Hardware Retailing The Industry's Source for Insights and Information
Tim Owens, a craftsman on staff, has shifted his responsibilities so he can focus entirely on custom woodcutting and making furniture, including tables, bookshelves and fireplace mantles.
“Lumber and building materials have risen drastically in price, so customers are looking to spend wisely,” owner Terrance Blakesleay says. Making his business a destination for unique wood and custom projects has been a way for him to compensate for industry changes, use his team’s talents and sell higher-margin items, he says.
“We’re carving out a niche. People know we’re able to be a little flexible and help them by any means we can,” he says.
Shapard Lumberyard still sells lumber, building materials, millwork, windows and doors, but customers can also special order unusual types of wood, such as African mahogany and purpleheart, for special projects.
Blakesleay and Owens coach people who want to make their own unique projects and offer to make all of the specialty cuts needed. Customers can buy slabs of wood to cut at home, have Shapard Lumberyard cut every piece or have Owens cut and build whole projects.
