C.E. Cole Sr.In the 1940's the Cole Company originated in a sawmill in Drummonds,owned and operated by Clifton Cole and built upon the principles of hard work and family pride.  In the late 1950's, the family made the transition from sawmill to lumberyard, and began selling hardware goods from an 18' x 24' grocery store building in Drummonds, Tennessee.  Right around this time, Mary Cole, wife of Charles "Bub" Cole, was hired to manage the business office. 

SawmillIn 1962, Cole Lumber Company, Inc. opened new doors to a second location in Millington, Tennessee.  This store was successfully managed by Howard King, brother-in-law to the Cole brothers, until his death in 1989.  The Millington store was completely destroyed by fire in 1977 and reopened only one year later.

On January 1st, 1963, the four sons: Charles "Bub," Manard "Soup," Patrick "Cowboy," and Calvin "Jiggs" formed the corporation known today as Cole Lumber Company, Inc.

The Cole brothers built a new 4,000 square foot home for the original company in Drummonds in 1972.  The Drummonds location is still in business today, and caters to many local contractors.  It remains a driving force behind the growth of the South Tipton County comunity.

Millington storeBecause of this continued growth in South Tipton County and Millington, Cole's Do It Best Center opened in Millington in 1990 as an 18,000-square foot facility with a greater focus on retail.  The new store provided the community with around 50 new jobs.
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As the business grew, the Cole's continued to look for new ways to serve the community and found a great need for a local home decor store.  Thus, Cole's Cabinets, Floors & More opened in Millington in 1999.  This store offers a complete selection of in-stock finished and unfinished cabinets and vanities, as well as a large selection of ceramic tile, hardwood flooring, carpet and other styles of flooring.

GO RipleyIn 2002 Cole Lumber Company, Inc. expanded once again - this time, to Lauderdale County.  The Cole's purchased the newly built Ace Store in Ripley, Tennessee and tranformed it into Cole's Do It Best Home Center.  The Home Center in Ripley offers the same product mixture as Millington, but with the home decor of Cole's Cabinets, Floors & More.

In 2008, the Cole's conducted market research to find out what the people of Millington were looking for in a hardware store.  What they found was that the people were screaming for a hardware/home decor store that was completely different from the "Big Box" stores.  They also found that they were alienating their most important consumer: the female shopper.  To remedy this, the Millington store closed in July of 2009 and a massive remodel took place. 

When the new Cole's Home Solutions opened in November 2009, it had expanded to 70,000 square feet and included a state-of-the-art Home Decor department, a new cafe, a one-of-a-kind Appliance department, a Drive-Through Lumberyard, and much more.  This new store boasts working kitchen, bathroom, and shower displays, as well as a Working Garage where customers can try any power tool before they ever buy one!

Over the years, Cole Lumber Company, Inc. has truly remained a family business.  Generations of Cole's now work for the company.  The entire Cole family has a fine reputation for not only being community leaders, but also for lending a hand both physically and financially to the community.  All Cole employees are treated as if they too are a part of the Cole tradition.