RSG = DIVERSIFIGATION

Douglas

RSG is your source for consistent quality and ready service when you need Green Doug-Fir or

We specialize in 2x4 #1 & better. We also offer specified lengths up to 26' and random length tallies.

Douglas Fi 4x4 through and flexibility and technical innovation make t

4x16 is available #1 & better and select structural. Also look to us for Green Western Red Cedar Fencing 1x4, and 1x6, 2x4 rails and 4x4 posts. Remember our.p.roduction the l-::€ difference. .you can count on

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HE lumber business has never been the fastest changing of industries. The country was sharply transformed from the domestic Fifties to the turbulent Sixties, and the lumber industry slowly followed.

'lVomen had infiltated the business, but most held clerical positions. Since the Hoo-Hoo lumber fraterniw allowed only male members, femalei started the Hoo-Hoo-Ettes.

In 1960, lumbermen decided to honor women in the industry-with a beauty contest. During Forest Products Day at the Califomia State Fair in Sacramento, following tree-topping, log-rolling, axe-throwing and bucking demonstrations, a standingroom-only crowd of 7,000 gathered for the highlight of the evening: rhe crowning of the Queen of the Forest.

A field of I I evening gown-clad contestants had to submit a photo of themselves and a short composition on "What the Lumber Indusbry Means to

Me." Wrote one hopeful: "As long as msny can build for beauty and permanence, rather than crude necessity, the world is a good place."

The winner was Shari Britt, an employee of Twin Harbors Lumber Co., Arcata, wife of Eureka lumberman Robert Britt, and officially described as "a brunefte chartrler."

She wrote: '2x4, 1x6,.4x8, studs, sheathing, joists, Utility, Standard, Consfirrction, truck and trailer, N'WP, SU, prompt shipment, 2Vo l0 days, Net 30-these are more than just familiar tenns of the ftade which I type daily otr orders to the mills and invohes to our customers. They are vital compnents of the products which make pssible homes, schools, churches, ad infinitum, so essential in ttre growth and prosperity of a community."

The Merclnnt reprinted her speech, right after a not uncommon ad of the period: a Latin beauty in a skimpy leopard-skin bikini hangs seductively from a tree, to sell hardwood plywood.

Coast forest products

HE Sixties and Seventies were tines of great change lbr the' lunrber industry. as well as for fllc Culil'rtrnia Lunther Mu'r'hant. Dealers and rvholesalers began devoting more selling and storage space to other building rnaterials, and the housing boorn expanded to rvider and wider markets. To reflect these trcncls, the magazine changed its name to The Westt'rn Lttrnber & Buildirt,q Matt'rials Mercltuttt. which was later sholtened to its longtiure nickname, Ilre Merchctnt Maga;inc, in 197-5.

The job of publisher had been passed fronr fonnder Jack Dionne. who diecl in 1966. to well known lr,rmberman A.D. Bell, Jr., and in 1975 to current editor David Cutler. who joined the company in 1962.

Many of the afticles of 2-5 years ago seem strangely familiar: "Tying Electronic Data Processing into Your Accounting System," "Are Steel Studs Really Cheaper?," "Metrics Make Sense." "Can the Independent Hack [t?" and "Find your market and serve itl"

One of the most popular sections was New Products. which provided retailers with a first glimpse at innovations which often became staples of their business. The Me rchant offered, an early peek in.

....Iuly 1970 at Potlatch's EMSR structural wood, white fir laminated beams produced using electromechanical stress-rated lumber.

...September 1970 of Boise Cascade Building Products' unique laminated roof and floor decking.

...February l97l at American Wholesale Hardware's revolutionary inventory program fcaturing computer-coded labels.

...June 1971 of American Forest Products Corp.'s 4-ft. square redwood patio panels.

...August l97l at early prefinished wood windows and patio doors from Marvin.

...October l97l of Celotex's new single-strip asphalt roofing shingle with the shadow line and random pattern of shakes.

August

...February 1972 at Great Neck Saw's revolutionary magnetic stud finder and Sierra Pacific Industries' new vinyl-wrapped moulclings.

...March 1972 of weather-resistant extruded PVC fencing ihrnr Harvei.

...October 1972 at Diversified Elcctronics' lnstaMator. a primitivc electronic estirnating system with memory storage capability of up to 120 take-offitenrs.

...November 1973 at a conservation-fiiendly toilet from Borg-Warner that used siphon-jet llushing action to save water. radiata and southern yellow pines, and substitute materials, like steel and plastic. More significantly, low supply encouraged better use of every inch of every log. New engineered wood products, stronger, longer and more available than their solid wood counterparts, came into their own.

...January 1974 ol stnaller. nrolc easily rnaneuverable f orklifts from White Materials Handling.

