Devine Lumber sold to Parker Building Supplies

Devine Lumber owners Richard and Anna Wilkerson sold their business to Parker Building Supplies, who take over May 1.

Devine Lumber Company has announced that it is being bought out by Parker Building Supplies Inc. It has been owned and operated by the Wilkerson family for approximately 55 years, originally purchasing it from Dutch Eshinburg in 1962 (who owned it for many years). Parker Building Supplies will take over on May 1, 2017 after inventory and operate the business.
Richard and Anna Wilkerson, the current owners, are looking forward to retiring but will miss the customers and day to day involvement in the community. “We think Parker Building Supplies will be a good fit for our community. It was a good deal for us both, a very friendly deal. They are excited about it and so are we. They agreed to keep our employees which was important to us”, said Richard and Anna Wilkerson, Devine Lumber.
George T. Wilkerson purchased Devine Lumber from Dutch Eshinburg in 1962. The Wilkerson family operated the lumber company and a construction business building many homes in the area. Son Richard Wilkerson and his wife Anna eventually bought out his siblings David, Ann and Martha’ shares after his parent’s death. Richard can remember working since his was 9 years old on a construction crew with his father building homes. He eventually started working in the lumber yard and became the owner of it. He and his wife Anna have worked side by side in the business and have enjoyed watching the community grow and helping out anytime asked. Anna also started working young in a family business working for her father Joe Pulido at his store Western Auto.
“We have spent most of our lives in the lumber business while raising our daughters Vianney and Annissa. It is a part of who we are, so we are really going to miss it, but look forward to spending more time with our families especially our little 2 and 1/2 year old grandson Porter Wilkerson Jasik, our daughters and son in law Steven. We have been blessed and appreciate everyone’s support over the years. We have customers from all over the area not just from Devine and Natalia. People traveled from all over to do business with us and we do appreciate it and will miss them. We hope they continue to support the Devine community and the new owners.”
The Wilkersons employed about 12 people on average during their years of business, both full and part time.
They will be missed greatly by the community of Devine and their generosity, always supporting any school, church or community event or family in crisis. Good old fashioned personalized service and generosity.
Parker Building Supplies has 22 stores including those in Hondo and Pearsall. The following is history featured on their website.
History
Parker’s Building Supply planted its roots in the community over 80 years ago in Port Arthur, TX. Initially, it salvaged wood from the dismantling of old wooden oil derricks. The original owners were B. Wyde and Sam Spector. Shortly after starting the business, Sam Wyde, B.Wyde’s son, entered the business and turned it into a retail lumber yard.
In the 1950s, Robert Wyde, Sam’s son and Richard Parker, B. Wyde’s son-in-law, became involved in the business and established relationships with contractors. In 1968, Richard Parker bought the entire business from the Wydes. After surviving a devastating fire in 1974, Richard opened the current location in Port Arthur and changed the name to Parker Lumber.
In the late 1970’s, Parker Lumber converted to Parker’s Do It Center and Richard’s son, Scott, entered the business. During the last three decades, Scott Parker and Parker’s Do It Center opened an additional 13 locations across Texas.
In 2005, Parker Lumber was acquired by Lanoga in an effort to establish a Texas presence. After less than two years under the Lanoga and United Building Center umbrella, Scott Parker was given an opportunity to re-acquire his family’s business and happily and aggressively bought back 10 of his family’s Parker Lumber locations.
In 2010, Parker made the decision to expand into California with the purchase of the Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs locations. Further expansion included the Yucca Valley and 29 Palms locations. There are now 22 locations serving Texas and California, with plans to expand the company further as opportunities arise.
In order to expand the company’s opportunities, Scott Parker changed the name to Parker’s Building Supply in 2015.
Later in 2015, Parker sold to US LBM Holdings, LLC, a holding company that embraces and supports the Parker’s Building Supply culture. Now, as in the past, the philosophy of Parker’s remains the same…… Low, competitive prices with superior customer service
By Kathleen Calame
Publisher