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A focus on helping the community and serving other small businesses has been key to Curtis Lumber’s storied 134-year history. The operation currently has 23 locations in New York and Vermont.
In 1827, Captain Isaac Henry Curtiss built the first sawmill on Charlton Road in Ballston Spa, New York, laying the groundwork for Curtis Lumber. In 1890, Elmer Curtis purchased the sawmill and dropped the second “s” in Curtis. The company would move down the family line for several decades before being bought in 1949 by Robert Curtis, who assumed ownership from his father Kent and established Curtis Lumber Company Inc.
A retail store became part of the sawmill in 1955, and in 1966, Curtis Lumber began its expansion in the retail sector, purchasing a store in Schuylerville. From there, the operation would add 22 additional store locations across two states. In 1992, Robert’s son Jay Curtis took over as president, in 2001 Jay’s son Chris Curtis began working at Curtis Lumber and in 2008, Kylie (Curtis) Holland, Jay’s daughter, began her career at Curtis Lumber.
Other timeline highlights include topping $200 million in sales in 2018 and being inducted into the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry in 2023. Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh (R, C-Ballston) nominated the company for the honor and presented a New York State Assembly proclamation at the company’s flagship location in Ballston Spa, New York, in December 2023.
“The Curtis family has always focused on helping the communities and small businesses we serve,” says Jim Carpenter, director of marketing for Curtis Lumber. “When your focus is on bettering everyone overall, the community supports you and wants to work for you. Our employees continue to spread that work through their community service and customer service.”
As part of that high level of customer service, Curtis Lumber is known for rectifying the situation if something does go wrong. Carpenter says the company culture emphasizes treating people the way you would want to be treated.
“People know if something isn’t right from Curtis, they can approach their salesperson or anyone in the organization and the issue will be addressed and resolved,” he says. “There is also just such a focus on people and community. It doesn’t take long to see that the Curtis family invests in their people and encourages them to be involved in the industry and the areas we serve.”
Doing the right thing doesn’t just happen in the stores either; every Curtis Lumber location is involved in the community, whether it’s serving as an industry leader at events, supporting little leagues and other community organizations or championing the adoption of pets from shelters.
In recent years, the company has focused on encouraging younger people to consider the skilled trades as a career and has even helped to spin off the Northeast Construction Trades Workforce Coalition.
“Curtis Lumber and its employees are committed to being front and center when help is needed,” Carpenter says.
Selection + Service
Each Curtis Lumber location curates a product selection that best fits that area, with stores ranging from small community hardware stores to mega home improvement centers with drive-through lumberyards. Curtis Lumber has focused on providing everything a professional could need and most stores offer deck and kitchen departments with design services for retail customers. The Ballston Spa location also boasts a lighting design center and unique hardwood assortment.
Many of the stores feature project centers where customers can see how to complete a building project like a deck, roofing, siding, windows and more. Several stores also have a paint and design area where they can compare flooring with paint colors in a relaxed setting.
With over 650 employees across 23 store locations, staff members are the core of the company, Carpenter says. Leadership focuses on employee training—with special emphasis on product knowledge, soft skills and management skills for career pathing and development—and empowering them to make decisions.
“The Curtis family believes that the employees are what makes us successful as an organization,” Carpenter says. “Our customers are quick to name off specific employees who make a difference in their business.”
Curtis Lumber has been piloting buy online, pick up in store for its pro customers in two store locations and has worked to bring technology to the hands of its salesfloor, staging and delivery operations employees.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Curtis Lumber has worked to streamline the process of online discovery to in-store experience by adding an online lead team. This team serves as an online concierge who can take any inquiry from the website and facilitate it through the sales process to ensure everything is handled properly.
“It’s a safety net to ensure the increasing number of online leads get treated as well as a phone call or someone physically being present in the store,” Carpenter says.
Carpenter says in the next year, the focus for the company will be on executing an ever higher level of customer experience.
“We want to ensure that all of our processes and systems are running smoothly and have emerged from supply chain difficulties in a way that we would want them to be,” Carpenter says “For the next five years we have been evaluating our offerings and services and looking to expand where our pro customers need us to better serve their growing businesses.”
Read more about other retailers with benchmark anniversaries in our Milestones section.
