n0 yEeRs oil CEUFORMA STREET

Whot's in the Glue Lominoted Timber Industry for Wholesoler?

By ED FOUNTAIN, President, Ed Founfqin Lumber Co., los Angeles, Cqlif.

(Reprinted from The Lumberman-November, 1959) rrA'holesalers planning to manufacture laminated timbers rvould do well to carefully consicler the techr-rical nature of the prorlrrct ancl the difficrrlties of a sustained sales volume to justify a manufacturing plant. With a payroll to rneet ancl no orclers resulting from indifference of the clistributors. the temptation to get out of tl.re n'holesale brrsir.ress ar.rd cleal clirect with the consumer is aln.rost overDou'erir.rg.

\Ve are being asked continually n'hether or lrot there is :L place in the glue laminated timber inclustry for a wholesalc lunrberman. We are not sure of the answer even aftcr several years' experience. But r.l'e do knowthat auyone entering this specialized fielcl must give it carefrrl consl (terat1()11.

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(ienerally, r,r'holesale lumbermen have_ found- their placc irr our et:onor.nic picture by economically performing the function of distribution of a procluct that was already 111:ulufacturctl ir.r standarcl sizes to a well-established trade. 'J'he idea n'as to cheaply and cluickly find the proper size an<l gracle ancl get it into tl-re hands of the man u'ho lvas rvaiting to Llse it. No thought or effort r,vas put into the prornotiorr of tbe procluct in its end use and the margin of gross profit did not permit any effort of this kir"rcl.

Being traditional lumber wholesalers and n'anting to renrain that way, we still had a clesire to manufacture gluecl laminated timbers in a simple form that could be distribrrtecl through lumbermen. To stay rvithin tl-re traditions of the ildustry and keep our usual trade connections, we felt that the product would have to be extremely sirnltle ancl be treateil simply as another piece of lumber.

Very little promotional effort vvould be <lone by us, aucl practiially none by our distributors. This conclusion' u,as forcccl orr us by the fact that if we $'ellt into the field an<l <li<l cngineering and promotional work, tl.ren it woul<l seenr neccssary to by-pass the r,r'holesalers ancl retailers and <lcal rlircctly n'ith the. constllner for rvhom r,e had provicle<l fre c ('t.t glllcerillg serVlce.

Vcry slou'ly, ancl by continuorrs efTort over a number of _\'ears, u'e h:rve now a small area r,vhere the contractors are in thc habit of buying straight larninatecl timbers fror.n the lunrbcr rle:rlers. 'f he lumber clealer, in turn, orcle rs fronr the u holcsaler. 'fhis has shor,r'n a ter-rdency to increase an<l thcrc is the possibility that it may set a trencl as a brar.rch of llic qlrre-lantirraterl irrdustry.

'fhis'approach is a slow orri ancl cleperrds, as lumber has aln'a1's <lorre, on the pure nrerit of the material selling itself. A certain amorrnt of effort carr be done in the u'av of literatrrre ancl irrdividual promotion u'ith architects. Hou'ever in toclay's high-pou'erecl sales programs by competing rna, terials, it actrrally comes back to the same old basis orr rvhich lrrnlber has alrvays been sol<l ; becanse it dicl the job better ancl at a cheaper price, therefore creatirrg its own business.

There is clehrritely a place for larger sizes arrcl better gracles of lumber thin are obtainable fiom the natrrral sawn product. This is a demand that createcl itself. Wholesalers who care to take the trouble to find out the sitnule facts about glue-laminated timbers ancl are preparecl io cltrote wherr the occasior.r arises, can probably clo extra business that rvoulcl normally pass them by.

\\te believe, and our experience has shown, that there isa possibility of glued laminated timbers being sold tl-rrough wholesalers. It requires careful preparation arrd the ability to hang on for extenclecl lengtl-rs of time rrrrtil