Richard W. Osborn and William O. Gilbert had their first lumberyard several miles down the road in Branchville, Conn. They decided to take advantage of the rail line (built in 1873) to haul their inventory in and moved the lumberyard to its current location in downtown Ridgefield, opposite the train station.
The lumberyard was later purchased by Harry Mayne and William Cargon who renamed it Ridgefield Lumber Company. In 1933, Frank Dain bought the company and renamed it the Ridgefield Supply Company and added more lines of merchandise. At that time, Mr. Louis H. Price, Sr. was hired as manager. In the early 1950’s Mr. Price acquired the majority interest in the company after Mr. Dain’s death.I
Mr. Price was the third generation of his family in the lumber industry. His Grandfather owned an operated the largest cyprus mill outside of New Orleans, LA at the turn of the century and his father was a lumber broker in Massachusetts.
Mr. Price was responsible for starting the lumberyard’s transformation by building several warehouses and a retail outlet located in a small red house on Prospect Street. In 1962, the rail shut down and the train station was transformed into additional warehouse space. By 1972, the small retail store was replaced by a state of the art showroom and office building.
In 1974, Mr. Price, Sr. retired after 43 years in the lumber industry. His son, Louis H. Price, Jr. succeeded him as the owner of the company. For over 30 years, Lou Price guided the company by providing traditional building supply products in addition to the latest, cutting edge material. Lou chaired the Lumber and Building Supply Committee for LMC and in 1999, he was named Connecticut Lumber Dealer of the Year.
In the summer of 2000, the third generation of Prices joined the sales force at the Ridgefield Supply Company. After graduating from Wheaton College, in Massachusetts, Lou’s daughter, Margaret Price, moved back to Ridgefield to become part of the family business. In 2005, the National Retail Hardware Association named Margaret “Young Retailer of the Year”. Margaret worked side by side with her father for 12 years. Under her dad’s watchful eye she grew into a leading force within the company and acquired Ridgefield Supply Company in October 2011 from her father. In 2015 she was named ProSales/KOMA Four Under 40.
Today, The Ridgefield Supply Company is undergoing the largest transformation in the history of the company, with 100% of materials, under cover, dry and clean. They continue to be one of the leading lumber and building supply dealers in their market. With a staff of loyal employees and a large fleet of multi-purpose delivery trucks, the Ridgefield Supply Company provides lumber, roofing, siding, decking, windows, doors, skylights, paint, hardware, and molding to contractors and homeowners within a 60-mile radius.
Ridgefield Supply Company is a division of US LBM, a leading distributor of specialty building materials in the United States. US LBM combines the scale and operational advantages of a national platform with a local go-to-market strategy through its national network of locations across the country.
