Observer-Reporter

EIGHTY FOUR - 84 Lumber Co. said Monday that it closed another 30 stores across the country, including store consolidations in eight core markets. The affected stores are in the company's Southeast, Central, Western, Charlotte, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Pittsburgh regions.

No stores in Washington or Greene counties were affected.

"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," said Frank Cicero, executive vice president of store operations. "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."

Cicero said in a press release that the moves "allow us to deploy our assets into core markets that are presently maintaining a reasonable level of housing activity and we view as solid growth areas when the building market recovers."

The Eighty Four-based company, the country's largest privately held supplier of building materials, said the current slump in the housing market was responsible for its decisions. Monday's announcement followed a March 25 announcement to close nine stores across the country and a March 15 decision to lay off 18 employees at its corporate headquarters in Eighty Four, where about 600 people work.

According to the company, current housing starts are at a 30-year low of approximately 570,000 units, a significant drop from the mid-2006 level of approximately 1.5 million units annually.

The closings and consolidations announced Monday leave 84 Lumber with 368 stores and 13 component manufacturing facilities operating in 37 states. The company said several stores and component plants are presently mothballed and will re-open when market conditions in those locations warrant.

The company said 10 stores are being closed and consolidated in California, Louisana, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas.

In six markets, 84 Lumber said it has determined that it does not have the level of resources or stores to efficiently and profitably serve those markets, and will close stores in Tucson, Ariz., Forest Grove, Ore., Meridian, Idaho, Corpus Christi, Texas, Milton, Fla., and Gilroy, Calif.

"Given the current state of the overall market, we want to direct our resources into those core markets where we have substantial operations," Cicero said. "While these six markets have reasonable activity, we have decided to exit these markets for the time being."

Fourteen stores have closed due to low or no housing growth in their markets, including those in Sidney, Greenville, Marysville and Zanesville, Ohio; Ann Arbor and Flint, Mich.; New Castle, Ind.; Bluff City, Tenn.; Harrisonburg, Va.; Lafayette, N.J.; Williamstown, W.Va.; Cabot, Ark.; Kingsland, Ga.; and Albertville, Ala.

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