In 1915, at the age of 28, Luke P. Shanks opened L. P. Shanks and Company.  He operated the business out of the back of a truck and sold to small country stores in and around Monterey, Tennessee.  Over a three year span, the business grew in size and he eventually opened up warehouses in Algood, Baxter, and Cookeville, Tennessee.

In 1922, Luke decided that there were more opportunities for growth outside of Cookeville.  He took advantage of the opportunity he saw and sold the Baxter and Cookeville branches, then moved the rest of the business along with his family to the small town of Crossville, Tennessee.  He opened up his business on Main Street and business began to flourish. 

Luke’s small business had only been open in Crossville for seven years when the Great Depression hit.  Suddenly, there was a freeze in the economy, not only in Crossville but all over the United States.  The stock market was the first to fall, causing banks to close, and many people lost all their financial means.  By 1932, approximately twenty-five percent of Americans were unemployed.  These scary statistics demonstrate that it was almost impossible to keep a business in operation during that time. The crash of the stock market did not immediately affect Crossville; however, it eventually hit and Luke had a difficult time keeping the business running.   He continued the grocery business, but on a much more minor scale.  Business became so stagnant that Luke was forced to shut down his warehouse and run the company with only one salesman and truck.  

However, L. P. Shanks Co., as well as Crossville, grew despite the hard economic times.  In fact, Cumberland County’s population more than quadrupled in size with the help of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal.  Roosevelt implemented a new program that allowed people to live off the land, work for the government and eventually pay off their dues.  This program was called the Cumberland Homesteads Project and its aim was to bring more people into Cumberland County since it was scarcely populated.  Crossville’s population increase is directly correlated with the survival of L.P. Shanks Co.  Without the growth that occurred due to the Cumberland Homesteads Project, it appears that L. P. Shanks Co. would have more than likely gone bankrupt in the depression.  Furthermore, the company would not have survived without Luke’s drive for success which was fueled by the need to provide for his family. 

In October 1945, Luke’s second child and only son, Luke “Paul” Shanks, returned early from his four year stint as chief petty officer in the Navy during WWII to help run the company when his father became sick.  He was stationed on an LST and had wanted to return to port with the ship, but was released to inactive duty, which would allow them to call him back if necessary.  Paul learned firefighting skills from the Navy and was a volunteer firefighter for Crossville for 30+ years.  Paul began managing the business in the early 50’s.  He had plenty of knowledge due to the fact he had been working in the business since he was in his early teens and probably even earlier.  He also spent two years at Tennessee Polytechnical Institute (now Tennessee Tech) but his father wanted him back in the family business and not in college.

In 1967, Luke passed away of a heart attack at the age of eighty.  He had been a diabetic for the latter part of his life and had only one leg.  Paul filled his father’s position and became President of L. P. Shanks Co.  During his years as president, the company continued to grow and expand their services.  Paul added the company’s first freezer in 1972 and bought the company’s first main frame computer in 1980. 

In 1983, Paul’s oldest child, Scot Hatler Shanks, graduated from the University of Tennessee and moved back to Crossville to help Paul run the company.  Paul ran the company until his death at the age of 73.  He died from complications of a blood disorder in June 1990.  Even though Scot had been working in the warehouse since he was twelve, he had only been home from college seven years when Paul passed away.  At that point, the company officially went into the hands of the third generation of the Shanks family.  The business has grown to one-hundred and fifty employees and distributes to more than 1,000 stores weekly. 

In the last ninety years L. P. Shanks Co. has gone through some major changes.   It was originally started under Luke’s supervision to distribute groceries to “Mom and Pop” country stores.  Today, they distribute mainly to convenience stores, selling items such as candy, chips, and other grab and go food.  When it first started, L. P. Shanks Co. had only one employee and now it is one of Crossville’s largest employers.