August, 2005

Home Lumber, Ashland, Kansas

Relationships and business fundamentals are at home for this rural Kansas company.

By Noelle Creamer

For a century in rural southern Kansas, Home Lumber & Supply has been about forming and strengthening relationships, serving the community, and taking care of family. President/General Manager John Humphreys says, "When any of us from the general office walk into one of the stores and visit with customers, we’re consistently reminded that our current and future prosperity is dependent on the ‘front-line’ folks—the people who are Home Lumber and Supply Co. to our local customers.”

Home Lumber operates 16 locations today and has owned 40 in its 100-year history. Half of the locations are true to their heritage—traditional full-service lumber yards. The other half are home centers. The company’s sales are broken down as 30% contractor, 60% retail/DIY, and 10% commercial/industrial. There are 100 employees now working for the privately held company. Majority shares are held by the founder’s family’s fourth and fifth generations.

Humphreys is quick to credit the company’s current strength to his team of store managers. They are seasoned veterans, average age 47, all with at least 15 years of experience with the company. He calls them "a mature, aggressive group.” Humphreys says, "We provide a good business management education for our staff at all the stores. We share financials monthly. Sites are managed by smart business people. Portions of their pay are based on profitability. They know how to get it done.”

He adds, "Each store, and its manager, is unique and that’s what makes this such a fine organization to be associated with. There’s pride and honor to be a Home Lumber employee.”

Home Lumber looks for qualified employees locally. The company’s longevity is attractive to workers, and it is considered a good place to work, according to Humphreys. Home Lumber offers a full benefits package, too, when not a lot of companies in the area do.

The 16 current locations of Home Lumber are spread across Kansas in towns ranging in size from 900 to 30,000 people. They are located in county seats, towns with Main Streets, and where people interact with and influence the local governments. The area is rural and dependent on agriculture.

Humphreys says, "Families are in these towns generation after generation.” Home Lumber does face competition from some local hardware stores and independent lumber yards. And, big boxes are a reachable 50 miles away. Humphreys says, "Rural markets are special and challenging. Markets vary quite a bit depending on local leadership. It’s imperative that local leaders support the community.” He likes to see progressive local leadership. "Home Lumber is dependent on other good business people in the communities. And, it’s also very dependent on agricultural commerce. Livestock and crop prices affect local disposable income. It’s a constant battle in this area to maintain and stabilize the agricultural market,” he says.

There is a slight influx in southern Kansas of people looking to get away from cities. Humphreys reports that the repair and remodeling market is still hotter than new construction for most Home Lumber locations. He says, "Yards can be positioned both ways in the bigger markets, depending a lot on the skills of the manager. Our job at the general office is to provide whatever tools are needed—bigger trucks, etc.”

Humphreys has been with the company for 30 years. He began as a "relief” man when his father was general manager of Home Lumber. He enjoyed traveling from store to store to see how everyone did things. After he graduated from college in 1975, he came back to Home Lumber to work full-time. He worked at one store for six years and then moved to general office. He laments, "I still miss the customer contact. I really enjoyed being part of people’s projects.”

John Humphreys’ family has been involved with the company for 57 years. His father, F.M. "Mike” Humphreys, was named general manager in 1964. Humphreys met his wife of 28 years working at his first store. "She was a good, regular customer,” he says.

Home Lumber’s "general office” is a staff of only five. Humphreys works there with Office Manager Kim Hazen, the Bookkeeper Karen Leterle, and Yard Supervisor Roy Hoffman (who is mostly on the road). The fifth member of the team is a new addition; Matt Harmon is a systems manager.

This recent addition of an IT person to the general office staff serves as an indication that even at rural, traditional businesses, using technology wisely is key. Home Lumber’s stores are connected now via VPN, eliminating the need to rely on sometimes unreliable regional phone lines for connectivity. There is a website under development and the company looks forward to sharing product information, forms, and customer service tools via an intranet. Humphreys says they are experts at their accounting system, a Dimensions system from Activant Solutions, Inc. that they’ve used for over a decade, and are learning to leverage PCs more and more to increase productivity.

Any marketing for the company is done by word of mouth and through local newspapers. Humphreys says he focuses their dollars on events and local concerns to "get more bang for the buck.”

The biggest opportunity for Home Lumber lies in acquisitions. Humphreys says, "Oftentimes, good yards in good towns don’t have people in place to take them forward.” He gets a couple of calls each month. He explains, "We have the infrastructure in place now to proceed with adding stores.”

Installed sales is another opportunity to grow sales volume for Home Lumber. Humphreys says, "We have only toyed with it, so far. We will work with local contractors to determine the needs in the area. We can train staff for certain projects that are hard to hire for in small towns. We’ll keep it simple to start—decks, fences, doors, windows, etc.”

Another advantage for Home Lumber that Humphreys cites is working with regional suppliers. They, again, are long-standing relationships. Home Lumber and many of its suppliers are dependent on each other’s business. Humphreys says of his suppliers, "They’re hands-on, coming in to do merchandising, to train, even going the extra mile to get products delivered to the stores.”

The oldest supplier relationship is with a family owned 135 year-old hardware company—Blish Mize is located in Atchison, Kansas. Humphreys says, "They fit us well as a regional company, and provide lots of physical support in the way of store layout, buying markets, and technology. Beyond that they are good friends, and their representatives who are still on the road calling on our stores are true partners in our business.” Another 100 year-old relationship is with the Stockgrowers State Bank of Ashland. The bank is an original JW Berryman investment. (JW Berryman was also the founder of Home Lumber & Supply.)

The company held its 100-year anniversary celebration in June 2005. Amid a large and lively gathering of employees, family, friends, former employees, and suppliers, John Humphreys reviewed the company’s start in 1905 and its ups and downs through the century—reminding those in attendance of the people who composed and continue to define Home Lumber, including members of the founding family and his own father.

The ceremony also featured special recognition for each current store manager and their family.

He said to the group, "I think JW [JW Berryman, the company’s founder] would be proud of the progress, and I can assure you all that we’re very respectful of those that came before us, cognizant of the current challenges in our rural markets, and anxious to make those changes to our traditions that will promote a secure future.”

After 100 years, the principles of business at Home Lumber are fairly unchanged. Humphreys says, "This entity called Home Lumber continues to provide the opportunity and resources for good people to manage a local business and prosper.”