The newest member of the Spahn & Rose group of lumberyards and hardware stores, Still Lumber in Conyers, Georgia, is a close-knit family. And while Kay Schimmel’s official title there is bookkeeper, Still Lumber employees and customers know her as “work mom.”
If someone in the yard has a splinter, they know Schimmel will whip out her special tweezers and gently remove it. Along with handling invoicing, sending out accounts payable and running payroll, Schimmel also makes sure everything from coffee cups to paper towels to change in the register is in place for others on staff.
“Kay has done just about anything there is to be done in the store,” says Jason Hill, Still Lumber’s General Manager. “She’ll jump in a truck and deliver something, come in on weekends and clean. She really is the work mom of Still Lumber.”
In 1946, Hill’s grandfather founded Still Lumber, which now serves the Atlanta metro area, Georgia’s Rockdale County and beyond. It offers custom-cut lumber and products such as framing lumber, hardwood lumber, joists and decking material. The company’s customer base includes contractors, builders, remodelers, homeowners and Georgia film and TV studios.
Rockdale County contractors rely on Still Lumber’s expertise, especially about new home and custom home builds, along with outdoor products including decking. “When anyone is looking to build a house, we have more to offer than a commodity,” Hill says. “We have a high level of service and years of knowledge to help design and build just about anything.”
Spahn & Rose purchased Still Lumber in August 2022. The acquisition marked the fourth recent major addition for Spahn & Rose, including those of Dunn Lumber in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in February 2019; Moeller & Walter Lumber in Reinbeck, Iowa, in February 2020; and Metro Building Products, in August 2021.
“Metro, Spahn & Rose and Still Lumber are very similar,” Hill says. “It’s a family atmosphere with lots of customers we’ve known for years. It’s been a great cultural fit and one of the reasons we’re part of the Spahn & Rose team.”
Like Metro, too, Still Lumber has a number of longtime employees—Schimmel, for instance, who has worked there for more than 25 years.
“What I enjoy most about working here is that every day is something different,” she says. “And we’re all such close family members and all get along. I don’t consider it a job as much as coming in to see my family.”
Through her more than two decades at Still Lumber, Schimmel says the greatest change has been adapting to new technology, including the new, updated inventory system.
When Schimmel isn’t pulling splinters or running errands for the store, she enjoys reading, hiking and spending time with her grandbabies. She and her family enjoy travel, too, with recent trips to the Grand Canyon and Ireland.