Dixieline Opens New Home Center

h IXIELINE Lumber and Home l/ Qgn1s15 is one of the fastest growing companies of its kind in the southwest. The San Diego, Ca. based firm headed by William S. Cowling, Jr. was founded in l9l3 by Cowling's father who had the foresight to see that the almost-perfect climate would be a boon to construction and industry.

The company, which was recently sold to the Weyerhaeuser Company (see The Merchant, July, p.34) for a figure near $20 million, is still operated by Cowling and his management team. Local papers have quoted him as saying that the Dixieline purchase is Weyerhaeuser's "first step toward entering the retail lumber business on a national scale."

Concentrating on service and quality, Dixieline has expanded to four retail-contractor outlets in a metropolitan area that encompasses a single county of 4,255 square miles (approximately the size of Connecticut) and there are more to come.

The company recently celebrated the grand opening of its fourth and largest branch in San Diego's South Bay to the accompaniment of rave reviews from the public and the contractors.

The 16,000-sq.-ft. retail store with a complete inventory of hardware, paneling, paint, wallpaper, tools, plumbing and electrical supplies is augmented by 40,000 sq. ft. of covered storage and a 5-acre lumber yard offering-as do all Dixieline outlets-complete milling facilities.

In consideration of their proximity to the Mexican border (eight miles) and the better than five million dollars a year spent in the area by Mexican nationals, all in-store signs are printed in both Spanish

The service policy which has been a major factor in Dixieline's success involves a selling system that offers customers a choice of buying methods. If a customer knows what he wants he can make his selection in the appropriate department and take it to the cash register checkout.

Secondly, if a customer knows what he wants from yard items, he goes to the express counter where a salesperson will make out and total his bill and see that the material is loaded.

The third sales service is provided for the customer who is unsure of his needs or wants advice or information. This customer takes a number and can browse until a salesperson is free to help him. The salesperson then stays with the customer through the completion of the sale providing a one-on-one relationship that has proved to be one of their greatest selling assets. Each salesperson is thoroughly trained in dealing with build-it-yourself and home craft projects.

For contractor sales, Dixieline

Story at a Glance

1 l offers a separate sales desk away from the retail sales floor, and contractors are served by different personnel so there is no delay by consumer traffic.

These specialized services provide some of the reasons that Dixieline presently does more than $90 million a year in business.

Vast selections of attractively displayed, top quality merchandise in every department; wide aisles to accomodate the handy shopping carts; agressive advertising, merchandising and promotion campaigns; immaculate stores inside and out; and perhaps most importantly in this harried age, friendly, knowledgeable employees who genuinely like helping customers are other factors contributing to Dixieline's amazing growth and success.

"More Dixieline Home Centers are being planned for the near future," said Cowling, "and they are likely to be bigger stores-20,000 or even 25,000 sq. ft."

Thus Dixieline, one of the fastest-growing home centers in the southwest, is doing what it has been doing for 66 years: keeping ahead of San Diego's phenomenal growthand doing it very successfully indeed.

SPEARIIEAllItG Weyerhaeuser's entry into retailing is Bill Cowling, an outspoken and dynamic lumberman who has built Dixieline Lumber to its high level of success. Handsome new store (lower photo) reflects the company's retail skills.

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