Strano, Frank

Frank Strano

1965 Graduate

Frank Strano was born in Ambridge and grew up on Church Street to working class parents. His father was a steelworker and had a part time home remodeling business. His mother was a homemaker. Frank attended Fourth Ward and Park Road schools for the first eight years of his education and graduated from Ambridge High School in 1965. Upon graduating from Duquesne University, he worked at Jones and Laughlin in Aliquippa as an industrial engineer.

After three years, along with his two brothers and father, they expanded the part time home remodeling business into a full time business. It became the largest home remodeling business in Beaver County. Eventually, a building was purchased to store materials for upcoming remodeling projects and soon contractors began purchasing these materials as well. A representative from the hardware industry approached Frank to expand the store’s inventory. Thus, the origins of Ambridge Do It Best began. The hardware store outgrew its location and purchased property on the Ohio River Boulevard from the American Bridge company and in 1995, the store opened in its present location. As a Do It Best store, sales have greatly increased and the store has expanded several times. The store is expanding once again with the addition of 7,000 square feet of new retail space. Frank and his son David also own Incom Supply of Pittsburgh which serves industrial accounts and a Benjamin Moore paint store in East Liberty.

Frank has won awards and been featured in trade magazines. Two awards are the Ben Franklin award from Beaver County and the prestigious Beacon Award which honors the industry’s top retailer in the United States. Frank and Christine have one son David and his fiancé Lauren, one daughter Sara Yannessa and her husband Christian. Both Sara and Christian are teachers in the Ambridge Area School District and have two children, Nico and Leo. Frank and his wife Christine, who also grew up in Ambridge, are members of Saint Luke the Evangelist church. They are great believers in supporting the Ambridge area communities and wish to thank these communities for supporting their business throughout the years.