TYPES OF CONSUMERS 



Retail luml)er yards sell primarily to three eonsunier groups: build- 

 ing contractors, homeowners, and industrial plants. 



Regional yards sell almost half of their total volume of lumher to 

 building contractors. Homeowner's account for an additional one-third 

 while industrial concerns buy 12.5 percent of total sales. All other con- 

 sumer types accounted for the remaining 8 percent. 



Building Contractors 



A recent survey by the Southern Forest Experiment Station indi- 

 cates that large building firms take advantage of wholesale buying from 

 other than retail yards. ' However, a 1960 Maine survey- indicates that 

 metropolitan and Maine construction firms procure the bulk of their 

 lumber needs from retail lumber yards. An earlier study" of Maine and 

 New Hampshire lumber marketing indicates that construction con- 

 sumers buy primarily from retailers. Retailers reported that they do sell 

 to large volume purchasers at substantial discounts. 



As retail yard size increases a greater proportion of their sales is to 

 building contractors ( Figure 23 I . Larger yards ] 5600.000 and over gross 

 sales] sell 60 percent or more of their lumber to contractors. 



By states, building contractors account for 57 percent of all sales in 

 Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, for over 40 percent in 

 Maine and Pennsylvania, and for 39 percent in West Virginia. 



Homeowner Sales 



Homeowner's purchases have created an opportunity for lumber 

 dealers to sell other products such as paint, hardware, and tools. With 

 the present tendency toward more leisure time, do-it-yourself projects 

 are increasing in number. The result is a steadily increasing market for 

 wood as the actual numbers of single family dwellings increase. 



Lumber sales to homeowners constitute a major market in West 

 Virginia, 50 percent of all sales. Massachusetts contrasts to this w ith only 

 25 percent of retail lumber sales going to homeowners. Other states 

 average 35 percent of their lumber sales volume to this market. 



The sale pattern to homeowners is opposite to that for building 

 contractors as a retail yard size changes ( Figure 23 1 . As yard size in- 

 creases a smaller proportion of total lumber sales are to homeowners; 

 the smallest yards sell 70 percent to this group. 



Industry and Other Sales 



Industry buys a small but significant amount of lumber from retail 

 yards, 12.5 percent of their total sales. This represents over 100 million 

 i>oard feet in the six states studied. Seventy-two percent of all industrial 



1 Clark, Row. 1964. Changing Role of Retail Dealers in Lumber Marketing. South 

 Forest Experiment Station, New Orleans, La. 2(1 pp. illustrations. 



- Brock, S. M. 196:i. Marketing Maine Lumber to the Northeastern Building Con- 

 struction Industry. Bull. 61.'). Maine Agric. Exp. Station, Orono. 



•' Wallace and Aniidou. Ibid. 



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