EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – R.P. Lumber Co. Inc. announced the rebranding of all 22 Stock + Field locations it acquired through the bankruptcy process this past spring to their new name, R.P. Home & Harvest.
The complete interior, exterior, and online rebranding commenced Sept. 7 and will be completed within 30 days. After decades of operations, the stores – known as Big R until acquired in 2018 and renamed Stock + Field – entered bankruptcy and liquidation under previous ownership in early 2021, according to a news release from R.P. Home & Harvest.
R.P. Lumber Co. Inc. stepped in this past spring and, knowing the importance of the products and jobs these stores provide the communities they serve, worked with their employees and vendors to keep these stores operating after a complete liquidation under prior ownership. With a new management team in place and the stores open and stabilized, the transition to this permanent brand is the start of the new beginning for these stores and the customers they serve. By rehiring and committing to the employees at these locations, rebuilding the culture that helped the company thrive in years past, and investing in the products and brands the customers crave, R.P. Home & Harvest has turned the page and will begin growing again, the news release states.
Founded in Watseka, Ill., in 1964 as Big R Stores, R.P. Home & Harvest will continue to serve its customer base by providing quality products essential to rural lifestyles at affordable prices. Since the new ownership team reopened the stores, they have been vocal about partnering with their customers and the communities they serve to make the improvements that will anchor its stores in these towns for many years to come, according to the release. Many of the new products and operational changes within the stores were specifically driven by their recent “It’s Your Store” campaign where input was sought from customers across the 22 locations. Over 4,000 customers participated in the “It’s Your Store” campaign through the digital and in-store campaign, helping ensure the stores are responsive to their communities and prepared to meet the needs of their customers.
Based in Edwardsville, Ill., R.P. Lumber Co. Inc. is a family-owned retailer that operates 74 full-service hardware and building material stores throughout Illinois, Missouri, Wyoming and Iowa. The company was founded in 1977 by Chairman and CEO Robert L. Plummer in Staunton, Ill.
As the new ownership group has stated in the past, their prime motivation for reopening these stores was to save jobs and invest in rural America.
“We primarily serve small and medium size communities,” said Robert Plummer. “Retailers like us can often be one of the top employers and sales tax generators in the area. We saw an opportunity to breathe life into these economies and keep good, hardworking people employed.”
“These stores have a decades-long tradition as being a part of the fabric of the community, and our intentions remain steadfast,” said Jason Plummer, vice president of R.P. Lumber and president of R.P. Home & Harvest. “We want R.P. Home & Harvest to be an extension of the culture of service we’ve cultivated at R.P. Lumber over the years.”
“Our customers played a key role in renaming our stores,” said Robert Plummer. “We received over 2,500 suggestions via our website and social media pages and took each one into consideration. We now hope to pick up where Big R left off and will continue to earn the respect of our customers through good old fashioned hard work and customer service.”
“In addition to our customers, I want to thank our great employees and our dedicated vendors,” said Jason Plummer. “Taking these empty stores that had just gone through some very rough times and then, in this economic environment, hiring nearly 1,000 great team members and refilling the shelves in such a short period of time was a monumental task and it could not have happened without great employees and great vendor partners. We sincerely thank them and look forward to what the future brings as we all move forward together.”
R.P. Home & Harvest currently operates 22 locations across Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin and the company desires to grow in the future. “This is our passion. Providing jobs, opportunity, and a best-in-class shopping experience in small town USA. Our goal is to bring value and great service to our customers and make sure they have what they need at home, at work or on the farm,” said Jason Plummer.
In addition to providing the tactile shopping experience that can only be found at brick-and-mortar locations, R.P. Home & Harvest will bring the same great value and service online with a robust e-commerce platform offering over 100,000 products, according to the news release. That e-commerce platform will launch soon on R.P. Home & Harvest’s website, www.homeandharvest.com.
