Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) began in 1993 when Tom Sullivan, a building contractor, began purchasing excess wood that other companies didn't need and reselling it from the back of a trucking yard in Stoughton, Massachusetts. The company found its niche market in hardwood flooring. The first store opened on January 5, 1996 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts selling 150 sq ft of flooring the first day. Eight months later, a second store opened in Hartford, Connecticut and from there the increase continued. The company moved headquarters from Boston to Colonial Heights, Virginia in 1999. By 2004 the company was bursting at the seams and moved headquarters to its current location, a 306,000 sq ft production center in Toano, Virginia. Over the past 20 years the company has grown steadily, with stores in 46 states and over 1000 employees. Lumber Liquidators has hundreds of locations in the US and Canada and continues to expand throughout North America. Lumber Liquidators prides itself on having one of the largest inventories of prefinished and unfinished hardwood floors in the industry. There are flooring experts in every store ready to help, and free samples are available. Lumber Liquidators carries solid and engineered hardwood, laminate flooring, bamboo flooring, cork flooring and resilient vinyl flooring, butcher blocks, molding, accessories and tools. Lumber Liquidators negotiates directly with the mills, eliminating the middleman and passing the savings on to the customers. The environmentally conscientious company only purchases from suppliers who practice sustainable harvesting, which allows forests to heal and re-grow faster. Everything Lumber Liquidators sells (unless specified otherwise) is first-quality, graded to industry specifications, and available in standard flooring lengths.
