Strategies_Spring_2025

RESET

Although Starr Lumber has gone through multiple resets, the English Tudor facade has remained.

Refreshed and Ready Store Reset Elevates Customer Service at Starr Lumber

S tarr Lumber, with four when Wilson Worth Starr founded the company. Current president John Ryerson left a career in commercial banking 20 years ago and took over his family’s business, expanding the company beyond the original location in Alva, Oklahoma. locations in Oklahoma, has been in business since 1909,

Starr Lumber’s Alva location has grown exponentially since its inception, expanding into neighboring buildings and featuring an updated facade to match the English Tudor style unique to the area. When Ryerson joined the company, he was immediately thrust into a reset of the Alva location. Since its last redesign in the early 2000s, Ryerson has led minor renovations. “Blish-Mize was instrumental in our most recent reset,” Ryerson says. “We did major renovations. We moved fixtures around, painted the walls and stripped the floors. It was significant.” Ryerson credits Janet Elias, Blish-Mize regional sales manager, as one of the most important parts of the recent multi-month renovation. “Janet was very involved,” he says. “She’s a very hands-on leader and she had a great deal to do with

16 Spring 2025 • Hardlines Strategies