For Lloyd (and other woodworkers)

[KBCraig]

I don't know how available fine lumber is throughout NE, but I checked prices on their website, and they look pretty decent. 1/2" baltic birch plywood, $29.95; 4/4 QSWO rough $4.95/bf.

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Brentwood+business+caters+to+hardwood+hunters&articleId=0ac04d29-1e89-4930-8515-aa49a056e517

Brentwood business caters to hardwood hunters

By EMILY BEAVER
Union Leader Correspondent

BRENTWOOD ? Not long ago, you would have been out of luck if you wanted to buy a bundle of black limba, cocobolo or bubinga.

These exotic, high-quality hardwoods were sold wholesale to large furniture manufacturers, but woodworkers, hobbyists and small contractors had trouble purchasing that kind of lumber in small quantities.

That's where Rick Lang's Brentwood business, Highland Hardwoods, comes in.

"People who buy small bundles of wood make up two-thirds of our business," Lang says. "There was really no one in the Northeast selling high-quality hardwood to them before."

Lang started the hardwood business with his wife, Wendy, in their Kingston home in 1986, selling large quantities of lumber to furniture companies. They had 4 employees and "an extra phone extension in the wall, that's all we had," Lang says.

Now, Highland Hardwoods has 30 employees and is located in a new business complex on Route 125 in Brentwood, with a showroom, office building and several lumber warehouses and trucks.

The hardwood company still sells truckloads of lumber to furniture manufacturers, but over the past 20 years, wholesale lumber began to account for a smaller portion of the company's sales.

Highland Hardwoods seized on what Lang saw as a hole in the industry -- a lack of retailers who were selling small quantities of high-quality hardwood to craftsmen, woodworkers and small contractors.

Home retail giants like Lowe's and Home Depot sell small bundles of lumber, but tend to stock a smaller variety of woods and only stock varieties that sell cheaply.

Highland Hardwoods currently has about 40 kinds of wood on its retail list, selling everything from beech to zebrawood, an exotic species characterized by, what else? -- bold stripes.

"We're a niche business," Lang said. "I think that says something when you find someone that says 'We're going to do something we know and stick to it,' instead of trying to be everything to everyone."

Hardwood flooring has become another important component of Highland's retail business over the last 10 years, due to the economic growth of the mid '90s and an increase in home improvement and homebuilding in southern New Hampshire, promoted by popular home makeover television showing do-it-yourself projects.

Also, the quality of pre-finished hardwood flooring available has improved dramatically in recent years, and competition among manufacturers has kept costs of the flooring under control, Lang says.

Hardwood flooring, which is attractive to customers because it doesn't need to be replaced as frequently as carpeting, is so popular now that even carpet businesses sell it, Lang says.

Highland Hardwoods sells unfinished and pre-finished hardwood flooring, which can be installed by homeowners or contractors relatively easily.

Customers can check out hardwood flooring options on the company's Web site before visiting the showroom. Showroom traffic has increased so much that the company had to enlarge the showroom to accommodate customers -- a big step for the small business running out of Lang's home not long ago.

"We're a little company - it's quite an undertaking to do this," Lang says.

On the Net: www.highlandhardwoods.com