Western Pine Supply Co. Hitches lts Wogon to the Retqil lumber Deqler

Again reaffirming faith in the retail lumber dealer as the logical consumer outlet for building materials and lumber, Western Pine Supply Company has entered its 1lth year in the San Francisco Bay area supplying the needs of Northern California retailers. In line with the firm's "dealers only" policy, Western Pine Supply's lO-year anniversary marks a period of growth and expansion that can be viewed with interest.

Western Pine Supply Company was founded and organized by Philip J. McCoy in 1945, when he was 26. He had been a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Lumber procurement office in San Francisco, where his duties consisted of buying lumber from various mills throughout California and Oregon. Originally, upon graduating from Dartmouth, McCoy had started his lumber career with a sawmill in Lebanon, Ore. He later worked in a Portland retail lumberyard and, before entering the Navy, had been with Templeton Lumber Co., a Portland wholesaler. Phil McCoy is the fourth generation of McCoys Philip J' MccoY in the lumber business, his family having been associated with Weyerhaeuser Timber Company for many years.

With a small group of young men starting out 10 years ago, Phil McCoy has brought Western Pine Supply Company along from its humble beginning to attain a position as one of the leading wholesale distributors of forest products in California.

A policy of stressing service and quality products, along with faith in the retail lumber dealer as the source of materials for the building contractor, has vastly contributed to the company's success.

Western Pine Supply Company first occupied a small office and warehouse at the corner of 8th and Harrison streets, selling pine lumber and mouldings to the retail yards in surrounding Bay area cities. A slow but steady expansion followed with the distribution of these items to cover territories beyond the Bay area.

By 1950, the facilities in San Francisco had become inadequate to handle the volume of increasing business and the firm moved to its present location at 5760 Shellmound Street in Emeryville.

To further diversify and increase its service to the dealers, Western Pine Supply Company purchased the Nicolai l)rior ,Saies ('omP:tn,r' in 11).-;J iron't :t north\\.cst. rlorir :trrl plvrvot.rrl nralltliiictllre r. tlle \\'hccltr ( )sgootl (.otrlr:ttt-r'. I t harl lrecn onc oi tlrt oltlest rlistrilrr.rlors oI rloors ltnrl Plvnoorl irr Northcrn ('lrliir,rrri:r. ln tlrr:rc(ltlisiti()n oi Nicollri. \\'est rrn I'ine Srr1r1r1,r'(',r.:Lr1<1ctl 1o its lrrotlut:ts;t t'ornlrlctt'1ittt',,i rloors :rnrl lrl-\'n,ocl. rrs r cll lr: u irrrlorls lurrl s:rsh. l.i_r' this tirnc \\-t'stct-rr I'ittc Srrplrlr- n'rts rlistrilrtrtirrr:- it: pr-orlrrcts 1o rclrtil lLttrtlrcr rlt'rtlers throttgltout nl()st ()[ \or-tlrern ('lliiornia rLrrrl \\irs ()l,cr';rt;rrr: i1s trrrclis orr:t rcgrrltLrl,t sclrcrlulerl rlclivt'rr' :crvic(': Iierlnoorl Iliglrn'lrv to .\rt';rt;r. l,lLst _r'r':Lr \\'r'stcrrr I'ine Srrlrplr'('otnlxtttv lLrlrlcrl llrr c'ntirc.\rrnslr'orte ('ork ('otnl:trt,1. irrrilrlirrr:-lllrltcriirls linc to its u:Lrclr,)11sr' st()c1(. 'l'lrc lirrc [urlhcr rlivcrsillt:s \\'t's1crl I'ine SLrplrl-r' s \\'rlr(f h()usc s1()(''lis. rr,lriclr inclrrtl<' rnorrlrlings. uinrl,rns :ur(l sirsh : I'onrlcros:r l)illc nl()rllrlings. Ilurrln'r,r,rl nl()u1(li1rgs. litrll',r,rrl nrorrlrlines. l':rcliltgcrl cllt't()-lrltgtll nt,;ulrlirrgs,,\lourlires t() nt:rtclr sl)ccitrll\- lrlvu'orrrls, )[i11u ork. \\-irrrlon s & S;rsh, arrrl " l'inccrcst" n'inrLru rrnits: I'lvu-oorl : I)orrr:i:ts lir. lronrlcrosir I)i1rc, h:Lrrln oocl. lllLLirlicrs1)ecial t\- p1_r'rr'ooc1s (knottv pine. rccln,o()d, shad()\\'oorl, l)lr-\\-ca\-c, a1r(1 ]{11stic \\'( xr(l ; 1{edi-frt Stann'all-solicl hardu,oorl I)anelilrs (paclilLgecl ); lJoc.rrs: Tlollon' & solitl core flrlsh rloors lfir & harrlu-oods). NIrrl:rrke-r' cntrituce rloors. liir p:rner1-sash F rcnch tloors, (lr:Lu fir ()\.crlre:r(l garage cloors, ('rirnlrinlLtiolr s:rsh & scrcen <lortr-s. Scrcerr rloors, Lotrr-re rlriors. Single stlLnrllrrl lrlin<ls, l,'l orr:Llrlc lour.rcs, :rnrl ;\cnrc sliding door frames; Lumber: Pine selects, shop and common grades, knotty pine paneling, roof decking in fir and pine; Ripplolite laminated plastic products: Corrugated and special decorative designs and accessories.

