Another one bites the dust – first Hayward Lumber, now Stock. Only locally owned lumberyard in town now is 84 Lumber. That and the big boxes is all we have. One yard just out of town. No one in town builds trusses anymore – gotta order them from Santa Maria or Visalia.
A few photos from more prosperous times, for the memories…
View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles Greene
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
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CaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
View ImageView Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
I heard Stock was closing eighty yards. They closed the millworks shop here in Austin.
They ran it like a corporation, and I always wished they could have gotten more streamlined. Sometimes going shopping there was like an exercise in frustration. But they were one of Bakersfield's last true lumberyards, and I'm sorry to see them go.
Right now the big boxes are stocked to the gills, with salespeople standing around waiting to help. But when things pick up, they tend to run out of basic stuff a lot, hire a lot of underqualified help, and be unresponsive to the needs of the professional (while advertising "we install", to further insult the pro by trying to take his customers from him!).View Image “Good work costs much more than poor imitation or factory product†– Charles GreeneCaliforniaRemodelingContractor.com
My challenge with Stock was that smaller volume guys like myself got zero respect. It took 4 weeks to get a window quote once. Another time they sent me a bunk of studs that were so rotten they were growing mushrooms. My salesman refused to believe me and refused to send another bunk. This was five years ago.
He called me about a month ago asking if he could help us out with the great service that Stock was able to provide. I reminded him of the studs and his response was "I didn't think that would be a deal breaker".
Such is life. Bruce