...Nlarch 1974 at Jarke Cotp.'s improvcd cantilever racking featuring adjustable arms.

...June 1974 at Andersen's low maintenance Pernta-Shield windows.

...September 1974 of a ncw early warning honie l'ire alarm lrom Kwikset that detected combustion before there was any noticeable smoke or flames.

...November 1974 at the first tfadesman's level niade oJ' urethanc and aluminum instead of wood. produced by Pro Products.

...January 1975 at a new fire retardant fiberboard panel front Honrasote.

...March 1975 at a Gcnie radiocontrolled automatic garagc door opener fbr d-i-y installatron.

...May 1975 of Louisiana-Pacific's Humboldt fire retardant tlakeboard.

...I)ecemtrer 1975 at the lronwood single-piece, all-steel garage door fronr Stanley and aluminum roof shingles with the texture and grain ol'handsplit wood from Alcan.

...January 1976 of CertainTeed fiberglass insulation in 6"-thick rolls fbr easier handling and saving space.

...May 1976 at Yale's flrst gas and LP-gas industrial trucks with electronic ignition systenls.

NT\ l[ HoucH the Eighties may be remembered as the Decade of the Home Center, in reality tbe consum-oriented home improvement store was born yeam earlier. At the time, lumberyards catered to the professional, selling to homeowners condescendingly.

In the early 1960s, some retailers began to recognize the potential of the d-i-y market. They altered tbeir floor layout and store houx, and began promoting to the public. ,' Suddenly, homeowners could find lumber priced by the piece rather than the board foot and paneling priced by the panel rather than the square foot. They could roll dimension lumber, insulation and other building materials right out the front door instead of waiting for a ticket to be written and the mercbandise tallied from the yard.

The new store hours allowed consumers to shop both after work and on their days off. Retailers added new departments, visual merchandising and colorfrrl tabloid advertising. Store sizes grew to 20,000, 30,000, 40,000 square feet. Lumberyatds became horne enters.

In 1980, Tfu Merchanr enlisted consultant Bill Fishman to write a monthly column, "Homg Center Merchant." His first article cited six success stoties: Ernst, Ole's, Handyman, Builders Ernporium, Grossman's, and Pay 'n Pak.

Soon after, a new chain was born that would redirect the home center trend and help pul those six success stories out of business. Based in the South, the company wasn't mentioned in our western magazine until a short item in the News Briefs in September 1983: "Atlanta-based Home Depot is negotiating to take over two ex-Woolco buildings and a Price Club location in the Greater Phoenix, Az., metro area for three warehousetype home improvement stores..."

Within months, Home Depot announced plans for 20 new stores a year, including 100,000+-sq .ft. units in California. Competitors clamored to mimic the chain's successfu I warehouse- si zed f orntat.

Imitators copied their merchandise mix, skyhigh steel racking, lumber carts, mousetrapping layout, ad format, shelf pricing, price guarantees, longer hours, service desk, brand names painted on the interior walls, orange-stenciled signs, and aproned employees.

But, in most markets, Depot seemed to do it all a little better. By the end of the decade, Home Depot had grown to #2 in industy sales, with its 80-some stores doing nearly as much business as industry leader L,owe's 30Gr units.

Independents and smaller chains that Uied to compele head to head with Depot, typically on price, began to drop. Ironically, rnany independents began to realize that one of the best ways to suryive in the chain's shadows was to return their focus to professionals.

Tr\ tK.

It-rY 1990. war had been declared on the timber industry. Environmentalists, in recruiting the Northern spotted owl as their poster child, had put a sympathetic, big-eyed face on their radical anti-logging crusade.

Unlike the reserved industry, the preservationists were not publicity shy. They waged their battle in the press, in schools, and, ultimately, in courts, tying up countless legally-approved timber harvests through drawn-out lawsuits and hearings.

In June of 1990, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service listed the spotted owl as a threatened species, which translated into millions of acres of public and private timberland being placed off limits to harvesting. That year, 50 sawmills, plywood and veneer plants closed in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California. Another 50 closed in 1991. Partial closures decreased production in the region by an equal amount.

Tighter supply also brought the industry closer together. Forest products companies began co-sponsoring promotional and educational campaigns, associations, videos, tours, ads, even sing-a-long tapes and coloring books for grade-schoolers, all to tell their side of the story. The public had to leam to take care of and better utilize a resource, not lock it up.

Noted Paul Ehinger in The Merchant in 1991: "The forest products industry in the Pacific Northwest is going through the most traumatic period of timber supply change in its history, (and) the problem continues to worsen. As always, the consumer and taxpayer will pay the'rltiRushing to fill the gap were altemate species, such as mate cost of federal timber management policies."