The secret of success? Think small

Iven HEARD op Silverton. Or.?

-U/Maybe not. Or Brooks, Molalla or Woodburn? Me neither.

But Withers Lumber has yards in all four pinpricks on the state mapand for a reason it believes in and is banking on. Says Trent Withers, who runs the company his grandfather launched in 1928, "We are never going to be a big, mega-operation. My grandfather didn't want that. mv father didn't want that, and I don;t want that. Everyone else plops down a lO-acre yard and fans people out for 50 miles. Instead, our idea is iust the opposite: to have small yards in small communities, with local people, and become part of the towns."

Softspoken words, to be sure, but they come with a fighting edge behind them. That goes back nearly 80 years, to when the big boys-in this case,

Copeland's-rode into Woodburn and told Trent's grandpa, "We're going to make it tough on you. Sell out, or we'll put a yard across the street." He didn't, and they did.

Grandfather Withers eventuallv gave up the yard and relocated to nearby Mount Angel. But when decades later Copeland's split up the chain, Withers was able to repurchase the Woodburn store, making two yards just a couple of miles upart. tn 1962,Trent's father, Bob, added a third location in Brooks, also just up the road. "Three yards within 20 miles," Trent underscores the operating mantra.

Then, about five years ago, he says, "two things became clear. Copeland's dried up completely; they lost their yards in small communities.

In fact, here in Oregon, the business model became one of mega-yards with a hundred people serving some 500 miles. That only reinforced our company's idea that we could do well by not acting like the big yards. In fact, we actually have our fifth location mapped out, as soon as the economy improves," confides Trent, who took over from his dad in 1998.

"Oh, Dad still comes in just often enough to make trouble, to stir the pot," his offspring notes with abundant affection.

Maybe Bob always suspected his prodigal son would be back. "Growing up, I wanted nothing to do with the lumberyard," Trent bristles in retrospect. "I left to go to theater school in L.A. and become a movie star." But after the glitz started to tarnish and million-dollar contracts failed to come his way, when Dad offered, "Why don't you come back?" Well-sure! And no regrets. "Now I'm using my theater background as a sales guy," he readily asserts, "and having a lot of fun."

Making big decisions, too. The biggest change came about when Home Depot moved in close by, prodding Trent to get out ofthe retail trade and concentrate solely on pros. "We changed the product mix and staff [orientation] in order to serve the smaller contractors, who built one or two houses ayeat. We're a small company, and small operations like to do business with each other. We all like the personal relationships and feel connected-not serving those larger customers of a 'typical' yard, but they're large to us."

"In fact,'he says, "our only rule here is to have no rules. To be flexible. We want to operate on an individual basis, according to their individual needs."

For instance? "For instance, free delivery. And one of the biggest reasons for our success is that, unlike the big companies, we don't deliver the whole house package in one day. (Others will drop the whole thing there to warp and twist and rot.) Instead, we make multiple small deliveries- 15, not one or two. It's part of being a smaller yard in a small town. We caffy a little bit of everything they need to build a house, too. And we offer our customers product-knowledge sessions on issues such as the proper way to install windows and doors. There are so many lawsuits waiting to happen, so we spend time educating ourselves and our contractors."

Having employees who are long-timers gives Withers a leg up, too. "They're mature associates, some with 14 years with us, and we appreciate and value their expertise. It's not like going to a box, where folks are earning $10 an hour."

Not at all. Trent has put the earning potential squarely in his team's collective hands. He's established an incentive program that pays off based on productivity. It works like this: dollar sales divided by number of staff-which, he says, is "the most important number in a business. And the great thing about the plan is that they police themselves. 'You have to hit the numbers,' they'll say. And this way, it takes fewer people to do the business we do."

Know what, Trent? There's a catchy slogan out there that sums it up: "Do more with less."

Bingo. And that's especially vital because, contrary to a reporter's expectation, there's little economy to be achieved in operating four stores, Trent contends. "No. Actually, it costs more. A mega-yard could buy five truckloads. Instead, we order one and ship it to one location, then split it up and transport it to the others." However, customers do love the fact that if one yard doesn't have a crucial item in stock at the moment, it's likely that another one, close by, will step up and fill the gap.

Withers boasts five "very aggressive" outside salespeople who troll for new accounts. "They'll approach an under-served contractor and show him how a yard that values his business might treat him differently." And occasionally, treat is exactly the right word-for, instead of spending all its dollars on advertising, reports Trent, "we'll find out what our customers like-such as fishing or baseball. Then we arrange events focused on their particular passion."

Even in this dicey economy. And, let's be honest, it's hit Oregon hard. To survive, Withers has been forced to reduce its staff from 60 to 20-a move, Trent acknowledges, as he bites the bullet to ease the pain, "that was key to keeping the company around until the next good times. In this state," he says, "there's still no light at the end of the tunnel, and the coming winter will be toush."

But, hey ! It still beats Hollywood. "It's so much fun to assemble a group of people and head them in the same direction-to get them to set aside their differences and do what's best for our customers-which," he underscores. "is ultimatelv how we all benefit." Amen to that!

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@comcast.net

By fames Olsen