Steven Miller and Stephen “Oppy” Oppenhiem started Hippo Hardware in 1976.  They were two young boys selling junk out of a pick up truck.  In 1978, they signed a lease on a building and incorporated.  Their first store was on SE 12th Avenue in Portland, Oregon. It was a mere 2000 square feet of space.
 
In the early days, the two Steves did it all. In addition to running the store, they attended auctions, garage sales, and demolished buildings to build their inventory. They averaged 1500 miles a month while looking for merchandise for their store. Sixteen hour workdays, six days a week was the norm in those early days. It was three years before they hired their first employee.
 
By 1990, Hippo had outgrown their location. They now occupied over 20,000 square feet of retail space. Can you say the sky is the limit?  Utilizing the street people of Portland and creating one of the largest unpermitted parades, they packed over 125,000 one of a kind items and moved four blocks to their new 30,000 square foot home at 1040 E Burnside in Portland, Oregon.