Francis “Warren” Pixley began working for Long-Bell lumber after the second world war. Long-Bell was a big outfit, like big enough that entire towns were named after the company. Long-Bell was founded in 1887, and expanded their footprint across the mid-south by controlling all facets of the lumber industry…from the mill to the yards. Eventually, they would become one of the largest wood product conglomerates of its time. In 1956, Long-Bell sold to another large conglomerate, International Paper.

“W”, as our grandfather was commonly known, transitioned to employment with International Paper and was charged with shuttering or transitioning many of the legacy Long-Bell yards. He performed in this capacity for a number of years until a particular work assignment brought him to Claremore, Oklahoma with the mission to shutter a legacy Long-Bell lumber yard located on Missouri St.   

While W Pixley was working to close the Missouri St. lumber yard on direction from International Paper, he connected with this community. W came to know this town as home and had a vision for Claremore that was full of potential, growth and opportunity. While Warren always followed his intuition, he was also aided a bit by a bit of inside information. You see, W’s brother Paul was the owner of a lumber yard located in Chelsea, Oklahoma. So while W had a hunch there was great opportunity in Green Country, it was Paul who had proven it was a highly attractive market.

In what seemed like overnight, in 1963, Warren Pixley tapped his parents and brother for a loan to purchase the shuttered Long-Bell lumber yard on Missouri St. That yard would become the first site of “Pixley Lumber” and was 1 of 3 yards in Claremore at the time. By 1971, when Pixley moved to it’s current-day location, they would be only 1 of the 2 remaining. Today, we are the town’s only original lumberyard still operating. 

In the early 1980s, Pixley expanded into home center and retail vertical to survive a bust period for new home starts. This retail strategy proved highly successful and flourished until 2003 when Lowe’s entered the local market. The business picked up significant tailwind during this period, regardless, as a strong local housing market returned in the mid-90s and continued until the great recession. This made for some of the most profitable years the business has ever experienced.