Lumber legacy
Strong principles keep family business going 65 years
But that’s not the case at all.
Teague, 75, has worked with his father, R.J. Teague, 98, at Teague Lumber Co. since the business was started in September 1944. And to both men, that lumber shop is a second home.
Jim Teague, sitting in his modest office full of dusty shelves and old pictures filling the walls amidst certificates of thanks to Teague Lumber for support from various local organizations spanning several decades, said he was at the shop every day with his father, after school, on weekends and anytime he could get there in between.
“Anytime I wasn’t in school, I drove trucks, unloading, and this was before we had forklifts,” he said.
This year, Teague Lumber Co. celebrates 65 years of business at 2501 White Settlement Road in Fort Worth. The company has evolved with the real estate industry over the years, growing and contracting its services as demand shifts. But all the while, the company has prospered, grown and stayed true to the principals R.J. Teague set from the get go: honesty and trustworthiness, Jim Teague said.
“I’ve worked side by side with my father my whole life and I’ve learned a lot from him,” Jim Teague said. “There were things he didn’t really try to teach me; I just learned them. But the biggest thing was to be trustworthy and treat folks in the right manner. There were plenty of times when I would get upset with him because someone would bring something back or be bent out of shape about something and he would give them a batch of product – I knew they were taking advantage of him, but that’s just the way he operated. You treat your fellow man right and you take care of your obligations. Your word is your bond, he would say.”
These days, R.J. Teague, founder of the business and family patriarch, doesn’t spend as much time at the shop, though his family has kept his office intact.
Jim Teague is CEO of the company, which he and his father own. Randy Stogsdill, R.J. Teague’s grandson, is vice president and general manager – not to mention a third generation member – of the firm, and will assume the responsibility of keeping the business successful and vital during the years to come. R.J.'s son-in-law, Don Stogsdill, worked at the lumber company for 45 years and Paul Teague, R.J.’s grandson, has worked at the family business for five years.
But Jim Teague said the road to today’s successful operation has been a long one.
Humble beginnings
R.J. Teague had but two years of formal education, learning the lumber trade while working for Morrow Wrecking Co. for 10 years before moving on to Chickasaw Lumber Co.
In 1944, he leased six acres for $400 a month from John Morrow, and started a lumber business with no more than a used saw and a heap of determination. He began buying old houses and buildings, tearing them down and selling the used lumber to homeowners and builders – and the business grew until 1949 when the Trinity River overflowed, with rushing water destroying most of Teague’s supplies. Jim Teague said he and his father slept in their truck on Henderson Street for a few days after the flood. The two were stuck there and were anxiously waiting for the water to recede so they could assess the damage to the business.
“We lost everything. Everything was washed away and when we saw that, I remember thinking I didn’t know what we were going to do, but papa said we would start over,” Jim Teague said.
And that’s just what they did.
That was the year the business started over, Jim Teague said, and it still serves as a defining moment. But that’s just how his father operated, Jim Teague said. He felt a responsibility to his customers – and that also carried over to changes in the business.
Sometime in the 1950s, Jim Teague recalls his father buying a calculator for $800 and in 1959, the eldest Teague spent $20,000 on a forklift for the business.
“I thought he was crazy at the time,” Jim Teague said. “To spend so much on such a machine, but he always knew what he was doing. He always knew.”
Jim Teague attended night classes at TCU and worked at Teague Lumber during the day, though he never graduated.
“I tell people I earned my degree in a lumber yard. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody, but it worked out pretty damn good for me,” he said.
Modernizing the company
Today, Teague Lumber covers more than half its block and continues to thrive with a strong customer base of general contracting firms, custom home builders, remodeling and rebuilding contractors, institutional and municipal buyers and do-it-yourself customers – with a large number of repeat customers.
Beyond a full line of building materials and lumber variations such as red wood, composite deck materials, cedar and engineered floor products, Teague provides also an service for builders including looking over floor plans and listing all items needed for the build, then bundle those materials for sale.
Jim Teague said that business has been good for Teague lumber and today, many of the custom builders’ workers “come in every day, sometimes more than once a day,” he said. “It’s a matter of loyalty. Loyalty in business is everything. We’re loyal to our customers and they’re loyal to us.”
That loyalty, Jim Teague said, is important for the business’ suppliers as well.
“We have some we’ve been dealing with for 50 years. And a lot of times, we can call them and put in an order and not even ask the price because we know they’re taking care of us. It’s not because we’re sitting around and patting ourselves on the back, but the fact is that it has been a successful business and that’s because, even with our suppliers, we have consistent buying practices, and we’ve been loyal over the years,” he said.
But loyalty isn’t the only lesson Jim Teague consistently practices, thanks to his father. In the lumber business, Jim Teague said, he and his family members have learned the importance of staying on top of industry changes – which explains an entire line of decking materials now carried at Teague Lumber that are made from wood fibers and recycled garbage bags instead of lumber.
“Changes happen in our industry and three to five years from now, building green will just be normal,” Jim Teague said. “Products change over the years and we’ve been around long enough to see it coming.”
And Jim Teague was quick to add a whole roster of family members who have been a part of the business’ success including his brother, Don Teague, who worked at the company for 25 years and his sister, Elaine Stogsdill, who worked there for 25 years. Jim Teague has also a brother, Bob Teague, who works in the oil and gas industry in Houston.
Randy Stogsdill has worked full-time at Teague Lumber for 28 years, though he smiles as he recalls sweeping the store when he was 6. Through the years, Randy Stogsdill said things have certainly changed in the business model, but he and his family have been sure to retain the old ways of doing things while reverting to the new ways.
“We do PDFs of house plans, of course, and we’ve been off the hand-written system for the last few years,” Randy Stogsdill said. “But we know how to serve them all, whatever they bring in. We’ve been here for long enough that we can help just about anybody.”
Paul Teague had a concrete construction company for 10 years, but decided to join the family business five years ago. As one of two members of the Teague third generation (he and Randy Stogsdill), Paul Teague said he can see why a lot of family-owned businesses struggle to keep the business alive in later generations.
“It’s a great thing,” Paul said. “Some people have trouble working with family, and we don’t always agree. There are some vigorous discussions, but at the end of the day, it’s over with.”
As for the future of the company, Jim Teague said he and his family members will continue to try to stay on top of industry changes while maintaining the business’ home-town feel.
“There’s an old saying, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Jim Teague said. “I think that applies to us. We’ll always work to give all we can to our customers and such, but we are doing just fine and I imagine we’ll continue doing just fine.”
