Johnnie Chuoke's Home And Hardware
2361 NW Military Hwy
San Antonio, TX 78231
210-341-1573
In 1939, Johnnie Chuoke, Sr., began building homes in San Antonio in the area known as Terrell Hills. After years of growing with the local market, Mr. Chuoke, Sr. realized that to be competitive, he had to hold down his cost of materials. This was not easily done because during this time, the lumber mills had exclusive agreements to deal only with retail establishments. Johnnie C., Sr. knew that the best way to hold down his materials cost and pass the savings along to his customer was to cut out the middleman and become to retail outlet. In 1944, Acme Lumber Centers, inc. was formed.
As Acme Lumber Centers began to grow, and as Johnnie Chuoke, Jr. became involved in the business, the company began to focus on retailing its products to the communities which surrounded each store. This shift in focus ushered in a whole new era of customer service and satisfaction. In 1994, the company celebrated its 50th Anniversary with five locations.
These accomplishments come right on the heels of the arrival of such retailing giants as Home Depot and Builder’s Square. As the initial shock of volume-emphasized outlets wears off, Acme Lumber Centers’ customers are returning to the best values available anywhere. They realize the company that Johnnie Chuoke, Sr. and Jr. have built is more involved with customer satisfaction than in the number of store locations.
In 1955, Johnnie Chuoke started the idea of targeting the “Do-It-Yourself” market, and realized the importance of the female consumer in the continued success of the operation. Usually starting out as paint customers, women now represent a significant percentage of Acme Lumber’s customer base.
Johnnie Chuoke, Jr. believes that the goals of Acme Lumber Centers are simple: Survive in today’s cutthroat marketplace by pricing Acme’s products competitively, knowing the customer and his or her needs, and giving the customer what he or she wants. He knows that the better Acme can meet the needs of its customers, the more likely that Acme Lumber Centers will serve the people of San Antonio long after the fall of the giants.
One contributing factor to the survival and growth of Acme Lumber Centers is the do-it-yourself radio program call “The Happy Handyman,” which airs weekly on KKYX. This program reaches an audience of 250,000 people, answering common and not-so-common questions related to building and home improvements. The article and the radio shows are effective methods for introducing Johnnie Chuoke’s Home & Hardware as information centers for everyone with a building supply-related question or problem. These question and answer sessions also allow for a greater understanding of the changing needs of the customers of Johnnie Chuoke’s Home & Hardware.
The management of Johnnie Chuoke’s Home & Hardware has a rather unique philosophy for this day and age. They feel that Johnnie Chuoke’s should be the company that can solve any customers’ building supply problems. That means the Do-It-Yourselfer can get answers about the different grades of lumber, or the contractor can find out about rushing an order to complete their jobs on schedule. Using this service-oriented philosophy, Johnnie Chuoke, Jr. knows that helping people will be the only way for Acme to be around for the next fifty years.
The goals of Johnnie Chuoke’s Home & Hardware are to provide customers with the assistance they need, and prices they can afford. In the words of Johnnie Chuoke, Jr. “We need to serve our customers the best way we know how.”
Johnnie Chuoke's Home And Hardware
2361 NW Military Hwy
San Antonio, TX 78231
210-341-1573
