In 1941, Herman Albrecht Jr., started building window sashes in the garage of his home on St. Margaret Street in downtown Charleston, SC. Needing more space just four years later, Herman moved the business to its present-day location on King Street. Thad Shuler, the grandson of Mr. Herman, came back to the family business in 2008 and since 2016, has been the President and CEO of the company.
Southern Lumber & Millwork has grown from a backyard operation to a team of 170 employees who operate a fully stocked lumberyard, a window and door sales department, and an 84-year-old millwork shop with trademarked products.Thad mentions their biggest asset is the smiling, happy people and family that work together to serve the Charleston community. “Currently, each department has employees with 20, 30, and even 40 years of experience with this company; generations of families have contributed to our success,” Thad shares. “That sort of loyalty brings a lot of pride to Southern Lumber. That amount of expertise is hard to match!”
Growing the Business
While Southern Lumber takes a lot of pride in building generational relationships with the employees, the team also invests quality time with builders and architects. The goal is to help everyone form strong friendships to create opportunities that help elevate the local custom home builder market in its entirety.
“I think that we do things a little bit differently in our marketplace, and that’s one thing that makes us unique. We spend a lot of time with architects because Charleston is an architecturally driven community.” A strong relationship between architects and builders enhances communication, streamlines processes, and even increases mutually beneficial conflict resolutions. Smoother project executions are more enjoyable for everyone involved.
Southern Lumber Embraces Technology with the Launch of Their New App
“We’ve been really pushing the innovation aspect and always want to improve efficiencies,” Thad stated. It all started when a customer reached out on a Friday after hours, asking for an order. This sparked the idea of an app to assist communication between customers and staff more quickly.“The contractor can go into the app, choose the materials and quantities, and specify delivery or will call. Orders can be selected for morning or afternoon delivery the following day, or with the will call process, customers can come pick the order up within an hour.” It also features a proof of delivery photo so that the customer can see where the order was placed at the jobsite. The app has their full product catalog in it, and includes moulding profiles to hardware. It is something that Southern Lumber is very proud of.
Working with mostly custom home builders, new construction and custom remodelers, most customers do not know what they need until they get into the project. “I’ve noticed some guys are quick to jump in the app and use it as a way to see if the product is stocked. Other guys, are going into the actual printed catalogs in their truck, and then bringing it in to the project and doing it that way.” Thad exclaimed. The app has been an innovative way for customers to work more efficiently and effectively.
LMC Makes an Impact
LMC makes an impact on Southern Lumber with the educational information that they provide. “I think that the resources that LMC constantly makes available is huge. That was one of the biggest reasons for our transition.”Southern Lumber has found a few different areas where they don’t do a lot of business in certain categories, but there are helpful buying programs from LMC where they are able to break even or make some money on those categories.
“It’s great for our purchasing department. We have 3 purchasing guys now and our purchasing director is constantly leaning on LMC for the knowledge and resources and then obviously the good deals.”
Southern Lumber & Millwork’s legacy is woven into the fabric of it’s 84-year-old traditions, family values, community focus, and innovative mindset. They are sure to remain an industry leader, well-prepared for future challenges and new opportunities.