Our History Since 1985

The Early Days

Long hours and hard work defined Shagbark in those days. Fred ran the store with Bud Laskowsky daily and made deliveries each night after closing. Fred and Bud began adding inventory as the community requested and the sales increased. By the end of 1986, our first full year in business, our gross sales were about 250,000.00; not earth shattering but hopeful. In those days monthly Joanna and her mom would sort hand written invoices and tally the customer bills on hand write statements. In 1987 we began looking for ways to increase our sales and in 1988 we joined Ace Hardware. This began a steady progression of growth. By the early 1990’s Joanna “Jody” Hunt came on full time to oversee the back office and accounts receivable billing. Sadly, however, we carry on without Bud, as he passed away in December of 1991.

Shagbark Lumber & Farm Supplies, Inc.

Early in 1994, after the local lumber yard, Moodus Lumber, closed; Shagbark purchased its first load of lumber and added Lumber to our name. We hired Moodus Lumber's most experienced lumber specialists to work for us, and to this day, are still a valuable staple of our company. We began the steady climb toward the Shagbark you see today. During this time, we put up five new buildings to house inventory and purchased eleven delivery trucks including a tractor trailer and a boom truck. Soon after the addition of lumber, came the addition of a custom mill shop to produce doors & windows. We expanded the inventory and set our goals high by striving to provide excellent service and quality products.

Shagbark Today

Although we are always focused on growth, we still operate under our original credo: Begin each day believing the customer is always right, and we are here because the customer has paid the bills thus far. A second credo: “be known by our good works in the community”. In fulfilling these credos each and every one of us must do more than is asked of us every day; and change before we are forced to change. The challenges we face daily, combined with keeping up with the pace of change in an ever encroaching business landscape, require us to be always vigilant, and positive and to remember our commitments.