84 Lumber anticipates opening new store in Springfield market

When 84 Lumber, which is headquartered in Eighty Four, Penn., purchased 17 Payless Cashways stores, the acquisition included the former Payless Cash-ways at 4615 W. Chestnut Expwy. Greg Vance, general manager of the Spring-field location, said the newly remodeled store should be open for business by mid-February.

"A lot of long term customers, people who shopped at Payless Cashways, are excited that another lumber yard is moving in," he said.

Remodeling work began on the store in Nov. 2001, with the help of numerous subcontractors, including AC Electric, K&S Construction, Grinnell Fire Pro-tection, Losh Communications, Sharp Signs, Springfield Plumbing, Triad Heat-ing and Air of Ozark and Sealing Con-cepts of Nixa.

The store has been repainted and the retail showroom has been remodeled: racks for the merchandise have been placed and partitions that change the layout of the 28,000-square-foot store have been put in as well.

"All that's left to do is to stock the merchandise and assemble more racks for merchandise," Vance said. Some hiring for the store already has been done, Vance added. Once hiring is completed, the store will have 25 employees, with about half of those being former employees of Payless Cashways.

Also on the approximately 20 acres of property are several sheds that have materials stored in them, several warehouses and a door/millwork shop.

Vance said 84 Lumber, which has been in business for more than 40 years, has "a contractor sales department where employees of 84 Lumber will go out to a job site to give contractors the help they need and work hand-in-hand with them at no charge." The store also offers a delivery service for the products it sells.

Vance said 84 Lumber's employees also are an integral part of what the company has to offer.

"We train very heavily," he said. "We have an orientation study program where the employees take part in what's called 84 University. The university isn't a specific building. It's the employees taking classes in various conference rooms or other meeting places."

Vance believes the downturn in the economy won't have a negative effect on the new store.

"I feel like there's an ample market share that we could obtain," he said.

Randy Vankirk, vice president of marketing and advertising at 84 Lumber's headquarters in Pennsylvania, said Springfield was a target market for the company.

"There are good growth opportunities there and a need for the products and services we offer," Vankirk said. "We're very pleased to be coming into that market and serving the community there."

Winter hours are 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sunday. After Daylight Savings Time, the hours Monday through Friday will expand to 7 a.m.- 8 p.m., Vance said.