For The Last Time Customers 'Fill Their Bill' At Sand Springs Staple

A Sand Springs staple is shutting its doors after more than six decades.

Morrow-Gill Lumber Company has been serving the community since 1954, and owner Vicki Sisney said closing wasn't an easy decision.

Morrow Road is actually named after Dale Morrow, a former Sand Springs mayor who helped build the lumber store 61 years ago.

His daughter has been running the company for years and never thought the day would come to close, but said it's time.

The shelves are starting to look empty at Morrow-Gill Lumber Company in Sand Springs.

It's a sight Sisney never really thought she'd see.

“It's been good,” she said. “It's just a little emotional.”

Sisney said it's hard to remember life before the store. She was just four when her dad, Dale Morrow, and business partner, Claude Gill, started the company in 1954.

She's worked there for 40 years, running the business herself since the mid-1990s, making friends all along the way.

“A lot of them, the first thing they'd want to do is see the cat,” Sisney said. “And after they'd see the cat, get whatever it was they needed, and then have a cup of coffee and sit in one of the offices and visit,” she said.

But things change, Sisney said, and the doors at Morrow-Gill will close for good sometime at the end of April. It's time for her to retire.

“I haven't had a vacation in 12 years, so that's gonna be one of the top priorities on my list,” she said.

While she's ready for a break, she could never be ready to say goodbye to her faithful customers.

“My first thought was, 'I'm sad,' because I come in here almost daily throughout the spring 'cause we buy all our stuff here at Morrow-Gill,” said customer Dan Riddle.

Sisney said, “It's hard, yet it's a great feeling to know how much our customers have appreciated us and how much they'll miss us.”

She has been looking for a buyer since she decided to retire last year, but nothing has come through yet.

A lot folks in the area hope someone steps in soon, they said no other business compares to the service they get at Morrow-Gill.