Stove in the Shed

Leonard did.

Leonard grew up in Saskatchewan … on a farm where neighbours helped neighbours … and shared their tools … after getting several degrees, Leonard ended up with a great job .. working for the civil service in Ottawa … and it was great until it wasn’t … by age 40 Leonard hated it … especially the fact that many of his colleagues were counting down the many years until they could retire … Leonard didn’t want that at all but didn’t know what to do … so in his spare time he tinkered .. one day he decided to build a cast iron stove to heat the shed on his farm, a stove like they had in the old days … well then he had a thought … maybe others might like the stoves too … so he started a little mail order business .. and pretty soon quit his government job to work on it full-time … and then Leonard added tools and gadgets that he wanted but couldn’t find elsewhere .. and started to make his own ones too. Leonard figured one day he might end up with 15 employees … employees he’d share 25% of his profits with. He was wrong.

Today, over 40 years later, the business Leonard Lee started in Ottawa now operates 20 retail locations nationwide, has annual sales of over $150 million … and its over 850 employees still share 25% of the profits … and its still named after him and what he loved to sell .. Lee Valley Tools.

Lee Valley Tools is a great idea because treating your employees right helps them treat your clients right and that is just good business.