115 years and counting

Barton said he always insisted that employees follow the same rule: treat each customer courteously, give them quality merchandise, and stand behind every sale. "Our motto has always been 'Buy quality, buy satisfaction'," he declared. "It is better not to sell a customer at all than to sell him once."

In 1975, an employee stock ownership plan, that required no employee contributions, was adopted. Since then, the company has been able to contribute from profits earned annually up to l57o of the employee payroll to this plan, to acquire company stock for the employee's benefit.

load of lumber that he intended to use to construct a home. After stacking the wood behind his store. however. the young entrepreneur began selling the boards a few at a time to interested customers. Soon, demand was such that Barton. sensing an opportunity. began handling lumber as a side busiNESS.

By 1902, with lumber larly exceeding grocery Barton sold the grocery end of his business and established Barton Lumber & Brick.

A quarter-of-a-century later, Barton bequeathed the business to his son, Eugene, who had been working for the firm since he was 20 years old. For the next 39 years, Gene Barton ran the business, adding stores and a wholesale outlet to the chain. In 1965, two years before his death, sales regupurchases,

"We are a lOOTo employee-owned company," said Crowson. "This was Gene Barton's greatest desire. That's one of the reasons why the company continues to remain strong all these years. In addition to top-notch, friendly service and quality products, all of the employees have a vested interest in seeing the company succeed."

President since 1993, Crowson has been with the company since 1989.

"Ours is a 'basic' industry," he says. "By that I mean people always need lumber and building products, so the industry will always be strong because the demand will always be there."

When asked how he got into the industry, Crowson chuckled and replied in sentiments no doubt similar to the firm's founder, P.C. Barton, "I made a career change and have never looked back."

DAYTONA BEACH was the site of FBMA'S annual convention (continued from previous Daqe, story on p. 2A: (1) Douo Asher, Melissa Kailas, Sid Tayior, irvitat Jeriiho, Zee Taltos.

(2) Cathy Marx, Rooer LeVasseur, Samantha Mbulsdate. (3) JodBrown, Chuck Crowley, Tammy Hanis, Michael Mendola, Tom Elias. (4) Charles Direda, Rick Sargent, Scott Henderson.

(5) Ron Price, Mike Ferguson, Bob Schneider, Arlen Tillis. (6) Jim Matthews, Tom Valeska, Gary Stokes, Jason Patterson, J.R. Bontrager.

(7) Joe Walsh, Steve Kern. (8) Cheryl Williams, Darin Kuchaes. (9) Steve Baker, Sam Chambers.

(10) Victor Lopez, Don Hayes, Leo Kupferer,

Mark Giles. (11) Tom Maher, Nonis Wood. (12) Walter Kuzmiw, Tina Sokolowski, Tom Galloway. (13) Neal Goodwin, Bruce Palmer. Heniy Thompson. (14) Lin Bultz, Angel Reyes, Silvia Amado-Perez, Willie Hernandez. (15) Curt Burlinoame. Lew Wadsworth. Randv Yost. (16) Rvan Stead, Bichard Moullon, Linda'Burton. ltzi G-ary Hurst, Canie Anderson, Jim McKinney. (18) Robert Livingstone, Clinton Yourth. (19) Ewell Smith, Richard Kleiner. (20) Kari Hebrana. Betty Askew, Tim Callum. (21) Bill Thomas, Terry Burcaw, Neal Goodwin. (22) Todd Braid, Troy Woolen. (23) Jim Flotkoetter, Butch Hunter. (24) Tom Yates. Dick Gates. Bill Tucker.

Rrrrrtrns

Wheele r's Building Materials, Rome, Ga.o opened location #15 on five acres in Jasper, Ga.

Smitty's Building Supply, Alexandria, Va.. has acquired Georgia-Pacific's former DC in Manassas, Va., to remodel and reopen in the spring

Chatham Building Supply, Chatham, Va., has gone out of business ...

Crowder Bros. has added an Ace Hardware store in Bradenton, FI....

F oxwo rt h- G alb raith Lumb e r Co. relocated its Austin, Tx., professional and commercial division facility to 11.25 acres in Cedar Park, Tx. ...

