84 Lumber closes
By JOLENE CRAIG, jcraig@newsandsentinel.com
POSTED: April 8, 2008
WILLIAMSTOWN — The 84 Lumber store in Williamstown was closed Monday morning as a result of the slow housing growth, the company said.
A spokesperson for the store on West Virginia 14 said the business closed at 6:30 a.m. with 13 other locations of 84 Lumber throughout the country.
“It’s always sad when a business has to close,” said Wood County Commissioner Bob Tebay.
The Williamstown 84 Lumber is one of 30 to be closed or consolidated by 84 Lumber Company, according to a press release issued Monday.
“As we continue to assess our store operations and current state of the new home construction market, we are decisively closing stores that are operating in unprofitable markets and consolidating others in metro markets. By reducing the number of stores in some metro markets and utilizing a ‘Hub’ store, which offers a variety of services, we can operate more efficiently in these markets,” said Frank Cicero, executive vice president of store operations.
Cicero continued the changes allow the company to assess core markets that are maintaining a “reasonable level of housing activity.”
Tebay, who had to close his family business, Tebay’s Dairy, in October, said he understands why businesses are having trouble.
“The economy isn’t good and the housing market - while it is picking up - isn’t doing well enough to keep these lumber yards in business,” he said.
The closings and consolidations announced leave 84 Lumber with 368 stores and 13 component manufacturing facilities operating in 37 states.
Keith Burdette, president of the Wood County Economic Development Authority, said he was not told the Williamstown business was closing.
“It’s unfortunate, but these things are going to happen,” Burdette said.
While there have been a small number of land purchases along W.Va. 14 in the Williamstown and Boaz area, Burdette said they are not business related.
“The property purchased in that area are part of the old Henderson estate,” Burdette said. “As far as I know, there are no businesses looking at the area.”
While it does have a Williamstown address, 84 Lumber is not in the Williamstown city limits. The land on the Ohio River side of W.Va. 14 has not been annexed by the city.
84 Lumber was founded in 1956 by Joe Hardy in Eighty Four, Pa. and is one of the nation’s leading suppliers of building materials to professional builders.
Along with the Williamstown store, 84 Lumber stores in Zanesville and Marysville, Ohio were also closed.
84 Lumber will continue to operate the 25 stores in West Virginia, including those in Mineral Wells and Ripley.
