Hugh M. Woods Building Materials

Payless Cashways, Inc.

Company type	Public
Industry	Retail (building materials and home improvement)
Founded	1930
Founder	Sanford "Sam" Furrow
Defunct	2001
Fate	Liquidated following bankruptcy
Headquarters	Kansas City , United States
Area served	United States (22 states)
Products	Building materials, home improvement products

Payless Cashways, Inc. was a publicly traded company headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, specializing in the retail of building materials and home improvement products. Operating predominantly throughout the 1980s and 1990s, it was among the pioneering national chains to embrace the DIY retail concept. The firm encountered significant financial challenges during the late 1980s.

Unlike contemporary home improvement retailers, Payless Cashways featured a fully operational outdoor lumber yard. Customers would purchase goods inside the store, then drive their vehicles into the lumber yard to present their order tickets to an attendant for fulfillment. Prior to its bankruptcy filing, the company managed 194 outlets across 22 states.

History

Sanford "Sam" Furrow established the company in 1930 by acquiring a defaulted lumberyard in Pocahontas, Iowa, alongside his sons and business associate John Evans. Subsequently, he purchased two additional lumberyards facing similar financial difficulties. The initial location operated under the name Kiefer-Wolfe Lumber Company before being renamed Pocahontas Lumber Store. As the business expanded, Furrow and Evans parted ways, with Furrow and his sons adopting a "cash-and-carry" approach that allowed them to offer lower prices by eliminating credit risks associated with contractor accounts. The enterprise eventually rebranded as Payless Cashways, although new stores were sometimes launched under the Furrow's name due to trademark restrictions in states such as Texas, Oregon, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, California, and Indiana—where Payless was already associated with a grocery chain. By 1981, Payless Cashways ranked as the fifth largest retailer in its sector.

In 1983, Payless Cashways expanded by acquiring Lumberjack Stores Inc., based in Sacramento, California, for $26.3 million (adjusted for inflation). The following year saw the purchase of Somerville Lumber & Supply Company from Somerville, Massachusetts for $12 million in stock. In 1986, the company further grew by buying Knox Lumber Company located in Saint Paul, Minnesota; however, the acquisition cost was undisclosed.

Although Payless Cashways was taken private in 1988, it failed to generate profits during its five years as a private entity.

The company’s first significant hurdle came in 1988 when it became the target of a leveraged buyout led by Asher Edelman and Sutherland Lumber. Around the same time, The Ward White Group—a British firm operating a similarly named retailer—made a takeover offer. In response to these bids, Payless Cashways repurchased its outstanding shares—33.6 million at $27 each—for a total of $909 million. This stock buyback burdened the company with substantial debt that curtailed further expansion efforts. Consequently, Payless Cashways fell behind emerging big-box home improvement chains such as Builders Square, HomeBase, Menards, Home Depot, and Lowe’s.

Throughout the 1990s, Payless Cashways experienced intermittent successes but also recurrent setbacks and never regained its earlier growth momentum. In July 1997, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The collapse of the dot-com bubble further strained relations with lenders unwilling to provide additional support. Ultimately, on September 10, 2001—the day before the September 11 attacks—the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri ordered Payless Cashways to be liquidated.

Names Used for Operations

Payless Cashways managed its stores under multiple brand names, typically assigning a single brand to each specific region. These included:

• Payless Cashways
• Furrow
• Lumberjack
• Hugh M. Woods
• Knox Lumber
• Somerville Lumber
• Contractor Supply
• PCI Builders Resource
• PCIBuildStreet.com

See also

• List of defunct retailers of the United States