At this family business, everybody has a rockin’ role

Last year, Donnelle and Donny Schimpa left their regular jobs to secure their family’s future.

Donnelle moved on from a Casa Grande HOA, where she worked in architectural compliance, to take a job at Wildcat Landscape Supply in June 2019. She joined as a trainee-of-sorts for four months to learn as much as she could about the business before taking the keys from retiring owner Terry Jackson, who had run the business for 15 years.

Even before their Nov. 1, 2019, takeover date, Donny left his position with Oldcastle Infrastructure in Chandler after 30 years to jump in with Donnelle in preparation. Soon, three generations of the family were taking on roles at the landscape materials business operating on North Maricopa Road in the shadow of the State Route 347 overpass.

“I never even knew this place existed,” Donnelle said. Next thing you know, she owns the place.

Donnelle, a newly honed expert on decorative rock and pavers, handles customer service and works with residential and commercial clients to lend advice, make sales and fulfill orders. She also fills in where needed when others are off. Donny oversees the yard operation.

The couple’s three children work for the business as well. Bailee, 31, works the front desk, while Brooklynn, 28, and Rachel, 24, work the yard and make deliveries in the truck. Rachel, in fact, is quitting her job as a medical assistant to work full-time at Wildcat.

Donnelle’s parents and in-laws — all “retired” — play important roles, too.

Lynn Lokey, her mother, and Carole Dismuke, her mother-in-law, handle the bookkeeping and human relations functions of the operation. Lokey retired from AT&T about 10 years ago.

Donnelle’s father and father-in-law, Howard Lokey and Sonny Dismuke, respectively, perform maintenance. Howard Lokey retired from United Airlines three years ago.

“My mom is meticulous with numbers,” Donnelle said, ticking off the qualities that makes each a good fit for their role. “My husband is a workhorse. I am a chatterbox. My daughters are a little bit of everybody. And my father is somebody who can fix anything.”

It was a family affair from the beginning, and they are working together to take the enterprise to the next level.

“Right now, we are building it up,” said Donnelle, noting Wildcat has always sold many varieties of Arizona-mined rock — Apache Pink, Jesse Red and Arizona Gold, for example — but has now added other landscape products, including Belgard pavers, building block and synthetic grass.

More products are on the way as soon as a warehouse can be built. The business lost some of its property at the rear to the overpass project, Donnelle said.

“We’re trying to become a one-stop shop,” she said. “We’re still sort of in the middle” of that transition.

For example, Wildcat sells cinder block, but not rebar, she said.

The business sells landscape materials to contractors and homeowners, the bins in the yard filled with different colors and sizes of stone to keep the city’s myriad HOA boards and compliant residents happy.

“Nothing is dormant in this yard,” Lynn Lokey said.

“They just go crazy for the boulders,” Donnelle added.

Before entering the business, Donnelle laughed that she would go online to look at shoes and handbags. Now it’s landscape and hardscape materials.

The goal is to work for several years and retire, handing off the business to the three daughters and their families. Plenty of help is on the way — eventually. Donnelle and Donny have eight grandchildren; the oldest is 12.

She feels good about the future of the company in a growing city like Maricopa and its emphasis on “shop local,” buying supplies at Ace Hardware and tires from the shop next door.

“When you are supporting your town, your local businesses,” she said, “it’s what makes the city grow.”

“We believe in giving back to the community,” Lynn Lokey added.

This month, they will begin a customer appreciation program to award a prize to a randomly selected client.

The one-year anniversary of ownership came quickly.

“This first year went by in a blink of an eye,” said Donnelle.

That happens when you are learning a new business, making improvements and preparing for the future. Prior to taking ownership, Donnelle thought taking the reins of the business would be no great shakes. Acknowledging the challenge of the past 13 months, she recalls something she would tell Jackson, the former owner, as she was preparing to take over.

“It’s rock and sand, how hard can it be?” she said, pausing for second. “I’ve eaten those words many times.”

Wildcat Landscape Supply, 19347 N. Maricopa Road, will hold an open house on Jan. 23 from noon to 3 p.m. with free food and drink, and prizes.

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POP ROCKS

Rock is an integral component of the desert landscape, with the power to completely alter the look of a home.

“Rock totally changes your entire landscape,” said Lynn Lokey of Wildcat Landscape Supply. “It changes the whole perspective of your yard.”

It comes in a range of colors and sizes – from pink to red to brown — each with its own unique characteristics. Apache Brown, for example, has a purple glint when viewed from a certain angle. Here are the three most popular styles at the landscape supply business:

APACHE BROWN

ARIZONA GOLD

SADDLEBACK BROWN

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This story appears in the December issue of InMaricopa magazine.