Stine expands in Louisiana
Sulphur, Louisiana-based Stine Home & Yard is bringing its brand of home improvement and building materials to Eunice, Louisiana, and surrounding communities with the acquisition of the assets of a long-time local operator Fruge Lumber.
“We’re excited to locate in Eunice, a community we’ve been serving peripherally for many years from our Crowley and Jennings stores," said CEO Dennis Stine. The Eunice store opened on Monday, Aug. 28 as the 11th Stine location in the state of Louisiana.
Freddie Fruge and his father, the late Cedric Fruge, started the business in 1972. Fruge says: “I'm extremely proud of our company’s history. Our loyal customers and dedicated employees allowed us to build a great company over the last 51 years.”
Stine says that their relationship with the Fruge family goes back 50 years when Cedric and Freddie joined the same buying groups as Stine: Allied Building Stores and Ace Hardware. “The Stine family has a great deal of respect for Freddie and his father before him,” Stine said. “We share the same lumber roots.”
Initial plans for the store include adding inventory, expanding merchandise offerings and pricing adjustments.
Wendy Stine, president of Stine said there has been no interruption in service. Most of the current Fruge employees have accepted jobs with Stine and will continue serving customers at 801 North 8th St.
“Faith, Family and Community are three of our eight core values,” Wendy Stine said. "We will honor these values while serving our customers in the Eunice area."
Fruge says he is excited that Fruge Lumber has become a part of the Stine family. “Their focus on employees and customers, as core tenants of the Stine way of doing business, is what Fruge Lumber focused on as well,” he added.
Stine is Louisiana’s largest family-owned building materials dealer, with 11 Louisiana locations and one store in Natchez, Mississippi. In addition to Eunice, Louisiana locations include Sulphur, Lake Charles, Iowa, DeRidder, Natchitoches, Pineville, Jennings, Crowley, Broussard and Walker.
The company employs more than 800 people.
