About Us

Building Success

We are committed to bringing our customers the best quality at the lowest price while providing unparalleled customer service, and that commitment is the common thread throughout every level of our company. From our simple beginnings to the bold plans we have for our future, we have never and will never abandon that guiding principle.

Meet the Management

John Morton, Owner and CEO

Pam Morton, Owner

Adam Wells, President

Nealy Wells, CFO

Matt Wells, Vice President

Rodney Persons, Vice President

Eddie Ausburn, Director of Retail Operations

Amy Quimby, Stuttgart Office Manager

Our History

Born in Higden, Arkansas in January 1956, John Morton developed a strong work ethic and entrepreneurial spirit at an early age. In 1971, when he was just 15 years old, Morton began working after school for F.L. Davis’s lumber yard in Greers Ferry. Davis was so impressed with Morton that he decided to take the young man under his wing and become his mentor. Soon, their employer-employee relationship grew into one that more closely resembled family.

When Morton was just 19 years old, Davis asked Morton to open a new Davis Lumber Company location in Stuttgart. Morton did most everything in the beginning – from purchasing to stocking to selling at the counter – even making jobsite deliveries in the afternoons. After 15 years of steady growth, Davis made good on a promise to allow Morton to purchase the store from him, and in 1990, Morton and wife, Pam, started the company that would eventually become Lumber1 Home Center.

By the mid-2000s, the Mortons had their sights set on expanding, and in November 2008, they opened the Mayflower location. Despite opening during the depths of the housing crash of the Great Recession, the Mortons rolled up their sleeves and were determined to win over an entirely new market. Located strategically between Conway and Little Rock, the Mortons took Lumber1 from being the “new kid in town” to becoming the fastest-growing building material company in Arkansas in just a few years. And they did it by adhering to their commitment to hometown customer service while offering great prices on a wide selection of products.

Today & Tomorrow

After almost 50 years in the lumber business, John Morton’s vision for his company continues to expand: A new distribution and warehousing facility located in southwest Little Rock is set to open in May 2024, not only providing increased capacity and efficiencies to service customers, but creating the infrastructure for continued growth for years to come. And now, with construction underway on a 115,000 square foot store at I-430 and Col. Glenn Road in west Little Rock, Lumber1 is poised to raise the standard for design and retail building material needs even higher. The new Lumber1 Little Rock location will feature a 30,000+ square foot design center – Design1 – that will showcase the top brands in flooring, lighting, cabinets, countertops and more in a high-end setting that does not exist anywhere else in the state

The story of Lumber1 is the story of Morton’s obsessive dedication to hard work and quality and his drive to be the best. All the while, family has been at the heart of the Mortons’ vision for Lumber1, and now there is another generation carrying on the tradition and set to carry it far into the future. Their daughter, Nealy Wells, serves as CFO; her husband, Adam Wells, is the president; his brother, Matt Wells, is a vice president; and Rodney Persons, Morton’s right-hand man for more than 40 years, serves as the other vice president. Using their combined experience and skills, they work together to continue the Mortons’ legacy and show customers why Lumber1 Home Center is the best in the business.