Strategies_Spring2024

Range of Retail Shamburger & Graham makes about $1.4 million in annual sales. It offers a strong lumber and building materials selection and also carries electrical, plumbing, windows, doors and paint. The main salesfloor is 4,000 square feet, but the old-fashioned lumberyard outside, including the different buildings and lumber sheds on the property, adds up to just under 17,000 square feet. “Anything that goes in a house, we’ve got it,” Don says. When it comes to power and hand tools, the store offers a mix of products from brands such as DeWalt, Bosch and SKIL. Don says after working for many years in the business and finding what works best, he is a firm believer that each power tool company specializes in and makes something better than others. Quality Above All Else The original Shamburger locations all displayed a sign stating: Quality and service since 1907. An old sign hanging in Don’s office reads, “The sour taste of poor quality lingers long after the sweet taste of a cheap price.” “We have always prided ourselves not on being the cheapest, but offering quality and service,” he says. “That’s our thing.” There are two other lumberyards in town, located just a couple of miles away. But quality products and service—which often

By 1980, he partnered with C.D. to become a co-owner of the Graham location, and the lumberyard’s name was changed to Shamburger & Graham. After C.D. passed away in 2000, full ownership of the location transferred to the Graham family per the terms of their buy-sell agreement. Don officially began working at Shamburger & Graham in 1980. He was eager to join the family business after studying at college for a year. He had worked at the store all his life—sweeping the floors, stocking the shelves and loading the lumber. And he enjoyed helping people and running a small-town business. “It was in my blood,” Don says. Handshakes and Hardware The customer base at Shamburger & Graham is an even split between contractors and homeowners or DIYers. Don says he has noticed a recent influx of people moving to town to escape big city life in the Metroplex and other states. His vision for the store is a space where new customers become friends. “The first time a new customer comes in, we learn their name and where they are moving from,” he says. “After they come in a few more times, they become our friends. We’ll see them downtown, at the grocery store or church.”

The lumberyard, including the different buildings and lumber sheds on the property, totals just under 17,000 square feet.

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