4 | Orgill Case Study H&M LUMBER COMPANY was founded in 1961 by Walter Morris Sr. together with brothers Lawson and Johnny Hornor. During its early years, the business offered a small range of building supplies and hardware but was primarily complementary to a ready-mix concrete plant and concrete block facility run by the partners. As the West Helena area experienced significant growth during the 1960s and 1970s, so did the business. By the 1980s, however, this growth had slowed. H&M’s management and ownership team knew that if the business was going to survive, they would have to start exploring expansion opportunities. It was around this same time that Walter Morris Jr. joined the operation. Looking for ways to broaden the appeal of H&M, the management team decided that the best solution was to enhance their lumber and building material offerings to include more hardware and expand their customer reach beyond contractors and trade customers to include more retail traffic. This decision proved successful, and during the 1980s and early 1990s, the lumber and building materials business saw its customer base increase significantly. The ownership team sold off the concrete block plant in 1989. By the early 1990s, H&M Lumber Company was serving a mix of contractors, professionals, tradespeople and walk-in DIY traffic. With this additional traffic, it quickly became apparent that the business would have to expand beyond its existing 5,000-square-foot facility. After looking at options for a larger facility in the mid 1990s, the management team settled on the site of a former Walmart that sat in a strip mall (now H&M Corporate History BACKGROUND
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