Tuttle Lumber, located at 228 S. Guadalupe St., San Marcos, since 1950, will close for good on March 14. The business will host a retirement sale Feb. 5–March 14. Tuttle Lumber, located at 228 S. Guadalupe St., San Marcos, since 1950, will close for good on March 14. The business will host a retirement sale Feb. 5–March 14.[/caption]

On Jan. 30, Don Gilbreath, owner of Tuttle Lumber, announced plans to close his store, which has been located at 228 S. Guadalupe St. since 1950.

“I could talk for two hours sharing with y’all the specifics of what led my wife and I to retire the business,” Gilbreath said. “… Unfortunately during the depths of the recession, I lost my passion for the business. I got burned out. I’ve been hoping and waiting for that passion to return or be rekindled, but unfortunately it has not.”

Gilbreath said he arrived at the decision after determining he could not continue to ask his employees to put their lives “on hold” while the future of the business was uncertain.

During a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting Jan. 27, a portion of the property that was zoned for light industrial was rezoned T-4, a zoning designation that allows for residential, commercial and office uses.

Thomas Rhodes, a representative of ETR Development Consulting, who helped rezone the property, said there are no immediate plans to redevelop the 3.27-acre property. No potential buyers have been identified yet, he said.

Tuttle Lumber’s 22 full- and part-time employees will be given the opportunity to interview for jobs at McCoy’s Building Supply.

The business will hold a retirement sale Feb. 5–March 14.

“I realize I’ve initiated voluntarily the ending of an era, however, everything on this earth has a lifecycle, and I’m convinced now that it’s time for Tuttle Lumber Company to wrap up,” Gilbreath said.

Gilbreath’s father purchased the business in 1979, when Don was nine years old. The business’s Lockhart location will remain open after the San Marcos store closes.

“I am so moved by the fact that God is present and He is in control,” Gilbreath said.