Business editor
mbradwell@observer-reporter.com
EIGHTY FOUR - After two years of shuttering stores and cutting its work force, 84 Lumber Co. is seeing some light in the housing market, and it's coming from Texas.
The company said in a news release Monday it will reopen a store in Houston on July 1. The store was closed late last year as the housing slump hit its lowest point.
The company's Houston West store will also house a door shop and carry commercial construction products to service a diverse customer base and to expand those product lines and services throughout Texas.
"We believe we are starting the slow climb out of the housing and general construction downturn, and we view Houston as one of those markets that will be at the forefront of the rebound," said 84 Lumber Executive Vice President Frank Cicero. "We foresee opportunities in other markets as the housing market recovers and intend to take advantage of those as well."
Monday's news was the most optimistic outlook the country's largest privately held building supply company has given in some time.
In February, it reported $2.8 billion in sales for 2008, down $1 billion from 2007.
In late 2005, the company had more than 500 stores with more than 10,000 employees. After several rounds of store closures and job cuts that began in mid-2006, the company currently has 310 stores and 4,000 workers in 36 states.
The Houston West store will be staffed by nine associates as well as 14 others who will be located throughout Texas, most of them having recently joined 84 Lumber from Stock Building Supply.
"The mix of experience of these new associates in both residential and commercial construction positions us uniquely in the market," Cicero said. "With the additional services being offered from this store, the door shop and commercial construction, and our other stores in the state, we can take advantage of the resurgent Texas building market statewide."
84 Lumber spokesman Jeff Norbers said later Monday that while the company believes it has seen the bottom of the housing market and is now starting to rebound, a turnaround probably won't occur for some time.
"It's not going to be in one or two quarters," Nobers said, adding that the opportunities in the Texas market are a combination of a pickup in building activity coupled with the closure of some of Stock's stores that is enabling 84 Lumber to pick up some market share.
Cicero said 84 Lumber's divisional vice presidents in the Southeast and Southwest are assessing the opportunities to bring in qualified people throughout their regions and nationally to expand the company's market share in both residential and commercial construction.
"We are seeking to do on a wide scale what we've done in Texas and Florida, where we have 16 stores and have recently hired many people from Stock to add to our depth and strength in those markets," Cicero said.
84 Lumber President Maggie Hardy Magerko said the moves are just the beginning as the company prepares to move from a defensive to an offensive position as the housing market recovers.
"It's the viewpoint of our management team that we have seen the bottom of the housing market and are now slowly climbing out of this housing recession," said Hardy Magerko. "Certainly, we still have a long way to go, but we are optimistic about where both the residential and commercial construction markets are trending and we will pursue further opportunities as they arise."
In addition to reopening the Houston West store, 84 Lumber also recently opened engineered wood product centers in Houston and Dallas.
The company also operates another Houston store on the southern side of the city as well as three stores in Dallas, two in Austin and one store in San Antonio (with a mothballed component manufacturing plant) as well as locations in McAllen, El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo and Plainview.
Headquartered in Eighty Four, 84 Lumber is the largest privately held supplier of building materials, manufactured components and services to the new home and commercial construction markets.