, and eliminated shipping delays and damages.

H & G clients who recognized the value of this arrangement included Shell Oil Company, who used products in service stations across the nation, and the Red Lobster restaurant chain that eventually ordered product for more than 500 restaurants.

H & G cut its teeth on the challenges associated with these sales and became even more efficient. Once a system was developed, the company only needed to know if a building was a right-hand or left-hand structure in order to supply product on time and on spec.

Eventually H & G won significant projects from commercial giants like Anheuser-Busch, McDonnell Douglas, Monsanto, Mallinckrodt and the Salk Institute. In 1982, the company moved from its warehouse on Fee Fee Road to its present 45,000 square foot facility on Lackland Road.

Where We Are Now

Today H & G is a nationally recognized leader in the door and hardware industry, with the largest hollow metal shop in the Midwest. Marketing products by the world's leading manufacturers including the Assa Abloy Group, Ingersoll-Rand, Marshfield Door Systems, and others. Its once cutting-edge approach has been further refined and has become the construction industry standard by which all others are measured.

Good judgment, good ideas, and vision still power the company, as evidenced by the acquisition of new technology. In 2004 H & G hired a full-time security products integrator and acquired Schultz Door, a 78-year old company that services and installs automatic swinging and sliding doors, revolving doors and ADA low-energy operators. These strategic initiatives positioned H & G to handle all the electronic security needs of its commercial and industrial customers.

Mr. Hill and Mr. Buehrer remain active, serving as Board Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. They assist the operating team in training sales and engineering personnel. Customers may even get a call from Irv Hill or Dave Buehrer regarding the progress or technical details of a project.