Chris Jensen

Robert and Donna Plummer operate R.P. Lumber as a family business with their kids Jason, Julie and Jennifer.

R.P. Lumber Company

Edwardsville, Ill.

R.P. Lumber Company was founded in 1977 by Robert and Donna Plummer in Staunton, Ill. A family-owned business, it has grown to now include over 80 full-service hardware and building material stores and two truss manufacturing facilities in five states.

All in the Family

R.P. Lumber remains dedicated to its mission and values as a family-owned and operated company, led by Robert and Donna, along with their three children: Jason, Jennifer and Julie, who are all involved in the business.

Robert serves as president and CEO and Jason wears many hats in his role as vice president, while Donna and Jennifer have always worked in the HR department. Julie managed one of their other companies, a real estate brokerage, for many years until it was acquired and then she came back to R.P. Lumber a few years ago to work on the buying side.

When asked what retail and business philosophies he has learned from his father, Jason replies, “Work hard, treat people right and provide the best service. Two of his favorite sayings are: ‘It never hurts to be nice,’ and ‘You can’t sell from an empty cart.’ It goes back to keeping things simple.”

Each retail location is a full-service home center and building materials supplier that serves both DIYers and contractors and offers kitchen cabinets, paint, windows, doors, hardware, drywall, roofing supplies, tools and more.

A Plan For Growth

In recent years, the company has been managing an aggressive growth strategy. Just last month, R.P. Lumber announced the acquisition of Wright Building Center in Sparta, Ill., expanding its footprint in Illinois to 56 locations.

Adds Robert, “When an opportunity to open a new location or acquire an existing business comes our way, we typically look for small-to-medium sized communities similar to our current markets. We prioritize saving or creating employment opportunities for local residents and look for markets that are relatively underserved in the hardware and building materials space.”

Future initiatives include a store relocation about to kick off in one of their core markets and a new greenfield location they are getting ready to open. “I anticipate a small acquisition or two happening yet in 2023 and then we have plans to expand in 2024. A core focus of our growth is not just increasing store count but making sure we are maximizing our operations in existing markets,” Jason says.

Jason Plummer has served in the Illinois state senate since 2018, relying on principles that have served him well in business.

They look to deliver on the company’s “Best Service. Best Value” promise by focusing on service, product quality and pricing.

Invest In People

As the company’s geographic footprint expands and store count increases, it is important to the Plummers that the company’s culture grows as well. “We keep our organization chart pretty flat and view our employees as extended family members. We celebrate each other’s milestones and achievements. We incentivize extraordinary performance and empower our staff to strike a healthy work-life balance,” says Jason.

“We have been fortunate to have been able to put together a great team at R.P. Lumber, people who are dedicated and work hard. One thing about our team is that we just go to work every day. Whether it is eight stores or 80 stores, we show up to compete every day and try to find ways to constantly improve,” adds Jason.

R.P. Lumber’s team members deliver on the company’s “Best Service. Best Value.” promise with every customer they serve. The operation prides itself on service, product quality and pricing while driving value for its customers through a combination of those three components.

“We have to invest in the knowledge, inventory and equipment to make our largest, most sophisticated customers pleased with R.P. Lumber, while also making sure that the DIYer coming in for a roll of duct tape has a phenomenal experience,” says Jason, who serves on the board as president of the Illinois Lumber and Material Dealers Association.

The company has remodeled six locations this year, focusing on a better retail consumer experience.

Driving Improvements With Technology

R.P. Lumber has invested in technology to improve operational efficiencies and drive traffic online. The company offers a robust ecommerce platform and is constantly investing in and upgrading its IT operations to obtain more data and leverage that data to better serve customers. In 2022, the company upgraded its Epicor POS system across all locations and implemented a fully integrated ecommerce platform with ship-to-store capabilities.

One recent technology development has been a new software program to train employees and provide them with additional knowledge. This training will lead to quicker and more seamless communication between employees, no matter where they are located. The company has invested in reporting and data analytics software to provide additional tools to employees and offer a higher level of service to customers.

In all communities where R.P. Lumber has stores, it invests in local organizations such as law enforcement and first responders.

“We have been fortunate to have had great customers, vendors and partners over the years, and Orgill is right there at the top in every way I can think of,” says Jason. “They are flexible, creative and bring solutions to us that we may not have even thought about yet. I truly feel like they are committed to our business and everyone on their team is approachable and engaged.”

