Big City Lumbelyard

(Continued from page I I )

Mr. Pick to sell the business he'd started in 1950. When no one in rhe Pick clan wanted to take over. Pick approached Daugherty, who has worked at the yard since he was 14 and whose father had been a foreman there.

"I worked after school, building pallets and doing customer service," said Daugherty. "When the guys would go to lunch, I learned to dispatch, bid jobs, and run rhe yard."

Thurgood has worked in the industry for 36 years, 15 as manager of

Jones Wholesale Lumber. Lynrvood. Ca. He met Daugherty on a jobsite in 1985 and discovered both rvere tryin-e to adopt another child through the same social rvorker. Today. Thurgood and his rvife Kathy have four children. Chuck and Cathy Daugherty have six. Both wives also rvork at Pick's.

According to the partners. reviving Pick's rvas a cooperative effort. "We hocked everything and sold everything rve could to get started." said Thurgood. Neighboring businesses loaned machinery such as forklifts. and vendors granted extended-terms credit. "Friends jumped through hoops to help us," he said.

Since buying the yard almost six years ago. the partners have made improvements that increased sales five-fold. Stocking a better grade of lumber rvas Thurgood's idea.

Custom millrvork rvas Daugherty's. "He has unlimited knorvledge about lumber." said Thurgood. "He can take a piece of old siding and figure out horv to duplicate it so an old house can be restored." Some of the milhvork is completed in-house: some is outsourced.

Better customer service is another improvement. "We care about the customer as soon as he rvalks throu-eh the door." said Thurgood. "We're here to help them succeed. If they succeed. rve succeed."

When customers can't find rvhat they need at Pick's. they are sent to a competitor. "There's enough business for everyone if you don't get greedy." said Thur-sood. "It's all about integrity. letting everyone make a living for their families."

Not surprisingly. both partners feel strongly about treating their employees rvell. "My yard people are like family." said Thurgood. "Some have follorved me throughout my 36 years in the industry."

When the time comes for their orvn retirement. the partners hope their kids will keep the business going.

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Like his father and grandfather before him. Eric Daugherty also rvorks at Pick's, as outside yard specialist. Steve's son. Bryce. rvorks alongside his father at the yard. as sales and moulding manager. Daughter Tiffany rvorked as cashier at the yard until the recent birth of her second son: daughter Christy norv rvorks part-time as a cashier.

For norv. the partners rvill continue to work hard and enjoy life. "You have to ask yourself horv you want to live your life. if you rvant to live your life to the fullest." said Thurgood.

"We're lumbermen." he said. "It's a life. not a business."

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