When I joined Red River Lumber in 1997, we had one location and six employees. Since that time, we’ve grown steadily and deliberately, and each phase of growth has taught us important lessons. Our growth has been defined by adding capabilities, acquiring companies, weathering setbacks, and embracing Paced Growth. Critical to our ongoing success has been a willingness to pause, reassess, and centralize so that growth can remain stable and sustainable. Early on, I knew survival and growth required a new philosophy. We embraced the goal of becoming the one-stop shop for builders and consumers by adding adjacent capabilities. That focus has guided every decision since.

In 1999, we launched a 20,000-square-foot design center to streamline the building process—a logical first step toward serving customers more completely. The success of this initiative reinforced our commitment to growth through added capabilities. Helping customers by expanding what we could do for them became our central lens as we looked forward.