"SERVICE ls Our Policy-Not Our Motto" Gibson Lumber Co. Opens One-Stop Store in Indio

George W. Gibson and Dungan Gibson of the Gibson Lumber Company, San Bernardino, Calif., sent out engraved invitations to the trade for tl-re recent opening of iheir neu' yard (the fourth in a booming, smartly managed chain) in Indio, Calif., December 9. The Gibson brothers have .good reason to be that proud of the latest of their line, a good-looking store and small but one of tl.re most comDact vards hereabouts. The Gibson Lumber Co. has been in business in San Bernardino since 1931.

The Indio store and yard is located at 83-700 Highway 99, on tl-re east side of the desert resort city of Indio, on property leased from the Southern Pacific R.R. The 5,000sq. ft. building which houses the showroom and office is located or.r a 1O-acre plot with 25,000-sq. ft. of storage space for the yard's building materials. Off-street parking area of 12.000-sir. ft. will acco-mmodate 40 to 50 vehiiles. The building was -designed by James M. Fox of Rivera and built by N'Ieredith and Simpson of Indio and Thermal.

The Indio yard of the Gibson Lumber Co., like their recent remodeling at Victorville, Calif., and present construction at San Bernardino following the recent fire there, is of the newest and most modern tilt-up construction' The Indio store rvas in the planning stage by the firm for about a year.

Al Heuer was named manag'er of the new retail yard by the Gibson brothers, for whom he enjoyed working the previous year at the San Bernardino yard _f,ollowing employment r'vith other leading retail yards. !e ,is making iris-home ir.r nearby La Quinta with his wife Norma and sons Mike, 16, and Nlarc, 14, until a home is bought or built in Indio.

Also on the Gibson staff at Indio are Bud King, the assistant mallag'er, and the yard crew: Collie Rodriguez and Tom Hudson. More will be added as the business needs, in addition to the clerical help.

"We rvill be handling all nationally advertised lines of building supplies," Manager Heuer told The California

Top of pdge: The Indio yord ritc beride highwqy.bvt provider plenty of porking lelt: Monoger Al Heuer. The view through lhe window behind him lokr towqrd snow-copped momloint. Note ths store's woll ponelingr

Top Right: Wood species, poneling:, woll disploy: ond l:lod rq<k5 shown in this view loo&ing to teq of slore ond the "bak porch" de:<ribed elrewhere in story

Right: Cl05e-up of more disploy of the glore'. wood spe(ies md the sign desigrcting the Home Plmning Center

Lumber Merchant when its reporters toured the uncompleted store earlv in November. a few weeks before its |rand opening, during a side trip from the Palm Springs Conference of the Southern California Retail Lumber Association. "\Are just received a shipment of five carloacls of lumber and have a new pole shgd to keep everything out of the weather," he said.

Al Heuer is Chicago-born, gained his first retail yard experience in Iowa before starting a 7Z-year career in Southern California yards. lIe's civic-minded, like most successful lumber dealers, belongs to the Elks and one service club. He was sent on down to Indio by the Gibsons last