Mountain Hardware and Sports is a 100% employee-owned hardware store that offers clothing, home decor, sporting goods, fishing gear, rental machinery equipment, and just about anything to fit a mountain lifestyle. Three long-time friends opened the first Mountain Hardware and Sports at the old Gateway center in Truckee in 1977, and in 1991 the store’s owners moved to open a store at one of its current locations right along Donner Lake. The company now has four locations in Northeast California. Mountain Hardware became employee-owned in 2001 when they implemented an ESOP. Initially 49% employee-owned following the establishment of its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), the company became majority-EO in 2005, a few years after it opened its Blairsden location. By 2013, the company had acquired Truckee Rents, its equipment rental business, and it had achieved 100% employee ownership.Now with over 100 employee-owners, Mountain Hardware and Sports ties its core values to its shared ownership structure. The company encourages employees to think and act like owners, understanding that daily and weekly contributions can positively impact the company’s performance and the growth of individual ESOP accounts.