Getting the new, while keeping the old

JT has been more than three quar- I t"...of a centurv since the first member of the Mullin'family became active in the West in the lumber business. That was in the riP roaring Arizona mining town of Jerome, and John Mullin got the family off to a good start by finding the market need and filling it, in this case, selling shoring timber to the miners to prop up the drifts and shafts of the hill' side mines of Jerome.

Finding the market need and filling it continues to occupy the business attentions of the Mullin family. John Mullin, 34, grandson of the founder, completing a successful first year as manager of Mullin Lumber Co. in North Hollywood, Ca.. is hard at it a minimum of six days a week as he seeks to expand the business base of a yard that formerly was contractor and industrial oriented and now explores a rich new vein in consumer sales.

Developing a consumer trade was no obvious move for a yard that is in an industrial area of warehouses and other business and that has, with some exceptions, no private homes {or several miles in any direction. The firm had traditionally been set up to serve this industrial market as well as the big builder business it developed during the years when the housing tracts spread across the face of the so. Calif. landscape.

Fortunately, it had some plusses going for it as Mullin moved to retain the old business and expand the new. In addition to an experienced, capable staff, their location at the corner of two arteries earrying heavy traffic (Lankershim and Sherman Way) exposed the two acre yard to hundreds of thousands of people a day. The problem was getting them out of the vehicles and into the store' Their approach to drawing in the public was sensible, if not dramatic. Advertising in the local newspaper was directed towards the consumer, large ads were used in the Yellow Pages, and, perhaps most successful, was the dressing up of the yard with flags, banners, painted window signs and wall-hung signs to get the word to that steady stream that passed by each day. They now spend about .5/o of their gross on advertising, but hope to up that soon.

Story ot o Glqnce

The third generotion of on old Western lumber fomilY. now monoging one of the yords, moves if into new business oreos while refoining old business.

Once inside. the traditional values of knowledgeable sales people, good quality merchandise, fair prices and genuine, old fashioned service began to develop the true base for any business that expects to last-the repeat customer and the word of mouth advertising that satisfied customers spread.

They also made several displays promoting their home improvement/ consumer image that were placed in a local bank which were instrumental in developing additional consumer awareness in the general neighborhood of their new marketing thrust. Parts of the display are now used in the showroom and the balance are going to be placed in the yard at a later time.

The success of this can best be measured by the fact that they recently staged a staff dinner to cele' brate a record breaking sales month. A month later. they shattered the record again with a 2O/o hike in sales! And these are caslr. sales.

They are open zl,8 hours per week (M.-F. ?:30-5 p.m., Sat. 8-3:30) have a 1200 sq. ft. showroom that generally has about five or six employees inside, with the balance in the yard. There is parking for about 20 cars along a fence facing one of their main streets and room for about a dozen more scattered about the yard.

The mill has a resaw with a con' tinuous 26' blade and is self-feeding; a planer that planes from 14" down to Yz" thicknesses; a bandsaw and a step saw used mainly to cut uniform length studs. The open end shed sheltering the machinery is toward the back of the paved lot, near their rail spur.

They charge small jobs 25Q per cut, a figure based on $14 per hour for a man's time. Deliveries are charged at scale. For large jobs they cut cripples, blocks, headers, etc. for free, realizing that it is a good service

IHE GAIIG that makes it go: (l-r), rear, Maurice Haney, Jack Roberts, mgr. John Mullin, asst. msr.- Dick Davidson (foreground Girl Friday Miree Kellv. Center: yaid salesmen Pete Lore-no and- Dan LaGaly. Right: for eood customers and that it allows thenr to recover the culls and fall"oilil-,',,,., does his buf i'g from wholesalers, rather co-opsl as hc feels tJre service received in straightening anil filling displays with literature, completing physical inventories and thc like more than justifies the extra cost. if any. "They arc better at per{orming these services, especially display, than we are, and it costs us mone), to take the tinrc to do it. "Our time is better spent selling," N{ullin notes.

There are five competitors in their gt:neral neighborhood, all seasoned veterans of the commercial battle for the bucks. "We compete with them with some good weapons. notes N{ullin. "courtesy, hustle, product knowledge. When everyone more or less all sells the same thing. service is what you must push. Our people give more of themselves, and we think that makes the big difference." He is a firm believer in hiring and paying good people.

The name on the top of the showroom no longer carries the exact firm name, it says Mullin Building NIaterials. "It's not a name change, just r vra) we lrave of letting our customers know what we sell."

The \'Iullin Lumber Co. has other br-anches in San Gabriel, Los Angeles and one other yard. Under the Terry Building Center namei operated by Ilussell Mullin and Terrv Mullin. tlrcrc are yards in Burbank. Tarzana, \orthridge, Hollywood (the old Lounsberry & Harris yard) and Chatsworth. In Arizona the Mullin family has the Flagstaff Lumber Co. and Verde Valley Lumber operations.

The Mullin family has always been active in industry association work and has contributed much time and effort to the lumber business. John's {ather. Wayne, is a past president of the Lumber Association of Southern California and his first cousin, Terry, is currently president of the National l,umber and Building Material Dealers Assn.

John Mullin was well erounded in llre basics of the businessly working both in other company yards and for other companies before taking over as manager. He worked in the family lard in Santa Ana (since leased to Inland Lumber Co.) in 1965 and transferred later to the L.A. yard where he worked retail for four yeers on the counter and in hardware. His background even includes a stint as the merchandising manager for Manakau Timber, a big firm in New Zealand where he spent a year. His father, Vayne, is currently devoting two or three nights per week in John's further training in the business.

MULTI-C0L0R pennants, flags and signs (1) surround and fill display windows. (2) Good housekeeping, space for parking, traffic directi0n arrows are seen in this overall shot. (3) Showroom displays are neat, well-stocked. (4) Framed, wall-hung display is from a company display that was exhibited in a local bank. (5) Aisles are kept free of stocking boxes, other hazards.

A believer in people, he holds brainstorming sessions every month or so to draw out the best ideas his people have. It has been successful {or them as has their dedication to the time proven ideas of service. quality and courtesy.

Things Io Do

Mark it: A salesman who sells home insulation says, "I never give out a piece of literature without mark' ing something in it. While the pros' pect watches, I mark a paragraPh or a photograph with a pencil. As I hand the piece to him I say, 'You'll be particularly interested in this."'

Another man starts to hand his prospect e circular and just as the man is about to take it, he says, "Pardon me, I want to mark a paragraph that you'll be interested in."

Erplain what you want him to see: You do this when you point to a detail in a photograph. Ask the man to look at the photograph of a house. You say, "Look at those windows.'' He looks at the windows. You say, "But this window here." You point at the window you want him to examine. When you look at a picture, you see one thing; he looks at it and sees something difierent. But if you point out what you want him to see, he'll follow your eyes and get your story.

One picce only: A clerk in a hardware store wrapped five pieces of literature in the package he was tying up for a customer. "Why do you do that?o' the customer asked. "Oh, we have a lot around and we're trying to get rid of them. Who knows, somebody may buy something." When you hand a man two or tJrree pieces of literature on the same product, you eut down your chance of getting him to read any one of them.