Western Lumber Closes 2 Stores, Shifts to Wholesale

Citing a desire to focus on its wholesale business, Western Lumber Co. closed two of its local lumber and building supply stores Monday and announced plans to shut its Poway outlet sometime during the next three months. The closures will result in the layoffs of 50 employees.

The closing of the stores in Pacific Beach and Chula Vista left the National City-based chain with 10 lumber and building supply stores, all in San Diego County or near to it. Western Lumber’s disenchantment with the retail market first became apparent in May, when the company closed stores in Point Loma and Ramona.

According to Allen Quimby, the company’s president, increased competition from warehouse-type supply outlets, such as Home Depot, had little bearing on Western Lumber’s decision to reduce its profile as a retail supplier. Rather, the decision is based on the company’s plan to place greater emphasis on selling to wholesale customers.

‘Bread and Butter Since 1902’

“Selling to contractors, wholesale manufacturers . . . that’s been our bread and butter since 1902,” Quimby said. “After taking a good look at our operations early this year, we’ve decided that this is what we want to focus on.”

According to Quimby, the company, which entered the retail market in the early 1970s, never succeeded in attracting great numbers of the “do-it-yourselfers.” Consumer sales account for only 15% of corporate sales, he said. “It’s always hovered around that number,” Quimby said.

In recent years, huge warehouse stores have moved into San Diego and captured the attention of self-sufficient consumers who tackle repairs and renovations on their own. But Quimby denied that competition from such supply Goliaths forced Western to retreat from the retail market.

“You always have to consider the competition factor when you’re making decisions, but competition from warehouses was a very, very secondary factor,” Quimby said. “We just decided to focus on what we’ve been doing.”

Reduction in Inventory

Aside from the closing of the Poway store, which is planned in coming months, Quimby said there are no existing plans to shut down other stores. But Western Lumber will reduce inventory targeted for “non-serious” consumers at its remaining outlets in Oceanside, El Cajon, Solana Beach, Temecula, Fallbrook and National City.

“Let’s put it this way, we won’t have the kind of items like garden accessories anymore,” Quimby said. “We’ll be better suited to help the consumer who needs the total parts to build a house as opposed to the informal consumer.”

Western Lumber, a wholly owned subsidiary of Georgetown Industries of Charlotte, N.C., decided to shut the Chula Vista and Pacific Beach stores Monday and the other two stores in May because those outlets’ sales were oriented toward consumers rather than wholesalers, Quimby said.

Dixieline, another San Diego-based lumber and hardware store, however, said its retail sales are booming despite the challenge presented by the warehouse chains that are increasingly evident.

Doubled Number of Stores

Retail sales represented about 40% of Dixieline’s revenue two years ago and grew to about half of its overall sales in the most recent fiscal year, President William S. Cowling II said. Since 1987, Dixieline has doubled its stores--from 5 to 10--and plans to open one store annually for the next five years, he added.

Cowling declined to comment about Western Lumber’s withdrawal from the retail market but said: “There’s a lot of retail business out there, but you have to be priced right, you have to be staffed right, and you have to be inventoried right.”

“If any one of these things are missing, you’re going to fail in today’s retail world,” Cowling said.