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You wouldn’t expect a company that’s been around since 1927 to be a fly-by-night organization, but no matter how old a company is, its history can come to an abrupt end if customers get the sense it doesn’t know what it is doing. That’s why Pennsylvania’s Lezzer Lumber focuses on having the most experienced people possible, according to Marketing Manager Bill Thomas. 

“It’s like everybody’s been in it for a lot of years,” he says. “People can tell that when they talk to us.” 

That level of experience can be found in the company’s management, as well, because the Lezzer family has been involved in it for three generations. Originally founded as the Sandri-Lezzer Lumber and Farm Machinery Co., Michael H. Lezzer and his sons Maurice and Kenneth purchased the lumber portion of the company in 1949. 

The current generation of Lezzer family leadership in the company is well-versed in its customer service philosophy, Thomas says. 

“Those kids grew up in the business – they’ve seen their grandfather build it and their father continue it,” Thomas says. Seeing their grandfather making deliveries in the middle of the night for customers was nothing unusual for the third generation of Lezzer family ownership, he adds. 

Based in Curwensville, Pa., Lezzer Lumber has nine locations throughout the state, providing building materials including lumber, roofing products, doors, decking products, tools, and windows and skylights. The company provides services such as framing and insulation installations, as well. 

Spreading Out

The company’s diversity of services has been one of its most important assets, according to Thomas. Lezzer Lumber began diversifying 15 years ago with the addition of its truss plant along with interior door services. Its most recent expansion added a molding and millwork division. 

“If we were just selling lumber, we’d be out of business, or very small,” Thomas says. “[We’ve] found the niche to support what we sell but also manufacture what we sell now.”

The construction sector isn’t the only area in which Lezzer Lumber is branching out. The Lezzer family took a look at which industries were doing well in the region and found a thriving natural gas drilling industry in Pennsylvania. To serve that sector, the company created Lezzer Energy Services to sell secondary containment systems and safety equipment for the energy sector. The company also created Lezzer Transportation Services to provide shipping services, and the company recently expanded those services across state lines.

“That keeps truck drivers from being laid off, and that hires more people,” Thomas says. Many of these new endeavors were staffed by experienced people from within Lezzer Lumber, making it possible for the company to retain them without laying them off, he adds. 

Lean and Mean

Lezzer Lumber’s recent diversification has proven to be an even greater asset than before, given the instability of the economy and the price of lumber. Recent earthquakes and hurricanes have driven up demand for lumber because of the rebuilding efforts. Additionally, insect infestations have produced lumber of lower quality than in years past, driving up costs. Along with those issues, increased competition has many suppliers gouging their profit margins just to keep busy. 

“People are giving jobs away, basically,” Thomas says.

On top of that, customer loyalty is practically nonexistent because every contractor is pricing around for the best deals. Even though this means Lezzer Lumber has to fight harder for customers, Thomas says it’s not an entirely bad situation. “Sometimes that’s a good thing, too, because it makes you take a look at things that you were taking for granted,” he says.

Streamlining and diversification have been two important tools for the company in the current economy. “We are spread out,” Thomas says. “We’re lean and mean, if you will.”

In the future, Thomas says Lezzer Lumber is looking forward to the return of the construction industry but continues to look for new areas into which it can expand and take on more work. Specifically, Thomas says, the remodeling market is very strong at the moment. The reason for this, he explains, is that the recession has prompted many people to focus on improving their existing homes rather than buying new homes. 

“We’re really putting a lot of our marketing efforts into that,” he says.

Even though times are tough, Thomas says Lezzer Lumber has the resiliency to survive. “There have been other times when the economy’s been bad, and we’re still here,” he says.