Somerville Lumber

Payless Cashways, Inc.

Company type	Public company (formerly)
Industry	Retail (building materials and home improvement products)
Founded	1930
Founder	Sanford "Sam" Furrow, sons, and John Evans
Defunct	2001
Fate	Liquidation after 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 that specialized in the retail of building materials and home improvement products. Operating mainly throughout the 1980s and 1990s, it was recognized as one of the pioneering national chains to embrace the DIY retail concept. However, the company encountered significant financial challenges toward the end of the 1980s.

Unlike contemporary home improvement retailers, Payless Cashways featured a fully operational outdoor lumber yard. Customers would complete their purchases inside the store and then proceed to drive into the lumber yard area to present their order ticket to an attendant for material pickup. Before filing for bankruptcy protection, Payless Cashways maintained 194 locations spanning 22 states.

History

The origins of Payless Cashways trace back to 1930 when Sanford "Sam" Furrow, alongside his sons and business associate John Evans, acquired a defaulted lumberyard in Pocahontas, Iowa. Subsequently, they purchased two additional lumberyards facing similar financial difficulties. The initial site was initially called Kiefer-Wolfe Lumber Company but was soon renamed Pocahontas Lumber Store. As the business expanded, Furrow and Evans divided their operations. Sam Furrow and his sons adopted a "cash-and-carry" approach, enabling them to offer lower prices by eliminating credit risks associated with contractors. The company ultimately adopted the Payless Cashways brand; however, due to trademark restrictions in states such as Texas, Oregon, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, California, and Indiana—where Payless was already used by other retailers—new stores often operated under the Furrow's name. By 1981, Payless Cashways ranked as the fifth largest enterprise within its industry.

In late 1982, Payless Cashways agreed to acquire Lumberjack Stores Inc., a Sacramento-based retailer, for $26.3 million (~$Template:Format price adjusted for inflation). The following year, they completed the purchase of Somerville Lumber & Supply Company from Somerville, Massachusetts for $12 million in stock. Further expansion occurred in 1986 with the acquisition of Knox Lumber Company headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota; financial terms were not disclosed.

The company transitioned from public to private ownership in 1988 but failed to generate profits during its five years as a private entity.

That same year marked a pivotal moment as Payless Cashways became the focus of a leveraged buyout attempt led by Asher Edelman and Sutherland Lumber. Additionally, The Ward White Group—a British firm operating a similarly named retailer in the United Kingdom—made a takeover bid. In response to these acquisition attempts, Payless Cashways repurchased its outstanding shares totaling 33.6 million at $27 per share for an aggregate of $909 million. This substantial stock buyback burdened the company with heavy debt that curtailed further expansion efforts.

Consequently, Payless Cashways lost ground to emerging big-box home improvement chains such as Builders Square and HomeBase—and later to Menards, Home Depot, and Lowe's—which were rapidly gaining market share. Throughout the 1990s, the company experienced intermittent successes but recurrent setbacks prevented it from regaining its earlier growth momentum.

In July 1997, Payless Cashways filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid mounting financial pressures. The collapse of the dot-com bubble further constrained access to capital as banks became reluctant to extend credit necessary for ongoing operations. Ultimately, on September 10, 2001—coinciding with the day before the September 11 attacks—the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri ordered the liquidation of Payless Cashways.

Names Used for Operations

Payless Cashways managed its retail locations under several distinct brand names, typically assigning one specific banner to each 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