84 Lumber Co. opened new locations in Oxford, N.C. (store mgr. Joel Dayn contract sales rep David Adcock, mgr. trainee Akeem Muhammad); Waveland, Ms. (store mgr. Chris "Pete" Peterson, co-mgr. Steve Stewart, contractor sales reps Sterling Blackham, Dale Barfield and Ran Welsh, mgr. trainees David Hartley, Louie Modling and Gabriel Peterson, yard mgr. Richard Patterson, Jr.), and Springfield, Tn. (store mgr. Alan Bristow, co-mgr. Richard Smith, contraator sales reps Stephanie Dugger, Jimmy Jackson Jr. and Jerry Reynolds, mgr. trainees Charles Clark, Ivan Bell, Gerald Littles and Darrell Whited) ...

Home Depot opens new stores this month in Houma, La.; East Charlotte, N.C.; Virginia Beach/ Princess Anne, Va.; West Palm Beach and East Palm Beach Lakes, Fl., and Houston (Gulfgate Mall), Missouri City and Amarillo. Tx.

Home Depot abandoned a prospective site in Knoxville, Tn., after its rezoning request was denied and is battling neighborhood opposition to projected stores in Crystal Beach, Fl., and on Howell Mill and I-75 in north Atlanta, Ga. ... Depot stores have begun rolling out an exclusive line of Thomasville brand kitchen and bath cabinetry ... the company expects to double its store count by 2OO4 to 2,300, up from an earlier estimate of 1,900 ...

Scotty's, Zephyrhills, Fl., lost part of its roof in an Oct. 9 fire

Lowe's Cos. opened stores recently in Gulf Breaze, F1.; NW Macon, Ga.; Highland Heights, Ky.; Hammond, La.; D'Iberville, Ms.; Shallotte, N.C,; Lexington and South Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Cookeville, Tn.; Bunker Hill (Houston), Tx., and Galax and Norfolk, Va.

Lowe's has broken ground in North Dekalb, Ga.; is considering a replacement site in Albemarle, N.C.; is building on 18 acres in northeast El Paso, Tx., and expects an early 2001 opening in Allen, Tx., and a spring unveiling in Richmond, Ky. ...

Smith-Phillips Lumber & Building Supply, Winston-Salem, N.C., was recognized as one of the 50 fastest growing private companies in the area by The Business lournal ...

Do it Besr purchasing awards went to Boozer Lumber Co., Columbia, S.C.; Pride Do it Best Home Center, Amarillo, Tx.; Phillips Lumber Do it Center, Murphy, Tx.; 48-unit Barton's, Jonesboro, Ar., and Texas' 8-unit Parker Do it Best Lumber and 15location Alamo Lumber

Anniversaries: Smitty's Building Supply, Alexandria, Va., 25th...

Wxor:sn:rs/trruratru n:ns

Temple-Inland, Dlboll, Tx., is exiting the fiber cement business, leasing its Fortra-Fiber, Waxahachie, Tx., operation to Jsmes Hardie Building Products ...

Willamette Industries will close its Ruston, La., plywood plant in mid-January due to dwindling plywood markets ...

Plum Creek Timber Ca. agreed to sell its mills in Joyce, La., and Huttig, Ar., for $60 million to West Fraser Timber Ca. Ltd.

Atrium Cos., Dallas, Tx., agreed to buy Ellison Windows & Doors, Welcome, N.C.; is selling Wing Industries'door assets to Premdor, and sold its wood patio door div. to Woodgrain Millwork ...

Associated Materials Inc., Dallas, Tx., acquired Alpine Industries for $7.5 million from Reliant Building Products ...

International Paper agreed to sell Masonite to Premdor for $523 million...

Hughes Supply, Orlando, Fl., has acquired the remaining 5l%o interest in bestroute.com LLC

Antho ny - D o mt ar br oke ground on a new $20 million Power Joist manufacturing facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada; Anthony Forest Products Co., El Dorado, Ar., and Domtar Inc. are partners in the joint venture

Interfor has become the first company with operations exclusively in Canada to enroll its forestlands in the Sustainable Forestry Initiative ...

Mid-States Wood Preservers, 12c., Simsboro, La., is installing Progressive Solutions' Lumber Track system ...

Trex Co., Inc., Winchester, Va., was ranked number one on Forbes' annual list of the 200 Best Small Companies in America

Housing sterts in Sept. (latest figs.) held steady at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.530 million single family starts slipped lVo to a 1.233 million rate; multifamily was at a rate of 262,000 for 5+ units, 35,000 for 2-4 units permits climbed l7o to an annual rate of 1.506 million.