Spring 2022 Hardlines Strategies

HOW DO YOU GO TO MARKET?

Hanging On Through Hardships Eskridge Lumber Shares Its Story in Industry Magazine

In its August 2021 issue, LBM Journal told Eskridge Lumber’s story of perseverance and persistence about how a group of investors purchased the business in 2016. Tuff Stephenson (above) has been instrumental in the store’s success and is being groomed to take over the reins of the store.

E skridge Lumber had its storied history featured in the August 2021 issue of LBM Journal , a publication for lumberyards, building material distributors, wholesalers, manufacturers and service providers.

$700,000 in additional revenue. The staff also continues to offer high-caliber customer service, while the group continues to look for additional investors who want to join the Eskridge family. “What I found most interesting about the Eskridge Lumber story is how the community rallied around the lumberyard. While the staff at Eskridge and the board members are certainly characters in the story, so is the lumberyard itself, and what it represents for so many rural communities,” says James Anderson, LBM Journal editor and writer of the article. “I hope that readers were able to connect to the underdog story and see how, amid a changing economic landscape, small businesses are what keep small towns going.”

The article shared the story of the lumberyard, located in the small town of Eskridge, Kansas, which has a population of 540. When the owners of the lumberyard wanted to sell in 2016 but couldn’t find a buyer, a group of 27 investors stepped in to purchase the operation and keep it open. Since the investors took over Eskridge in 2016, the group of original investors has grown to 31. The company has weathered big-box competition and the pandemic, including operating without general manager Randy Kemp, who contracted COVID-19 early in the pandemic and spent 26 days in the hospital. He has since semi-retired and is prepping Tuff Stephenson to take over. The store expanded its inventory to include farm and ranch supplies, which added nearly

46 Spring 2022 • Hardlines Strategies