R.P. Lumber Co., Inc. has announced it has acquired Guyot Lumber in Perryville. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction, which closed on Friday, Nov. 1, marks R.P. Lumber’s eighth acquisition this year and its first location in Perry County.
With this acquisition, the long-time business at 800 W St. Joseph St., will become R.P. Lumber’s 88th location and its 21st in the Show Me State.
Expressing their feelings about selling the family-owned hardware store, Rick Guyot, co-owner of Guyot Lumber and his brother Jim Guyot, said, “Our family takes a lot of pride in this business, in our people, and in Perryville. When we decided we wanted to transition out of ownership, we knew we wanted our legacy to be inherited by an honest, well-respected peer familiar with the southeast region of Missouri, and I think we’ve found the perfect fit with R.P. Lumber.”
“The Guyot family has built Guyot Lumber into an impeccable hardware and LBM dealer,” said Robert L. Plummer, president and CEO of R.P. Lumber. “The Guyot family story is similar to our family story and is similar to family stories across our tight-knit industry of independent dealers. They work hard, they take care of their community, and they make sure their pro and DIY customers are treated right. We know we can continue to service those customers seamlessly during and after this transition.”
Serving roughly 70 percent pro contractors and 30 percent “do it yourself” homeowners, Guyot Lumber has been serving Perryville for many decades.
Started by Perryville native Merlin “Mertz” Guyot as an offshoot of the family construction business several years after returning to Perryville from WWII. Mertz attributes his idea to just being in the “right place at the right time. He had no formal training in business or finance besides the little he got in high school and yet he had enough insight to know that this idea would work.
His education was in contracting, and that background experience is what helped him succeed in his business. Mertz worked to develop the retail side of the business while his father continued contracting. They still operated in the same company, but there were now two divisions. Mertz started out with one delivery truck and only lumber materials being supplied to him.
He hired people to work in the yard, load and unload trucks, and store the lumber. His central location attracted other contractors who would otherwise have to travel out of their way for materials. They gladly came to Guyot’s lumberyard for their building supply needs. With Perryville’s residential and business districts growing, Mertz addressed the needs of his fellow contractors by bringing the supplies closer to home, and this helped his business to prosper.
The retail part of the business had really taken off from its simple beginning. Soon he realized paint could be added to his inventory. From there, he included bathroom fixtures, such as toilets, tubs, sinks, etc. In Mertz’s words, “One thing led to another,” and that is precisely what happened. Mertz’s father retired in 1960. There were many things Mertz had yet to learn about managing and his father’s presence was missed, but gradually Mertz adapted to his new role as owner and manager.
He had the courage to do his own thing and follow his heart. He was not opposed to change, and his acceptance of this helped him deal with the changes always being made in his company. Mertz managed the company by himself for another 12 years with the same increase in business. In October of 1969, he became the first lumberyard west of the Mississippi to join Hardware Wholesalers Inc. (HWI), a buying group of 3,000 independent companies also in the hardware business.
This co-op enabled Guyot Lumber to have a diverse selection of materials through its vast selection of suppliers. Through all this, Mertz single-handedly steered his company in the right direction and helped it continue to prosper. The company has continued to grow under the dedicated leadership of Rick and Jim, Merlin’s sons, both of whom joined the business in the 1970s.
“I am excited for our employees, and I am excited to get out in the community and introduce our customers to R.P. Lumber. We met with several interested parties, but after numerous meetings with the R.P. Lumber team, it became clear this route would be a win-win for everyone,” said Jim Guyot.
Plummer added, “We love this region of Missouri, and the Perryville team will integrate seamlessly with our excellent teams in Festus and Jackson. This is a great part of America, and we work hard to deliver our best service to these communities every day. We are humbled to become stewards of the great business the Guyot family has built.”
R.P. Lumber plans to work with the existing team in Perryville, eventually expanding the location’s job-site delivery radius and inventory selection in certain categories. Based in Edwardsville, Ill., R.P. Lumber opened its first location in Staunton, Ill., in 1977 and has continued to grow throughout the states of Illinois, Missouri, Wyoming, Iowa, Wisconsin, and South Dakota.
