LIVERMORE FALLS — Pleasant River Lumber, headquartered in Dover-Foxcroft, has purchased Ware-Butler Inc. Lumber & Building here and in Madison and Waterville, Co-President Jason Brochu of Pleasant River Lumber, said Tuesday.

Both are family-owned businesses. The purchase was finalized Nov. 2.

“We see a lot of potential,” he said. The same “great” employee crews will work at the Ware-Butler retail stores.

Ware-Butler Inc. Lumber & Building Supplies, owned by the Giguere family, and Pleasant River Lumber made the announcement of the change in a news release posted on warebutler.com and pleasantriverlumber.com.

“We are thrilled to work with the Brochu family to transition into this exciting new phase of Ware-Butler Inc., Richard Giguere, president of Ware-Butler Inc. said in the release. “Our management team and I will be working conjointly with the PRL team to continue to increase the value of what we already offer to our loyal customers.”

Customers will notice very little change as Ware-Butler will still operate as Ware-Butler, a stand-alone company, under Pleasant River Lumber, Brochu said. “You will only see positive changes,” including more lumber in the yards that will be available to customers.

“We are happy to welcome everyone from Ware-Butler into our group,” Brochu’s brother Chris Brochu, co-president of Pleasant River Lumber, said in the release. “Ware-Butler has a great team and a very solid reputation. Our number one goal is to continue to provide the high level of service and value that Ware-Butler customers are accustomed to while utilizing our resources going forward to increase that value.”

“We have been interested in expanding into retail for years and are honored to be able to join forces with such a reputable and well managed company,” Brochu said. “We believe our culture and the culture of Ware-Butler are a perfect match and that both companies will be stronger, to the benefit of our customers, by coming together. Chris and I are excited to work with Dick and his team to discuss the future and how we can expand our offerings throughout Maine.”

Pleasant River owns and operates lumber manufacturing facilities in Dover-Foxcroft, Jackman, Enfield, Hancock and Sanford that specialize in spruce/fir framing lumber and eastern white pine boards. In addition to the mills, they own Chaffee Transport, a trucking company in Clinton, Quality Saw Sales and Service, a full-service saw filing and supply company in Enfield, and A&A Brochu Logging, a logging division specializing in commercial thinning, headquartered in Enfield.

For 95 years, Ware-Butler Inc. has provided exceptional service to its customers throughout central Maine and beyond, offering quality building materials and competitive prices, according to the release.

The origin of Ware-Butler was the result of an economic downturn in the 1920s. John Ware and Perley G. Butler were partners in a logging operation in the Jackman area, wholesaling lumber to buyers in the Boston and Connecticut markets.

In 1923-24, a recession prevented them from shipping lumber by train to those areas. As a result, the two men were forced to stockpile cut lumber at a site they owned on North Street in Waterville — the same site now occupied by Ware-Butler’s headquarters store. It was in Waterville that Ware and Butler incorporated their business and began retailing building materials. The two men showed their ability to survive and prosper despite the vagaries of the economy right from the start. That ability to change with the times has characterized Ware-Butler ever since, according to Ware-Butler’s website.