Conyers Rock & Stone Yard in Lee County latest venture for family

ALBANY — There are many types of stories, but according to some, the best stories are the ones where good things happen to good people. The Conyers’ story is one of those stories: Family opens business, family works hard for years, family strikes paydirt.

Conyers Rock and Stone Yard, located at 1562 U.S. Highway 19 South in Leesburg, is the latest venture in the Conyers family business that has been growing in the Albany area for more than 40 years.

What started as a simple lot-grading operation has grown into a small industry that includes lot grading, lot clearing, demolition, concrete disposal, asphalt disposal, and a landscaping rock and stone yard offering 20 varieties of stone/rock as well as mulch, topsoil, fill dirt, sand, compost, potting soil, pine bark and pine straw.

Founder and patriarch Danny Conyers, along with his wife, Sue, opened Conyers Grading and Landscaping in 1976. Later, their two sons, Scott and Josh, joined the operation. When the Conyers’ rock and stone yard opened for business in 2016, daughter Haley followed in the family tradition.

“My job title is sales/purchasing agent/loader/anything that you need me to do,” said Haley Conyers-Denny.

Conyers-Denny, with dust on her aviator glasses, hopped out of a skid-steer after loading gravel for a customer, proving that the heavy equipment is not just for the boys in the family, and explained a little bit about the stoneyard business.

“We have pretty much whatever you need as far as landscaping goes,” she said. “We have 20 varieties of stone. We have pavers. We have crushed rock, gravel, granite, river rock … you name it, we got it. We can load it for you or, if you need us to, we can deliver.”

Denny’s older brother, Scott, had just returned from such a delivery. As soon as he stepped out of his truck into the dust and heat, he immediately climbed into the skid-steer front end loader, scooped up several thousand pounds of No. 89 granite, and dumped it into the trailer for his next delivery.

When he was finished loading, Conyers explained how the business evolved.

“Well, daddy, who is now semi-retired, started the business over 40 years ago with one grading tractor,” said co-owner Scott Conyers. “He started out grading yards, but then he started clearing the lots and grading them. From there, he got into digging swimming pools, tearing down buildings and the whole demolition side of the business.”

According to Conyers, the flood of ‘94, was a boon for the growing business but also created some unexpected competition.

“We got a lot of business after the flood,” said Conyers. “There were so many buildings damaged that had to be demolished. Funny enough, we were pretty much the only business around that did demolition before the flood. But after the flood, it seemed like everybody was in the demolition business.”

Conyers explained that because of the growth and expansion of their demolition business, the company had amassed a large supply of concrete and asphalt that needed to be crushed. This surplus stone products were directly responsible for the evolution of the stone-store concept.

“Because of all of the demolition, we had a huge pile of concrete,” said Conyers. “So we rented a crusher and began crushing all of that concrete, but the rental on that machine was outrageous. So we eventually bought our own.”

“We bought it for the Sears demolition in 2003,” said Sue Conyers, co-owner and business manager. “The one we were renting was $24,000 per month.”

As demolition material continued to pile up over the years, Scott Conyers came up with an idea that would change everything.

“We have two different collection yards where we collect concrete, masonry products and asphalt,” he said. “People can dump for free at these two locations when they are tearing up a driveway, doing remodeling on a house or a swimming pool. One is on Oakridge Drive, and one is on Pecan Lane near the Marine Base.

“We started getting so much that it almost got to the point that we couldn’t do any more demolition because we were so busy crushing rock. That’s when I got the idea for the stone store, but that was years ago. I think it was in 1990s that I started talking about a stone store, and that’s what it was for a long time, just talk. Then, about two years ago, we started looking for a location, some place to rent, but everywhere we looked the rent was outrageous. You got to have somewhere that has a lot of traffic, and that’s when we found this place.”

Conyers Rock and Stone Yard opened for business in 2016. From the road, the stone yard engulfs the Conyers’ building, surrounding it with mountainous piles of rock, soil and mulch, anything a landscaper may need. And inside, sample trays extend around the showroom for customers to examine the products up close.

“We have anything you need for landscaping hard surfaces,” Scott Conyers said. “And our claim to fame is that we cater to small amounts. Now we also do big amounts, but we can do any size of order. If you want it in bulk or if you want it in a bag, we can do it.”

In January, the Conyerses revealed a secret to their success. That secret is called giving back. On Jan. 3, in the immediate aftermath of the devastating storm that wreaked havoc throughout the Albany area, the entire Conyers clan began calling friends, neighbors and customers to offer assistance. Three weeks later, the Conyers family was at it again after an EF3-strength tornado ripped through Dougherty County on Jan. 22.

“Those storms were terrible,” said Scott Conyers. “We have heavy equipment, and that is what people needed. We were able to use our excavator to lift fallen trees and really help a lot of people that were in need.”

For more information about Conyers Rock and Stone Yard, call (229) 435-9874 or visit [email protected].