The company has remodeled six locations this year, focusing on a better retail consumer experience, and has added more than 250,000 square feet of warehouse space across all stores in the last 12 months. R.P. Lumber is rolling out new kitchen and deck design programs at dozens of store locations in 2023 and 2024.

The company was a major contributor to the R.P. Lumber Center, a recreational complex located in Edwardsville, Ill., that offers the community access to an ice rink, fitness center and track.

Engaged in the Community

In all communities where R.P. Lumber has stores, it shows its support by investing in local organizations such as law enforcement and first responders, youth sports, scouts, churches, healthcare, education and many other causes. “We have been blessed and we always want to give back,” explains Jason.

The family business was a recent major contributor to the R.P. Lumber Center, a recreational complex located in Edwardsville, Ill., that offers its residents and the surrounding communities a year-round destination for fitness and congregating with its ice rink, fitness center and track. The facility, which serves thousands of families in the St. Louis area, includes a teen center and private rooms for meetings and celebrations.

The company helped fund the all-ages Plummer Family Sports Park, an 83-acre tournament-quality facility featuring lighted, full-synthetic turf baseball and softball fields, pickleball courts and nine full-size multisport fields. for soccer, football, rugby, lacrosse and more.

As a second-generation leader, Vice President Jason Plummer seeks growth through acquisitions and internal improvements.

“We feel like little things like hard-surfacing our facilities, keeping them painted and well-kept, replacing older buildings with newer buildings, providing quality jobs and other day- to-day business decisions we make also contributes to our communities in ways that may not always happen elsewhere,” says Jason.

Jason says the whole family is proud to accept recognition as Beacon Award winners on behalf of their hard-working team of employees: “The recognition is truly an honor and it is humbling. We have hundreds of hardworking, caring team members and we have thousands of great partners and customers. This is an award that reflects that hard work and those relationships.”

Doug Donaldson

Bart Raser has continually found ways to improve and grow Carr Hardware since coming back to the family business in 1990.

Carr Hardware

Pittsfield, Mass.

Like a symphony conductor, Carr Hardware President Bart Raser has an innate sense of timing, rhythms and harmonies within the communities his stores serve.

For more than 95 years, Carr Hardware has been a mainstay of Pittsfield, Mass. Bart’s father, Marshall Raser, purchased Carr Hardware in 1962. At 95 years old, Marshall still shares retailing advice with Bart.

Like many multi-generation hardware store owners, Bart worked at the store as a teen, cleaning bathrooms, sweeping floors and learning business the hard way. While earning his MBA in St. Louis, he also worked in hardware stores. After college, Bart returned to work at Carr Hardware in 1990 and became company president in 2015. Since then, the company has steadily grown from a single location to six stores throughout western Massachusetts and northwestern Connecticut.

Bart’s 95-year-old father, Marshall Raser, still drops in to share his insights.

Very active in the day-to-day management of the company, Bart continually looks for ways to expand the business through acquisitions, new product lines and finding untapped customer bases. For 25 straight years, Carr Hardware was named “Best in the Berkshires” by the Berkshire Eagle newspaper.

Carr Hardware stores vary from a 7,500-square-foot location in Avon, Conn., to the 25,000-square-foot Pittsfield flagship store. Overall, the company’s customer base is evenly split between pro and do-it-yourselfers, but each location is dialed in to its specific customer base.

Carr’s Hardware focus on customer service has led to the business being named “Best in the Berkshires” for 25 straight years.

COMMUNITY HUB

Nearing membership in the Century Club, Bart firmly believes the company’s longevity comes from giving back to the community. Each year, the company hosts more than 10 community events for local charities such as the Berkshire Humane Society.

Bart devotes a lot of time to the community and has served on many boards including Downtown Pittsfield Inc., Boys & Girls Club, Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, Berkshire Health Systems and Berkshire Bank.

Carr Hardware’s flagship store has been serving the Pittsfield, Mass., community since 1928.

“I grew up with dad believing in volunteerism and community involvement,” Bart says. “It’s in our DNA to give back. We give employees time off for volunteerism, and what’s good for the community is good for business.”

In 2017, Carr Hardware received recognition as the National Independent Business of the Year. Bart donated the money from the award so that Pittsfield could build a splash park for kids.

