Our History
Benjamin Supply History
Currently located in the historic Tucson Warehouse and Transfer Building on Sixth Street, Benjamin Supply was started by Marty and Sid Berman in 1950 and has been a locally family-owned and operated company ever since.
Sid had travelled to Tucson after the war because the climate was much better suited to his health. With a background from his family's plumbing business, he found employment with Anton Benjamin in the newly formed Benjamin Supply. Sid encouraged his brother Marty and his new bride Ruth, back in New York, to join him in the Old Pueblo and in 1950 they purchased the company. From that point forward the Bermans have run Benjamin with an eye towards providing everything the growing city of Tucson, and eventually Sierra Vista, needed to create modern, efficient, and healthy plumbing systems.
The business thrived and eventually Marty and Ruth took on the entire operation themselves.
They were progressive in creating a showroom that was retail oriented so homeowners could have more discretion in choosing nice quality products.
Inspired by travels to showrooms throughout the country in bigger cities, Benjamin was early to the game of morphing the hardware traditions to fabulous selections in interior design for the kitchen and bath. They were the first in the state to offer products by Delta and still today are among the largest distributors of toilets by TOTO.
By the late 1990's when Marty's health failed, Ruth and their son Mark continued the momentum with both commercial and wholesale customers. Ruth, having worn many hats including real estate sales and raising two children, had to double back and re-commit to a second half of life solo, focused on entrepreneurship. Her success furthered her place as a local standout in woman-owned businesses and she continued to thrive in the male-dominated plumbing field. By the end of her life in January 2019, she still marveled at all they were able to accomplish.
Mark, having been born and raised in Tucson, has the city's design in his blood. He studied architecture at the University of Arizona and has always been present to the trends that made the city what it is today. Benjamin Supply's two original locations were downtown and in both instances outgrew them in space and accessibility from a warehousing standpoint... It's hard to unload trucks full of product in the middle of a busy downtown street! When Mark spotted and eventually procured their current location, the historic Warehouse and Transfer building, it was with the vision that they would never run out of space again. They transformed what was then the dusty operations base for Tucson's preeminent moving company into over 50,000 sq. feet of plumbing supply heaven. There was ample space for tubs, waters heaters, and yards of copper pipe. The new location, just north of downtown, would be easier for plumbers, delivery trucks, and customers to attend to business. What an added bonus it was to inherit a historic building designed by Curlett and Sons in 1918, just one year before they designed the Hotel Congress, and two edifices designed by local favorite architect Josias Joesler. Benjamin was a trendsetter in making a warehouse chic.
Today Benjamin Supply is the anchor of a sprawling complex that includes their 10,000 sq. foot showroom for retail customers and 30,000+ sq. feet for warehousing inventory and catering to the commercial industry.
To maximize our historic block and its fabulous history, some of the space was allocated to host adjacent tenants that included 3 art galleries and a co-working space for local small businesses. With an iconic painted mural of an Agave Goddess, the corner at 6th St has become a destination and a local focal point. Every afternoon around sunset it seems to become Tucson's favorite selfie station. However, the core of the business is unwavering in offering of an unparalleled selection of just about everything you'll need to plumb your project - from copper pipe and valves to sinks, faucets, and the most elegant spa tubs.