What’s Left for Lumber Consumers?
Not Long Ago…
Not Long ago you could go into any Lowe’s or Home Depot and find pretty near anything you wanted.
Not long ago traditional lumberyards were servicing contractors who were building things.
Not Long ago the end use customer had two primary choices for their lumber needs; you had Lowe’s or a lumber yard.
Not long ago the industry supply chain was producer (mill) – broker – wholesaler – lumber yard – contractor – end user. The Lowe’s model skipped the contractor. Mills, brokers and some wholesalers dealt primarily in truckload volumes. At the truckload purchasing volume, during the boom years, there were companies (brokers) who bought truckloads of different types of wood and, in anticipation of the market, re-sold the wood for a small profit.
That was then this is now
Now if you go into any Lowes’s and Home Depot they may not have all the lumber you need.
Now there are no contractors building anything and traditional lumberyards are going out of business or struggling severely.
The supply chain is breaking down as the retreating customers no longer support the multiple layers of the 100 year old distribution model. Contractors and builders are looking to improve, innovate or change careers.
What You Can Expect
As a consumer this marketplace will present opportunities as well as challenges. No one is buying inventory anymore. That will create some good deals as companies try to generate cash by dropping prices but ultimately it will lead to inventory shortages and reduced availability for the customer.
The companies left retailing will be forced to carry fewer products and will have increased wait times for the rest. Traditional retailers are facing another challenge in that the companies they used to go through to supply special order merchandise are, in many instances, no longer there. They simply won’t be able to fill some requests. Certain products are going to be eliminated entirely.
Smaller projects are going to be difficult to service as supplies run low.
The end result is increased prices and wait times for the consumer. Not a good formula in tough times.
BUT There is hope ….