Retailer Becomes Guinness World Record Holder

Home improvement retailers are known for a lot of different things, but very few can claim the fame of being a Guinness World Record holder. That honor belongs to Tague Lumber, which has seven locations in the Philadelphia area.

The Guinness World Record event was the brainchild of Tague Lumber’s director of advertising and marketing Katie Connor. When Tague Lumber opened its Doylestown location, the goal was to connect and engage with the community more. Connor researched Guinness World Records tied to lumber and came across events like axe throwing, log flipping and even making the world’s largest salad bowl.

“I am an outside-the-box person, and I thought a Guinness World Record event would be fun, but I wanted it to be more than a spectator sport, I wanted our community to actually be able to participate,” Connor says.

Connor says she then came across an event an insurance company had done in Bolivia where they set the world record for knocking on wood.

“They had 295 people, and I thought if we tried hard, we could definitely break that record,” she says. “Plus it would allow people to actually participate in the event.”

And break that record they did, shattering the previous record by recording 552 people knocking on wood simultaneously.

Because it had to go through the proper channels as an official Guinness World Record event, it took several months of planning. It was a mysterious and mercurial process, as the Guinness World Record organization holds everything close to the chest and requires approval of all promotions, Connor says.

“But even with running behind with promotions, I never thought I would have 600 people registered and 100 people on the waitlist!” she says.

Actually breaking the record the day of was also a detailed process. The Guinness World Record organization sends an adjudicator and requires an “arena” where the event takes place to better count and track people participating. There was one steward for every 50 participants who officially attested that everyone was knocking on wood at the same time to break the record.

Along with the actual record-breaking, the event included a local high school marching band, live music, free food from food trucks and carnival games, all of which was free to attendees. Local vendors also set up booths to sell their wares.

“Everybody couldn’t believe we were doing all of this for free,” Connor says. “That alone was so endearing because people couldn’t believe we would be that kind to the community. It was great to see how many people turned out and to see that it was a multigenerational event with people of all ages, from kids to grandparents.”

Connor says when she came into the office on the Monday after, there were many emails from people thanking them for hosting the event.

“We could have very easily made a salad bowl and broken a record like that, but the point was to involve the community, and they came out in spades,” Connor says. “It was all about reaching out to the community and letting them know that we’re here to support them. We’re a 125-year-old family-owned and operated business, so we get what it means to be part of the community.”

Learn more about how retailers are engaging with the community through store events in our Checkouts section.