Humble Beginnings
John Mueller came from a lumber background having worked for Beaver Lumber for 18 years. Starting in Medicine Hat as an assistant manager, he then transferred as manager to Granum, Alberta. Swift Current Building Supplies originally started by A. Kulpe Lumber – Medicine Hat sometime in the 60’s, John and Norma Mueller bought the yard and commenced business April 1, 1970. Moving
to Swift Current was quite a risk as the economy wasn’t great. The lumberyard was quite small. The office was a 24x36 building on blocks that was designed to be moved as a cabin. With only a few small out buildings there was not much stock. John once said the phone never rang for the first 3 days. Business was slow but John persevered and started to get to know people around the country and community. He treated everyone fair and helped a lot of people with credit around the country even though he could ill afford it. Working hard to run the office and do deliveries, often working late into the night, business started to pick up. Within a couple of years a few buildings for storage and a saw shed were built. More land was bought. This allowed him to increase inventory. Always on the lookout for great deals from his suppliers, he passed these deals on to his customers. Swift Current Building Supplies was becoming a well-known business and a place to go for good service good advice and good prices. The farming and ranching community supported John a lot as he in turn supported them. The oil and gas industry was a good customer as well. John continued to invest in the business. The 80’s saw business start to boom with more housing in the city and rural business, it became quite busy. A large expansion was planned. All the old buildings were torn down or moved out. That 24x36 office was moved to Hallonquist to become a farm shop and the large storage building to Cantuar for a shop as well. They are still there to this day. The new building offered 4,000 square feet of retail space and over 20,000 square feet of cold storage. More land was bought and more buildings were built. Swift Current Building Supplies has done very well over the years thanks to a large and loyal customer base, an excellent staff over the years has been key as well. Swift Current turned out to be a very smart move for John and the family due in no part to the hard work and dedication that was put into the business by John and Norma, Lindsay, and his daughters. John passed away in March 2011 at the age of 80. He worked right up until the end. Lindsay passed away in March 2020 at the age of 64. The business carry’s on with his daughters at the helm. They are the third generation working to continue the legacy John and Lindsay set forth. Business continues to build each and every year with the 2nd and 3rd generation of those first customers now coming in as well as new customers every day. John was very proud of the business he built and the friends he made over the years. He would be proud today to see that the business he created all those years ago is still going strong and an important member of the community.
