Boyden Moore honored

Orgill is not only the oldest company in Memphis, it’s the oldest company in Tennessee, a fact which Boyden Moore, CEO, attributes to the wisdom of his forebearers, wrote Memphis Magazine.

“It’s a 177-year-old, family-owned business,” Moore said.

“It has been a story of survival. They were here through the Civil War. They were here through the yellow fever epidemic. They never shut their doors; they stayed open the entire time taking care of customers,” said Moore.

“Orgill’s been true to who they are for a long time and has had to adapt to be successful through 177 years,” said the CEO. “You can imagine how many different products have come and gone that we’ve distributed.”

The local magazine has celebrated a group of CEOs every year, and this year Boyden Moore, CEO of Orgill, is being honored.

Moore was surprised when he learned he was only the ninth president in the company’s long history.

“I’m honored to be recognized for CEO of the Year,” he said. “But the truth of the matter is, it’s really the team that makes everything happen.”

The business that was started by English hardware salesman William Orgill in 1847, was for decades serving directly to consumers before moving into purely wholesale distribution in 1908.

Now Orgill serves small, independent hardware stores, home centers, lumber yards, and farm stores all across the country.

They ship to just over 13,000 of those 32,000 businesses in all 50 states; and have customers in all provinces and territories of Canada, and additional countries as well.

“One of the fun things about Orgill is serving the small businesses that we serve,” he was quoted. “Our mission is to help our customers be successful. We believe that if they’re successful, then we have a chance at being successful as well.”