Old school dealer rrmallstt the competition

Drll Gr,nsou. owNER AND GENrus

Ilbehind Mahoning Lumber Center, Youngstown, Oh., serves commercial builders. For shopping mall stores like Victoria's Secret, Anthropologie, Ruby Tuesday, and a hundred others, he's the go-to guy for all the bells and whistles.

Yet he operates with few of them himself: no computer, no website, no email address. Not even a number in the phone book. (It's unlisted to screen calls from individual homeowners and even the home builders he used to serve.) He pecks out his correspondence on a typewriter-remember those? And, I suspect, he answered this reporter's call on a rotary phone. Yet, he's served as prime supplier for 6000 mall stores in all 50 states (and recently Puerto Rico) over the past l5 years.

No need, he says, for high-tech tricks. Or a college degree, for that matter. Like his father, Sam, before him, business insights were soaked up on the job. Sam Gerson, who left the old country to make his home in Cleveland, dropped out of elementary school to help support the family. By 1930 he owned the Broadway Wrecking Co., which segued into Broadway Lumber when customers wanted not only demo work but the materials to build anew as well.

In 1940 Sam bought Mahoning in bankruptcy court for $1,750, which did well enough to send Bill to college, first at Ohio U, then Miami, where, in 1952, the kid dropped out to buy into a waterskiing outfit. That lasted until a visit from dad, who took him aside and made it clear: "I don't want a beachcomber in the family. Come home."

Bill recalls.

But De Bartolo wanted his supplier close at hand-as in "Move to Miami." "Fine," said Bill. I had a condo, a place to live, so it was perfect"-except for the fact that the family preferred to stay put in Youngstown, so Bill began a life of long-term commuting.

It proved well worth all the airport time. "We built 14 malls in 15 years and also supplied the millwork for the most luxurious hotel on that part of the coast. We'd bid on it, but didn't get the job. However, the company that won out soon went bankrupt, so they called us for 450 doors ASAP. We had eight trucks and eight drivers and shuttled them back and forth"-a $55,000 payoff, by the way.

OHIO LUMBERMAN BillGerson has carved a niche out of supplying new construction of shopping malls, while maintaining his time-honored ways of doing business.

He obeyed, of course, and almost immediately was transferred to Youngstown, where he lived in the YMCA (and later became a board member) while partnering with a driver to set up the lumber center. The company flourished, supplying materials for the high-end homes of the town's steel executives, but gradually steered its focus from residential to commercial building.

Brilliant-because the mills shut down in 1983. Home-building screeched to a halt and 80Vo of Mahoning's customers disappeared. But fortunately, a right-time, rightplace stroke of business luck had already occurred tn 1962, when bigtime developer De Bartolo (owner of the San Francisco Forty Niners, by the way) couldn't find drywall for a theater he was building. "We gave it to him, and we were off and running. We built their first mall ever in Miami,"

Today, Mahoning operates with three trucks, three drivers, and an outside sales staff of "all girls," Bill proclaims in non-PC language, but what the heck? "They're phenomenal," he declares. "They go after malls under construction and talk to the supers, and they get60Vo ofthe business."

And that business is very competitive, he reports. Thus, Mahoning has leased satellite warehouses to assure the overnight delivery these developers demand. (Finish a day late and they're slapped with a $10,000 penalty.) "We offer better service," Bill presents as one key to his continued success. "You're as good as your name," he knows full well," so we also can offer our reputation. Plus, we supply the lumber and plywood that other yards don't carry. In fact," he chuckle, "other yards didn't even realize what we were up to. Malls weren't being built until we got there.

"Another thing-you're gonna like this story, dear-I've worked with one of our best contractor customers in

Ohio for over 37 years and never once called him for money.

"I only have seven customers," he continues, "and that's enough to keep me happy. One of the best is in Humboldt, Texas. Another in Canton, Ohio. And our main customer in Ft. Myers, Florida. How do I connect with them?" he repeats my query. "It's a miraclel Here's how we do it: It's all through the supers. I'm friends with all of them. I fly out to meet them so they know I'm for real. They put me on with their contractors.

"We give them the best quality. No callbacks." Well, one. Almost. "I got a call from a guy for whom we'd delivered metal doors and frames, and boy, was he mad! 'Bill, I trusted you to sell me doors, and these don't even fit!'I came out to take a look, and he'd hung them upside down. He was so embarrassed," Bill laughs.

Only seven customers-and only five major suppliers, including Midwest Wholesale Hardware, Dixieply for lumber and plywood, and Hering Corp. for doors and windows. "They love me because I pay my bills on time. So, we can negotiate deals. I've gotten 62 blueprints since January, including one for Beholden, a new bridal chain going into Chicago. But I couldn't give them good delivery if my suppliers didn't give me a break. If they didn't, other companies would take it away from me. But if you pay your bills before they're due, that gets their attention."

By now, Bill has moved back to Youngstown, thanks to the insistence of a wife and daughter who could hardly remember what he looked like. (Okay, they didn't complain about visiting him on the Florida beaches-only the phone bills and airfare.) Yet Mahoning remains a Florida corporation to take advantage of the favorable business climate (no personal property tax, etc.) Doing business in all 50 states, "I could live anywhere," Bill claims. But he's happy to be back in Ohio, where Mahoning also is licensed.

And thriving. "Thirty-seven lumber companies closed in Youngstown, and not because of the big boxes," he insists. "They closed because they couldn't adapt when homebuilding died. There are only two of us left. And we are the only lumber company that does shopping mall stores."

No denying that Mahoning took a big hit when the economy tanked, however. "We died completely in 2009 and 2010. The phone stopped ringing and I was so scared, so worried." But 2011 came along and mall owners, seeking an uptick, gave their tenants orders: Remodel or we'll take a long, strong look at your lease. There are 35 Limited stores and 40 Victoria's Secrets who had to listen, among others, so "we had one of our best years. Business was up 50Vo over 2010.

Bill. who'd rather we didn't announce his age, operates like a kid 30-or make that 50-years his junior. And he has no intention of slowing down. He's glad to pass on the most important lesson he learned from his father, "a remarkable man.

"I'll put it this way," he says. "Dad told me. 'Son. the customer is always right. Use that premium and you'll succeed."'

Carla Waldemar cwaldemar@ comcast.net

Universal has been a key supplier in Southern California for years. With the broadest lineup oflumber and specialty products in the area, it's no wonder why dealers look to UFP as a key supply partner.

By fames Olsen