84 Lumber closes 30 stores

84 Lumber has announced the closing of 30 stores across the country, effective April 7, due to slow housing starts and other unfavorable market conditions. Some of these units will be consolidated into larger locations, while others involve the company exiting the markets altogether.

All of the locations are owned by 84 Lumber, and the property will be sold, according to Jeff Nobers, the company’s vp-marketing and public relations.

Ten of the 30 stores operate in metro markets than can be served by a nearby “hub store.” The consolidated stores are: Visalia, Calif.; Gastonia and Apex, N.C.; Copley, Ohio; Burlington, N.J.; Saginaw, Stafford and Deer Park, Texas; Gonzales, La.; South Kansas City, Mo.

In six markets, 84 Lumber has determined that the company does not have the resources to expand its facilities and adequately serve the area, Nobers said. “We don’t have the critical mass there to do what we want to do,” he explained. The closed stores are located in Tucson, Ariz,; Forest Grove, Ore.; Meridian, Idaho; Corpus Christi, Texas; Milton, Fla.; and Gilroy, Calif.

Fourteen stores have closed due to minimal housing growth, according to Nobers. “Many of them are older stores in small markets,” he added. These locations are in Sidney, Greenville, Zanesville, and Marysville, Ohio; Ann Arbor and Flint, Mich.; New Castle, Ind.; Bluff City, Tenn.; Harrisonburg, Va.; LaFayette, N.J.; Williamstown, W.Va.; Cabot, Ark.; Kingsland, Ga.; and Albertville, Ala.

The closings and consolidations leave 84 Lumber with 368 stores and 13 component manufacturing facilities in 37 states. Several stores and assembly plants are mothballed and will be reopened when the market recovers, the company said.

This is the second round of store closures by 84 Lumber in the last two weeks. On March 24, the Eighty Four, Pa., pro dealer announced it was closing nine stores as part of a consolidation plan in six markets. The shut units were in Frederick and Seabrook, Md.; Omaha, Neb.; Covington, Ga.; Loveland, Colo.; Tampa and Sarasota, Fla. Earlier in March, the company closed its branches in Sacramento and Santa Rosa, Calif.