About Us
In 1896, G.T. Lester, with a small sawmill, a planing mill, and a small tract of timber land, started a company in Martinsville, VA known as the Lester Lumber Company. Over the course of its first 100 years, the company has grown into a multi-faceted operation with the strength to survive two major fires and numerous economic highs and lows, and is today know as THE LESTER GROUP
The Lester Group, Inc. consists of the following:
- Two Home Centers: Lester Building Supply in Martinsville, VA and The Jim Carpenter Company in Fredericksburg, VA.
- Fortress Wood Products, wood pressure treating plants in Greensboro and Henderson, NC.
- Lester Properties, managers of commercial, retail, and residential rental properties.
- Lester Properties, Forestlands Division, over 18,000 acres of forestlands.
- American Property Management, a property management company.
Along with these companies, a "sister" company, Lester Development Corporation, was started in 1976. Lester Development Corporation consists of six shopping center, numerous free-standing restaurants and commercial/industrial buildings, and is the parent company of SpeedWay Center, Inc., which currently has seven convenience store/car wash operations.
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