Howard and his brother Leo Murray grew up in Hayward, CA and started working as plumbers at a very young age. It was after World War II when Howard moved to Humboldt County to become a dairy farmer, but soon saw a greater opportunity in the plumbing industry. Fortuna was beginning to do away with wood-burning stoves by installing natural gas lines across town. Howard grabbed at the chance to devel
op a plumbing company and called Leo to join him. The Wyckoff's Plumbing original store was located on Main Street (now Beverage Plus) and opened on September 1st, 1952. Eventually, Howard wanted to step away from the business, so Leo Murray stepped in and bought the business from his brother. Two days after Leo purchased the company, the store was destroyed in a fire. Leo began to rebuild, gearing his business for the do-it-yourselfer and carried large selections of plumbing, hardware and electrical supplies and equipment. In 1978, Leo moved his business to our current location where he built a solid reputation for quality and customer service. Leo’s business has expanded to another location in Redway, CA where we offer the same customer service and products to our Southern Humboldt customers. Leo Murray’s grandson, Ryan Reback, followed in Leo’s footsteps and began working at Wyckoff’s at the age of 14 where he started off cleaning the store, stocking shelves, cleaning toilets, mopping floors, emptying trash and helping customers. Leo was sure to make Ryan earn his place in the business so he started him from the bottom trenches and made him work his way up. Ryan wouldn’t ask any of his employees to do something that he hasn’t done or experienced himself. He later trained to be a plumber and run the septic truck. Ryan is now the owner of Wyckoff’s plumbing and expects the same hard work from his employees. Wyckoff’s has evolved from its 1948 business of just one plumber, to operating two fully stocked retail stores, a septic tank pumping business and six highly qualified plumbers. We strive to provide quality service at a reasonable price to help the do-it-yourselfers be successful in all projects.
