Meet the 2023 STIHL Hardware All Stars: Kansas, Ky., La.
Here are the next three in the latest class of STIHL 2023 Hardware Store All Stars that represent community-oriented, customer-focused, high-performance hardware-and-building-supply retailing at its finest. From each of the 50 states, HBSDealer recognized an All-Star performer.
You can read about all 50 honorees here in the digital issue of HBSDealer. Additionally, HBSDealer.com will highlight a handful of honorees one batch at a time. This year’s superstar performers from Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana are featured below.
Kansas
Mill Creek Lumber and Supply in Wichita
During the great depression, in 1934, Pete Dunn opened a lumber company. In 1947 the name changed to Mill Creek, named for the creek that ran along the property. Pete’s son Jim took over the company in the early 1970s. Jeff Dunn, Pete Dunn’s grandson, has led the firm since 2003, with locations in Wichita, Tulsa and Oklahoma City. This Orgill dealer writes: “It takes the hiring and rewarding of outstanding people to grow and enjoy 90 years of business.”
Kentucky
Both a hardware store and lumber yard, third-generation owners Matthew Fox and Aimee Cupp took over nine years ago with plans to bring a fresh new vibe, a move “atypical for many retailers in Appalachia,” said Fox. Located in Harlan, near the winding Cumberland River, they implemented a major interior and exterior store remodeling project. Said one reviewer: “Awesome store with everything you need for projects and home repairs.”
Louisiana
For 112 years this store in Pierre Part has been serving customers in Southeast Louisiana. They’ve continually upgraded their services including adding a drive-through lumberyard. Their more than 60,000 square foot building also includes a full-service grocery store and deli. “If they don’t have it, you don’t need it,” said one Google reviewer about the one-stop business, “they have everything you need to build a house and make a gumbo.”
# # #
Special thanks to STIHL for its support of the ALL-STAR project. (Note: Not all honorees are STIHL dealers.)
