CityView Magazine

Local Business All in the family They have experienced Fayetteville’s growth and change as early as the start of the 20th century. Today, they serve as constants in a time when only change is certain. Each of these businesses has been a part of the city’s fabric for at least 50 years, but more important, they are also the stories of families enduring each new generation. By Stephanie Brigman I n 90 years, Highland Lumber Company has seen its share of obstacles. As one of the few businesses in Fayetteville to survive the Great Depression, the company still uses those lessons today. Owner W.A. Bissette and daughter and company president, Lynne Greene, say they are just as apt in this modern economic struggle. “We’ve always operated with the idea that we treat our customers like we like to be treated,” Bissette said. “It’s a family values thing and I think that was instilled in the business very early on. It’s a tradition that continues through the generations.” Greene’s great-grandfather, J.M. Wilson, and H.M. Pinkston opened a wholesale lumber business in 1919, selling juniper wood shingles to the general public. The two men quickly moved to a mill near the Blount Street railroad tracks to ship and receive supplies by rail. But wartime gave the business its real boost as Fort Bragg boomed, and in the 1950s, the business expanded once again, this time with the addition of an office and hardware store. “The world changes in what it needs, and businesses adapt to whatever customers want and are willing to pay for,” Bissette said. “That’s the advantage of being a family business – your ability to change with the times without waiting for someone else to tell you what to do.” Times have indeed changed. Lumber Above | Lynne Greene and W.A. Bissette are the daughter-father team behind Highland Lumber Company. rarely arrives by rail anymore, and most sales are handled outside of the store’s four walls, but the company is CityViewNC.com | 37

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