Founded in 1956[2] by Joseph Hardy, it derives its name from the unincorporated village of Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, a census-designated place 20 miles (32 km) south of Pittsburgh, where its headquarters are located.

[3] As of June 2020, 84 Lumber owns and operates over 250 stores in 30 states throughout the country; the company has more than 5,600 employees and generates in excess of $3.9 billion in annual revenue.

[5][citation needed] The company's stores carry a variety of materials including siding, decking, windows and trim, roofing and trusses.

This was accomplished largely by keeping overhead low and adopting a 'no frills' warehouse-style approach to most of its stores (many of which were unheated, even in cold-climate locations), as most of its clients were commercial customers not overly concerned with aesthetics.

In 1987, as the improvement plan generated success, the business opened its strict policy of cash-and-carry to options of using credit.

[7] With a new leader, 84 Lumber continued to expand and reached $1 billion in sales for the first time in 1993 and opened its 400th store in 1997 in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.

The advertisement chronicled the visibly arduous journey of a mother and daughter migrating from Mexico to the United States, to be then blocked by a border wall.

[15][16][17] The ad was controversial even before its premiere; prior to the game, Super Bowl LI's broadcaster Fox rejected a version of the ad that contained the border wall scene, as they felt the imagery was too politically sensitive (newly inaugurated U.S. President Donald Trump promised the construction of a wall along the entire Mexico–United States border).

[25] The Boy Scouts, Justin Jennings Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, Musicians' Village, Red Cross, and United Way are among the organizations and individuals 84 Lumber has supported over the years.

The same year, the company launched a national partnership with the Fisher House Foundation to show its continued support for military veterans and their families.