Pat Farrah

[1] Dropping out of junior college in the first year, in 1962 he took a job at National Lumber and Supply Company in the Los Angeles Area.

As the company grew into a small chain, he worked his way up from stock boy to executive vice president and general manager of National Lumber and Supply.

[2] With a background in merchandising, Farrah in 1978 started his own big box home improvement retailer called Homeco.

At the time, Bernard Marcus and Arthur Blank wanted to start a company that eventually became Home Depot.

On seeing Homeco, Marcus realized that Farrah shared the same vision he had for a big box retailer.