Throwback Thursday: Aldrich Lumber
The Dec. 15, 1997 issue of National Home Center News, the forerunner of HBSDealer, published a profile of Aldrich Lumber under the headline: “Montana dealers brace for warehouse arrivals: Big Sky Country short of space for big boxes.”
The key source in the story is Greg Aldrich, a licensed architect as well as president of the six-store Aldrich’s hardware and building supply business.
The competition referred to in the headline took the form of Knox Lumber and Eagle Hardware & Garden. And across the street, Home Depot had just acquired option to build Billings first warehouse home center.
Aldrich told NHCN in 1997 that the company had been able to thrive in a competitive environment by targeting two construction markets: commercial building and lower-cost vacation homes and retirement homes for newly arrived out-of-towners.
“We have basically survived by targeting the secondary-home niche and being more service-oriented,” Aldrich said.
The company survives to this day, with a twist. The locally famous, Joe Doit waving sign now marks the location of Aldrich Lumber’s post frame and pole-building construction business. Aldrich’s Do it Center operates across the border in Powell, Wyo.
HBSDealer’s Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Schaffer Associates, a national management consulting firm specializing in executive search and organizational strategies for the hardware, home improvement, building materials, and consumer products industries. As the premier management consulting firm serving the industry, we help build organizations and leadership teams that foster corporate growth and success well into the future. Contact us at SchafferAssociates.com.
The key source in the story is Greg Aldrich, a licensed architect as well as president of the six-store Aldrich’s hardware and building supply business.
The competition referred to in the headline took the form of Knox Lumber and Eagle Hardware & Garden. And across the street, Home Depot had just acquired option to build Billings first warehouse home center.
Aldrich told NHCN in 1997 that the company had been able to thrive in a competitive environment by targeting two construction markets: commercial building and lower-cost vacation homes and retirement homes for newly arrived out-of-towners.
“We have basically survived by targeting the secondary-home niche and being more service-oriented,” Aldrich said.
The company survives to this day, with a twist. The locally famous, Joe Doit waving sign now marks the location of Aldrich Lumber’s post frame and pole-building construction business. Aldrich’s Do it Center operates across the border in Powell, Wyo.
HBSDealer’s Throwback Thursday is sponsored by Schaffer Associates, a national management consulting firm specializing in executive search and organizational strategies for the hardware, home improvement, building materials, and consumer products industries. As the premier management consulting firm serving the industry, we help build organizations and leadership teams that foster corporate growth and success well into the future. Contact us at SchafferAssociates.com.