“Ultimately, the hardware store is the nuts and bolts of a local community,” Bart says. “With so much sprawl, what defines a community is the local hardware store.”

Many of Carr Hardware’s employees have worked with the company for decades.

NEW NICHE SAVVY

Bart keenly listens to feedback from customers. About two years ago, when customers commented about scarcity of paint and the desire for higher-quality options, he seized the opportunity. Carr Hardware introduced its own line of paint, Shades of Shire, a high-quality 100-percent acrylic, architectural-grade paint. Sales of this store-brand paint have continually grown. Other Carr-branded products include polyurethane, five-gallon buckets and sprayers.

Housewares is another niche poised to take off. With an entrepreneurial eye to the future, Bart looks to expand that department in the coming months. When a local chef supply store recently closed, Bart purchased the stock and will soon add higher-end brands such as Le Creuset to the housewares assortment.

Through Bart’s philosophy of giving back, Carr Hardware’s community involvement runs deep. Each year, his stores host many events for charities such as the Berkshire Humane Society.

Rentals are another niche where Bart has found success. The Pittsfield location rents everything from heavy equipment such as backhoes to power tools and party supplies. Two other Carr Hardware stores also feature rental departments.

Carr Hardware has developed a strong commercial-industrial niche with two outside and two inside sales representatives, along with two drivers devoted to commercial-industrial deliveries. Bart estimates that the commercial-industrial niche accounts for about 25 percent of the company’s total revenue.

The Lenox, Mass., store serves a more upscale market with a ground-up 10,000-square-foot store built in 2019.

CLEVER MARKETING

In addition to customer-centric assortment planning and deeply committed community involvement, the company connects to its customers through innovative marketing campaigns. Along with lively social media feeds, Carr Hardware produces commercials featuring the Dewitts, the world’s worst do-it-yourselfers. Highlighting products and solutions available from Carr, these humorous videos have racked up thousands of YouTube views.

Customers are excited to see the next do-it-yourself adventures of the Dewitts and often ask when the next video will be released. In addition to television ads, the couple have taken their home improvement misadventures into radio spots and digital ads.

“We have a multi-layered approach to hit the most amount of people,” says Amy Goddard, director of marketing for Carr Hardware.

When customers commented about scarcity of paint and the desire for higher-quality options, Bart seized the opportunity and introduced his own line of paint, Shades of Shire.

KNOWLEDGEABLE EMPLOYEES

Carr Hardware employs 125 people throughout its six locations, and many employees have worked with the company for decades.

“Ultimately, our business is our people. We’re blessed with wonderful people who live and breathe the culture and are deeply involved in our community and the relationships we build every day,” Bart says.

When hiring, Carr Hardware will first look at aptitude and friendliness, instead of hiring solely for product knowledge. The company conducts frequent training to reinforce customer service and provide product knowledge. Another customer-centric detail Bart points out: There are no numbers on the aisle signage. Instead, employees walk customers to products.

SUCCESSFUL PARTNERSHIP

As Bart pays specific attention to each store, he constantly examines the overall business. With six locations, Bart says he can take a cumulative approach to buying at Do it Best markets, saving money and increasing margins.

A Do it Best member for four years, Bart values the distributor’s candid feedback about his store operations along with providing eye-catching merchandising and planograms.

Four years ago, Carr Hardware opened its Lenox location, relying heavily on Do it Best for most of the store design, including layout, endcaps, assortment planning and merchandising. The ground-up 10,000-square-foot store was Bart’s first store project with Do it Best. With the distributor’s help, that location was up and running within six months, just in time for Black Friday sales.

FUTURE GROWTH

Bart says he is honored and humbled to receive the Beacon Award. “This award makes me appreciate our staff more than I already do,” Bart says. “This honor only happens because of the great team in each store. It’s wonderful to be recognized.”

He is not content to rest on his laurels and says the company isn’t done growing. In the near future, he’s planning a big initiative to expand into janitorial supplies. After expanding into more ecommerce during the pandemic, the company will continue to expand its digital footprint, looking to reach different generations.

This year, Bart is doing his second major remodel in Great Barrington with Do it Best’s new store design format. The exterior is being renovated and new layouts and adjacencies are being incorporated, and Bart is looking forward to seeing that store’s sales boosted from the remodel.

“It’s great when I wake up and look forward to going to work because I love what I do,” Bart says. “I love interacting with customers and building culture and teams.”