In Dayton, Requarth Lumber merges with Supply One Cabinets

The historic Requarth Lumber, a 151-year-old Dayton, Ohio, lumberyard that once sold lumber to Orville and Wilbur Wright, will merge with Supply One Cabinets and Design, according to a report in the Dayton Daily News.

The move is designed to generate business growth in a declining market. Alan Pippenger, president of Requarth, will remain president of the merged company as Supply One brings in a showroom to the lumberyard's Dayton location on Monument Avenue.

The new showroom is expected to open in January, according to the news report.

Requarth was featured in the January 2010 issue of Home Channel News in a series of articles about business sustainability. In a prescient statement, Pippenger described adaptability as a key to long-term survival. "We aren't the same company that we were 150, 100 or even 50 years ago," he told Home Channel News. "You have to be willing to give up on what's not working anymore."

Pippenger told the newspaper that he was optimistic that the worst of the downturn is over.