('o;rst llir:hrrrt-r't() S:ul [.uis (.)lrislro, S:Lcrltnrcttlo Vltllcr- 1r.r lie rltlins', S:Lrr -f olLtltrin \-:rllc,r' to l'ortcrvillc, 'l'hc \ tL1r:tSorrorrrit \-lLllc-r'to ('lc:rrl:tlic, tur(l Irc(ltlcttt. st'rvicc to I]:L-r' :rrr'ir citirs rvithirr a 50 nrile nt(lius of l'lnrcr_r'r'i11c.

Continually Adding New Lines

The continual addition of new lines has been parallelectt by a gradual warehouse expansion at the Emeryville plant. The latest expansion program was completed this fall and included additional office space for the sales and accounting departments and the construction of a new warehouse and spur track.

The entire plant now consists of three warehouses and the office building, altogether ,covering over two acres. Warehouse space now totals in excess of 40,000 sq. feet, the main warehouse containing mouldings, plywood, lumber and Armstrong building materials; a second warehouse encloses a sash mill and glazing department with storage -area for sash, windows, Monowall, specialty plywoods and Acme Frames; the third warehouse holds a complete inventory of a great variety of doors.

The efficient handling and expediting of orders is essential to this type of business. Therefore, with the expansion of office space this year, an order desk arrangement was designed by Phil McCoy to fulfill these requirements.

In addition to the tremendous stock and business conducted out of Western Pine Supply Company's warehouses. the firm is also quite active in the field of direct mill sales. Approximately 5O/o of its business is on a direct mill basis, and the nine company salesmen in their various territories are responsible for direct mill sales as well as sales from warehouse stocks. Direct mill shipments are made from the larger mills in the Western Pine region, with all grades of the various species being shipped from these sawmills. Western Pine Supply Company also handles doors and plywood in mixed carloads which may be lot-loaded for lumberyards.

Philip McCoy, president and general manager, looking back on the growth of his diversified company, again emphasizes his belief of a "dealers only" policy: llAlN WAREHOUSE VIEW (top photo, obovc) post moulding 3cction to plywood rlocks; on fhc trock is ordcr of mixed pino, hordwood qnd redwood rnoutdingr madc.up for q rctoil yord. Second rcanc rhowg Front< Mifrud, superintcndcnt, in thc wcll-orgonizcd worehoure beforc o r.ction of thc lo.rge moulding Invcntory. Photo ot righr rhows port of Douglor fir plywood inventory. Sfrip of pix ocro* botfom showr (lcft) Calbcd troilcr qnd trqctor with toad of lumbcr cnd door iomb retr ond, recr, unlooding cor of Ponderoro pinc selecls; Ccnlcn ncw Wcrlern Pine Supply Co. tldctor with vcnlood of stockr; For Righf: :tort of weekly dclivery to ysrd3 in Salinqs-Monter.t/ orcq. Rolling equipmcnt in- du&s rix vcnr designed by Phil ltcCoy ond

"Future building materials distribution lies with the progressive lumber dealers, with emphasis on service and merchandising. Future development of Western Pine Supply Company will keep pace with needs of the lumber dealers in California," he declares.