(Written by Katelyn Squib for Stratford Beacon Herald, published March 2019)

 

In the spring of 1979, ED’S Concrete Products opened its doors as a proud family owned and operated business. With just one employee, in a small building on Erie Street, Ed began making ornaments and agriculture products for Stratford and the surrounding area.  After several years, the company moved to Lorne Ave and continued to manufacturer quality products, mostly by hand, and at this time began to offer landscape and interlock paving stones to their product line.

 

ED’S Concrete Products was continuing to grow and in 1996, the company bought 3 acres of land at their current location on Erie Street and things really began to take off. The company began to shift their focus to architectural precast products and residential stairs. Over the next several years they developed a standard line of architectural precast products that is still offered today. 

 

2009 brought a new opportunity for ED’S Concrete with the purchase of several apartment stair moulds. This purchase opened up a new market for the company allowing even more growth. The company also began offering bulk bags of aggregates, soils, and mulches for the local community and it was a instant hit!

 

With dreams of expanding even further and seeing what else the company could offer in the precast market, 2013 brought a plant expansion and the development of the now widely popular Chisel line of steps and stones that can be seen on houses across Perth County and beyond. 

 

More recently, the company has had great success in the ever growing market of site furnishings. This widely diverse market has allowed them to create a standard line of unique and functional concrete planters, benches, seats, and tables as well as recreational use products such as concrete ping pong tables and BBQ’s. 

 

Now, forty years since its start, the still family owned business has exploded onto the precast market as a leading manufacturer of architectural precast, site furnishings, residential steps, apartment stairs and custom precast products. Their reputation for quality workmanship has allowed them to expand their customer base across both Canada and the United States, with recent products being shipped to places such as San Jose California, New York City, Vancouver British Columbia, and St John’s Newfoundland.

 

From its humble beginnings, the company has now grown to include 35 full time, year round employees, a well equipped 22,000 sq ft manufacturing facility and 18 acres of land that is full of products ready to be shipped and sold. Each and every day the facility produces apartment stairs and landings, residential stairs, over 40 different chisel products and various site furnishing and architectural products. The concrete ornaments that once made up most to the sales for the company, now account for a mere 6% of the business that they do. 

 

The company credits a lot of its success of its dedicated employees who work together to create good quality products. The other key to their success is always being willing to adapt and change to fill holes in the current market. With this industry, you never know where the next opportunity will come from and where it may lead you. Although they have been in business for 40 years, they show no signs of slowing down and they are looking forward to the future and becoming a North American leader in the precast market. 

 

ED’S Concrete Products would like to take this opportunity to offer our deepest thanks to all of our customers, old and new. Everyone including the home owners, designers, architects, engineers, contractors and landscapers have played an important role in helping our business grow and succeed over the past 40 years and we appreciate each and every one of you.