Staff at Keosauqua Lumber's Fairfield location are, from left, Fred Chapuis, Bob Horton, Dave Fishel, Deanna Chapuis, Sheryl Chapuis and Curtis Oliver. (Andy Hallman/The Union)

FAIRFIELD – Keosauqua Lumber in Fairfield underwent a major expansion in 2022 and 2023, and was able to stay open to customers the entire time.

With the closure of Luckman Hardware in 2022, Keosauqua Lumber owner Fred Chapuis saw there was a need for a hardware store, and that’s why he decided to invest in hardware and tools by expanding the business. The front desk was repositioned, and rows of merchandise were added onto the building’s east side.

The front of the store and the east side were remodeled, and Chapuis said customers have loved the changes.

“We put new siding on the building, and took a lot of windows out,” Chapuis said.

Chapuis said Keosauqua Lumber sold hardware even before Luckman’s closed, but not as much.

“We didn’t have nearly this supply,” he said.

Chapuis said some people wrongly assumed that he purchased the hardware from Luckman’s, but the truth is that he bought the hardware all new.

“We had a lot of guys coming in who wanted to know why we didn’t handle this or that, because they wanted to get everything at one place,” he said.

HISTORY

Fred got into the lumber business in 1968 when he and another man purchased the lumberyard in Stockport which they named Stockport Lumber, previously Davis Lumber. Fred and his wife Sheryl were living on a farm near Stockport where they still reside, and Fred decided that, with a wife and two kids to support, he needed to make a better living.

“I farmed at that time, but there wasn’t enough land for me to keep going,” he said. “I worked at one of the factories up here [in Fairfield] for a while, at Rockwell.”

Sheryl is responsible for the company’s bookwork, and has been ever since 1968. Fred’s son Doug worked at a lumberyard in New London, and in 1988, Doug and Fred purchased Keosauqua Lumber, which Doug still runs.

In 2005, Fred said he retired from Stockport Lumber “for one day” only to begin working for Doug at Keosauqua Lumber. That changed in 2015 when Keosauqua Lumber was able to purchase Fairfield Lumber, and from that point forward Fred has run the Fairfield location.

APPRECIATE THE CUSTOMERS

Chapuis said he is thankful for the business’s loyal customers.

“We appreciate all the business we get,” he said.

After working in the lumber industry for the past 56 years, Chapuis said he’s still not ready to retire.

“I hope things slow down little by little,” he said. “I want to do something, but I didn’t want to work full-time. It hasn’t worked out that way.”

“And we do have good help,” Sheryl said.

Keosauqua Lumber has five employees at its Fairfield location, and Doug manages three at its Keosauqua location. Fred and Sheryl’s daughter Deanna also works at the business part-time, sending statements and cleaning on the weekends in addition to her job at the vet clinic.