Building consistency

Chris Miller describes Parker Lumber as a “lean” company with “very small corporate overhead and little hierarchy.” Maybe not what you’d expect from a company with 22 locations in Texas and California and more than 80 years as a successful enterprise.



Miller, a VP, said the company is empowered by critical thinkers who put the best interests of Parker Lumber first. “I may be biased, but I sincerely believe to be the best you have to have the best leaders that you can possibly find,” Miller said. “We have managers who treat the store as if it were their own, and that type of attitude resonates throughout each store. We make it a point to align our interests with management, not only financially but emotionally.”



Location has played a role in Parker Lumber’s success. While the Texas economy continues to show strength in the larger metro markets, Parker’s Texas stores — largely based in rural and secondary markets — have benefited from what Miller calls the “trickle down from a strong regional economy.” In 2014, Parker Lumber added three locations, two in Texas and one in Southern California.



Parker Lumber continues to develop and implement programs and best practices. Today it is working on formally standardizing the experience customers receive from the time they pull into the parking lot to the time they exit the store. “We want the same first-class experience so that they know we are the ‘neighbor you can count on,’ whether you are in Port Arthur, Texas, or in Palm Springs, California,” Miller said.



Even with its longstanding success, Parker Lumber is not without challenges in the rural Texas market. Miller said he has traveled throughout the United States and feels the competition in Texas is more prevalent than most markets. “Small, rural towns typically have more than one hardware store and lumberyard. Home Depot and Lowe’s seem to be in the smaller towns of Texas compared with other small towns of proportional size throughout the country. The independents are usually strong and good at what they do, making us always look for ways to be better and always looking to change.”



Another headwind is the price of oil and what it could possibly mean for Texas. “Since the price drop in crude, we have continued to see growth across the board in our stores; however, only time will tell if there will eventually be a trickle-down effect in some of our locations closer to the shale plays. Texans are usually quite resilient, and I don’t see this year being any different.”



The naturalist Charles Darwin is credited with saying, “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” That fairly sums up the way Parker Lumber goes about its business. It listens to the customer, assesses the market opportunity and looks to quickly seize that opportunity.



Often, the best ideas come from the managers out in the field, according to Miller, who shared this recent anecdote of a team player taking advantage of a new management software tool. “One of our district managers noticed an endcap that he really liked. We had bought a large supply of Fluidmaster toilet repair kits from the Do it Best market, and all of the products were hitting all stores at the same time. Instead of our stores merchandising in various forms, he took a picture of the endcap, set a task in the software for his stores to copy it, and set a deadline for when it was to be done.



“I have the ability to see what is being tasked and when managers are completing those tasks, and since we require them to take a picture and post it upon completion, the district managers know that their stores now are standardized in that regard. Our stores, managers and district managers are using the software in instances like these now regularly throughout the day, and really seem to enjoy the accountability the program offers. It allows Scott [Parker, the CEO] and myself to visit stores, check the task manager and know what project a store is working on so we can further help facilitate and keep a constant message.”