Directories

Service Category

Retail

Business Description

S.W. Collins is a lumber and building materials dealer located in Northern, Maine. They have five retail locations, a millwork shop and a stand-alone kitchen and bath design center. Their mission is "To continue to offer excellent products and legendary service, as we strive to be an active, positive influence in the communities in which we live and work." Their core values as defined by their team are respect, care, learn, together, and deliver.

Family Business History

The history of the S.W. Collins Co. is closely linked with the history of Caribou, Maine. Both the family business and the thriving community began in recognition of the resources to be found within Maine's vast forests. It all started with lumber. In 1844, Samuel Wilson Collins along with business partner Washington A. Vaughan built a sawmill. They quickly had flourishing business in general merchandise and employed many men in their mill and in cutting lumber. As Vaughan grew older, he decided to leave the lumber business and invest his accumulated capital. In 1857, the two partners split the land and S.W. Collins took the sawmill and the bulk of the land on the north side of Caribou Stream, carrying on the large business by himself until 1876. From that time until 1882, he was joined by his son-in-law, Charles E. Oak and his younger son, Herschel D. Collins. After Sam Collins's death in 1899, Herschel Douglas Collins, youngest son of the family, became the head of the company. Herschel developed the lumber business as the times and economy demanded. He carried on lumbering operations and mills in Maine and New Brunswick to meet the demand for long lumber in Aroostook County and for the Boston market. The grist mill and general store started by his father were carried on for many years. For the next 29 years, in addition to concentrating on the lumber business, H.D. Collins developed the home farm to a high state of cultivation. Under Herschel's management, the Collins farm produced many thousands of barrels of potatoes during the first half of the twentieth century. By the time of Herschel's death in 1936, the third generation of the Collins family had long been involved in the business. Mary, eldest daughter of H.D. Collins, entered the office in 1915 as her father's bookkeeper. She became treasurer of the Collins Lumber Company, which was incorporated in 1933 to carry on a wholesale lumber business with a manufacturing plant in Stockholm. Herschel's son Samuel Wilson Collins became the head of the company after his death. In the nearly forty years that Sam was active in the family business, many changes occurred. The Collins Company carried on their own lumbering operations in the woods until the early 1950's. The mill in Caribou, although twice leveled by fire, continued to do a large amount of custom sawing. Building materials and supplies began to play in important part in the company's business. The career of Sam's second son, Donald, in many ways parallels that of his father. Don entered the business in 1949 after graduating from University of Maine. Through the 1950's and 1960's the company continued to sell lots from the home farm and to build houses there and elsewhere. In the 1960's the Collins Company stopped manufacturing lumber because supplies were too far away and the mill was not equipped to compete in the new manufacturing process that had evolved. Instead, the company became more involved with distribution of lumber and building supplies. In the early 1970's, the home building activities were closed out and the Collins Construction Company dissolved. During this time, the S.W. Collins Co. derived more and more business from selling building materials to other contractors involved in building. Don retired from the business in January, 1992. The present leader of the family-owned firm is Don's son, the third Sam W. Collins and the fifth generation to guide the business. Gregg Collins, Don's youngest son joined the firm in 1988 and currently serves as Vice President and manages the Presque Isle division of the company. The 1980's saw the business triple in volume and the S.W. Collins Co. evolved as a "home center" store. The company expanded its stock to include more hardware and electrical and plumbing supplies, in addition to traditional doors, windows, cabinets and other materials. The layout of the store was updated to attract do-it-yourselfers, becoming increasingly well-lit and well-organized for self-service. Later in 1992, Sam and his brother Gregg decided to expand their operation into other markets. After substantial interior and exterior renovations, a full-service building supply center opened in Presque Isle in July of 1993. An opportunity to purchase Houlton's Fogg's Hardware in 2007 was a logical next step to assisting the needs of all County residents. The facility was soon renovated with easier access, well-lit show room and a new drive through lumber warehouse. In April of 2013, the company decided to expand the business into neighboring Penobscot County and purchased Haskell Lumber in Lincoln. Construction soon began on a new 18,000 square foot retail facility and a 25,000 square foot drive through warehouse. The new Lincoln location opened its doors in February of 2015. At the beginning of 2016, they opened the doors in Fort Kent by acquiring Quigley's Building Supply and adjacent UpNorth Outdoor Store to enable them to better serve the St. John Valley area and continue to provide their legendary service to all of Aroostook County and beyond. In late summer of 2020, Sam's youngest daughter, Clara Collins, and Gregg's youngest son, Adam Collins, joined their fathers in the family business and have taken on very active roles in learning, understanding, and growing the family operation.