Our story begins with the core of the company, the owner Steven Sanders. Steven has always been into building and had the opportunity to utilize the vocation program that Mckinley High School, in Buffalo New York, had to offer. He took advantage of the program all four years of High School and continued his passion for a little over 2 years at Eri Community College. In his last year of college, he began working at Chase Pitkins (a hardware store that eventually lost to Lowes and Home Depot.). During his time at Pitkins he gained a vast knowledge of hardware inventory in his 4 years working there; on the side working small remodel and build projects for friends and family.
About the time that chapter came to a close, his family relocated to Greenville, South Carolina. He attempted a few different “Normal” jobs outside of the creative world, but nothing really stuck and his passion for building outweighed the typical 9-5. Steven had some friends working for Classic Stair Works and got a job there starting from making parts in the straight stair division to eventually running that department. After about 5 years the opportunity for growth was outside of the company and so he decided to move on to a new company (a division of Plymart) called Image Design Staircases, where he worked sales. Having an abundance of knowledge in both building and products he was an asset to the Greenville branch, gaining them the title of Top Sales in Greenville for 2 years! Unfortunately, in 2008 Plymart shut their doors. This gave Steven the chance to branch out to do his own thing. With the help of friends, family and past co-workers he created Trademark Stairs as a corporation, with a co-owner.
Though the demand and business was there, the co-ownership ended up not being the best fit. After 2 years again, with the help of others, he took on Trademark solo. Utilizing the installers, builders, friends and family and their knowledge and assistance he was able to create a real company out of Trademark Stairs.
Trademark Stairs truly began in 2010, Steven’s previous experience in sales, really helped the growth that was needed to make the company a reality. As growth continued and the company gained a higher customer base Kelly Sanders (Steven’s brother) was brought into the company around 2018. Kelly had worked with him through other businesses and had the management skills, ability to work well together and trust needed to continue the success of the company. Their father was also brought on with his experience with the more logistical components.
Having reached a point of consistent work, the size of the company meant bringing on a couple extra hands. Our now Shop Manager Jordan joined the company, starting with deliveries and now manages the shop, delivering, measuring, and taking on more responsibility as he learns more and more about the ins and outs of the building process. Due to growth much organization and keeping up with the world’s demand of updates and social media and all the other little things that easily can be put to the side someone was needed to be in the office to handle these things; thus the hiring of Kaitlin commenced and as of 2024, she now runs the office full time. Most of the phone calls and email correspondance coming out of the office are likely to be from her.
It has been quite the journey, and the trail has not ended, only solidified and opened new paths and doors. Due to trends and the ability to deliver more options to our clients with our own quality control, the end of 2023 brought the opportunity to add metal work as part of our offerings. Metal will give our homeowners more options depending on the style of their home and the stairs they/you envision in their home.
If you’ve ever been by our shop or met us you know our fur babies are around a lot and are the reason the Sanders met both Jordan and Kaitlin, having fur babies of their own. Meet the shop dogs:
Pistol and Rebel are owned by Kelly and Amelia and Elanor are owned by Kaitlin. Amelia is a well behaved, keep to herself, mama’s girl that's a sucker for a french fry, butt scratches and some alone time taking naps, but loves a hike/camping trip or porch. Elanor is her spunky predecessor in training. They are complete opposites, but love each other. Pistol is a big boy, but a big love bug, big on the belly rubs. He enjoys a good play session, but Rebel is all about having a good tackle, wrestle, tug, run and getting some attention.
All pups play well together. Amelia normally walks away and goes for a nap under the desk in hopes that the youngsters will play amongst themselves. They are all suckers for the Fedex guy bringing them treats and will let you know if someone is coming to the door only to request love and identification for entry. Without these pups, our team would not have found each other. Pistol was a lead to Kaitlin joining the team part time while at her old job full time. He also helped introduce Jordan and Kelly while living in the same apartment complex. Although Pistol and Amelia are the OGs of the front office playing buddies. Not too long after, Elanor and Rebel joined the crew to make this little pack Trademark stairs’ entertainment, door alert system and fur team. #TrademarkStairsfurbabies
#circularstaircase using an old time rectangular wooden baluster. #poplar wood was used for this project. The elegance of the stair complements the clean modern/rustic vibe of the home. Another staircase that speaks for its self!
Radius stacked starter step and custom made newel. The style speaks for itself! #whiteoak #radiusstarterstep #radiusstairs @milestonecustomhomes
simple and clean complemented beautifully by the interior designer @kathleenreynoldsinteriors ! Metal handrail and balcony rail. 1/2 in Balusters and 1 2/4 in. Top rail. This family wanted a runner, how do you feel about runners? #metalhandrail #metalrailing #simplestaircase
