Hardwood distributor shows its stuff

Celebrating the company's 35th anniversary, Peterman Lumber, Fontana, Ca., hosted an open house at its Las Vegas, Nv., facility during last month's National Hardwood Lumber Association convention.

The plant tour and barbecue, sponsored by the Hardwood Distributors Association, drew more than 70 conventioneers.

The 40,000-sq. ft. facility gener- ates more than $1.3 million in sales per month, with support from the home base in Fontana. Peterman initially expanded to Las Vegas in 2006, when the economy and housing industry were booming.

"Little did we know that we were just about to enter the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression," says Peterman's Diane Johnston. "We were up against six major dis- tributors that had been positioned there for many years. After the smoke cleared, meaning the recession, there are only three left in Vegas-and we are all in the same industrial complex, which makes it easy for lumber supplers to make a one-stop visit."

In Las Vegas, Peterman continues to grow, employing about 25 and operating five trucks that make about 40 to 50 deliveries daily within a 60mile radius.

The company was formed in 1979 when Pete Peterman purchased five acres in Fontana-then the middle of nowhere. Most other Los Angeles suppliers questioned why he would start a yard "out there in Fontana" and truck product to L.A., but the city quickly evolved as part of the bustling Inland Empire into the region's nucleus of hardwood distribution.

How did Peterman have the foresight to start his company there? He jokes that it wasn't foresight; at the time, the propeny was the only one he could afford.

PLANT

Johnston,

Williamson,

Gray.

Becky Peterman, Jon Syre, Sam Stenerson. [4] Lan Mcllvain, Mark lmhoff, Monica Flores, Norman Roberts, Jordan Mcllvain. [5] Jeff Linden, Bob Smith, Jeremy Peterman, Ken Stevenson, Doug Wirkkala. [6] John Beard, Jeff Wirkkala, Dennis Johnston, Greg Bauer. [7] Deonn DeFord, Dan Peterman, Jennifer Buttice, Terry Griffith. [8] Brian Potter,Manuel Lavrador, Ed Garcia, Larry Evans, Jack Matson. [9] Kurt Landwehr, Randy Giere, Wendell Cramer, Ron Jones, Craig Forester.

Tim

He has since more than doubled the size of the operation and added a rail spur and two panel product unloading docks. The facility has 80,000 sq. ft. of enclosed warehouse space, 40,000 sq. ft. of covered sheds, a 40,000-sq. ft. customer service center, and $8 million in inventory. Its 1 1 trucks make 80 to 100 deliveries daily within a 120-mile radius.

Two years ago, the company added a location in Phoenix, Az. The 40,000-sq. ft. facility carries a $1 million inventory.