Arkansas Business

E.C. Barton & Co.

E.C. Barton & Co. of Jonesboro is a retail building supply store chain with roots dating to 1885, when P.C. Barton opened a grocery store in Jonesboro. The grocery store was sold in 1902, and the company focused on lumber, changing its name to Barton Lumber & Brick. In 1928, P.C. Barton handed the company over to his son, Eugene C. Barton.

Over the years, the company added lumber yards and followed the philosophy "Buy quality, buy satisfaction.” When Barton died in 1967, the chain had 26 stores in Arkansas, Texas and Mississippi.

One of E.C. Barton's key purchases took place in 2006, when it bought the 56-store Grossman's Bargain Outlet chain from Jeld-Wen Inc. of Klamath Falls, Ore. The deal doubled E.C. Barton overnight. By 2011, it had about 900 workers.

In recent years, the company has focused more on its Surplus Warehouses chain of 25,000 SF to 30,000 SF warehouse stores. As of 2011, the $310 million company had 12 Barton's stores and 58 Surplus Warehouses.