February 2024

Greetings Customers & Friends,

I start my day pretty much the same way every day. I have certain routines that I don’t like to change or deviate from too much. I get up around 5:30 (never use an alarm) and go to the kitchen and push the GO button on the coffee maker. My laptop has an almost permanent place on our kitchen island where I sit and have breakfast. I only move it when my wife tells me we’re having guests. My goal is to read the newspaper online and have breakfast before I go to work, but I always start by checking my email (not recommended).

On a particular morning a few weeks ago, an email from Woodshop News caught my eye. Specifically, it was a blog that was posted by A.J. Hamler, a frequent contributor. We have a long relationship with the publication. We frequently contribute information to their writers about trends and pricing, and my business and I have been featured on the cover twice.

Many years ago, A.J. visited my shop here in Manchester while writing an article and taking some photographs related to his story. Although A.J. currently lives in PA., his daughter lives in Coventry, CT. and he promised me that he’d be stopping in for a visit and to stock up on some wood. Which brings me back to his blog.

The headline was “An Expensive Trip.” It was a short story about A.J. being caught with very little lumber inventory, and for a matter of convenience, he goes to a big box store. I found the story humorous and so true. Right away I wondered, how can I pass this on to our customers? For our customers sake (and Parkerville’s) we need to get the word out. So, there I am, interrupting my morning routine, emailing A.J. and asking him if I can post his blog on our website and social media platform. He graciously gave me his permission provided I also cleared it with Tod Riggio, the current editor at Woodshop News. Tod also kindly gave his permission. Thank you both.

Read A.J.’s Blog Here

I have frequently check the price of lumber at these big box stores that A.J. writes about. Lumber you buy there is always dressed on 4 sides (D4S or S4S, surfaced 4 sides), so a 1” x 6” board has been milled and the actual size is  ¾” x 5 ½”. Most of our lumber is purchased in the rough or pre-milled to 15/16”. We also buy our lumber random width and random length so you get all of what you pay for. This offers our customers more flexibility by allowing them to keep the material a little thicker, or allowing them to glue up solid wood panels and then having them re-surfaced. We can plane / resurface up to 24” wide, sand up to 42” wide, and fly cut up to 60”. As those who visit us know, we stock most species of wood from 1” to 4” thick. These box stores also don’t offer any milling services. We have almost unlimited milling and fabricating capabilities to help achieve your goals. We try to keep our prices as competitive as possible. We have reduced pricing significantly on many items, down from the peak in the middle of Covid. Our goal is to set up a bigger rough mill sometime in the near future. That will also help us be more competitive.

If you have never visited Parkerville or seen our entire shop, please stop in so we can provide you with a tour. We have an incredible selection of lumber, and we are always working on some interesting projects.

I hope to see you at the shop.

Sincerely,

David Harris, President

Parkerville Wood Products, Inc.