It is nine o’clock at night. You are in the middle of a plumbing repair, and you find you need another plumbing fitting. The big box stores are closed. Delivery service is a day or two away.
What do you do?
If you’re in Victoria, Kansas, you call Jim. He’ll come open Victoria Lumber so you can get the part you need. This is the kind of customer service that helps sustain this store in rural Kansas.
Jim and Becky Scheck are the owners of Victoria Lumber. Jim grew up in the area and worked at a manufacturing plant in Hays until the company relocated. He then farmed and worked in the oilfield.
In 1983, a neighboring landowner asked Scheck if he would want to work part-time at Victoria Lumber, the local hardware store and lumberyard.
Scheck took the job. Within six months, he was working there full-time. He started as a yard man, then worked at fixing screens and moved up to become a bookkeeper. “It gave me a good overview of the entire business,” he said.
Victoria Lumber Company was founded in 1952. In 2006, after the previous owner became ill, Jim and Becky purchased the business.
