Building Wichita -- The History of Star Lumber Book
Building Wichita - The History of Star Lumber & Supply Co.
by: Scott Dalrymple
In 1939 when most successful Wichita lumberyards were still located in the downtown area Star Lumber set up shop on a dusty corner well outside the city at West Street and Maple. Earl Goebel, Star's President, reasoned that the downtown area had already been built and the real need for lumber would be on the city's outskirts. He was betting that Wichita would grow.
He was right. Over the ensuing sixty years, as Wichita expanded, so did Star Lumber, today the dominant building supply dealer in Kansas with over 450 employees and $120 million in revenue. This is the story of how the Goebel family made it all happen through hard work, innovation, customer service and a willingness to take risks. "I don't think that any of us - my dad, or myself, or my brother Bob or anybody - were doing anything miraculous," says Bill Goebel. "We just weren't afraid to work, and we got with it. We did some things we wished we hadn't done. But we always turned them around and did the best we could."
About the author - Scott Dalrymple is Beech Professor of Business Administration and Chair of the Business Department at Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas.
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