I learned this week that the Frank Paxton Woodcrafter’s Store in Cincinnati will be closing. I have always liked their selection and service, and I never had any reason to look other places. Now I am in need of a new supplier. Any suggestions?
Jeff
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Replies
Paxton's is closing???? You gotta be kidding.. They're owned by Jeld-Wen. Why in the world would they close up?
I am on their e-mail newsletter list. They sent a message Wednesday or Thursday last week saying after 20 years they were closing their doors. In the message it said the date of their closing had yet to be determined. I replied to the message with a couple questions, but never got a response.
I wonder if all four of their locations are closing or just Cincinnati. I read on their website that Jeld-Wen divested the operations but it didn't say when. The new owners must have given it their best try. It's terrible they're closing but I guess it's a sign of the economy right now in the Midwest. I still miss buying lumber from Denier Bros on Benson Rd if you remember that place.
Yep, but it was Shepherd Ln. Paul and Babe the Blue Ox were still on the side of the building last time I went by. (EB Mueller is on Benson, and thank goodness they are still around.)
ahh you're right.. I got confused but I knew they were by eachother...Too bad Mueller doesn't sell hardwood like Wood Werks in Columbus does...
I stopped by this morning. Jeld-Wen sold them off a couple of years ago, and the new owner has no interested in retail. No definite closing date, no plans to sell off the enterprise, just packing up their tent. They will have limited sales through "will-call" loading dock.Gonna leave a big hole.
"the new owner has no interested in retail"
Remind me to send the new owner a nice present during xmas... comes in a brown paper bag that's on fire and is often left by the front door after a doorbell ring.
Edited 2/20/2007 11:47 am ET by mvflaim
Apparently, the margin is there, the location can be improved or lowered cost, there are knowledgeable people looking for a new job. Free enterprise rocks.
If I had a miliion bucks I'd hire those guys and open a new lumber yard.. There's definitely demand for hardwood supplier in the Cincy area.
I got my "Attention Contractors" letter today. In part:"The store will close its doors as a retail outlet [on Friday, March 30, 2007] and re-open April 2nd as a contractor's will call department. This will allow customers who are in the business of woodworking to sort through lumber and plywood, in the contractor's will call department. Plywood, domestic and exotic hardwood will be sold whole sheets and whole boards only, there will be no exceptions to this policy. The pre-existing will call will function as normal." ---I have heard there are people working on business plans for a retail outlet not associated with and independent of Frank Paxton Lumber.
Edited 3/28/2007 7:26 pm ET by byhammerandhand
If you're a DIYer and want to open up a contractor's account to buy lumber will they allow you to do that or do you have to show a federal business idea number in order to set up an account?
mike
I just spoke with the store. The criteria will probably be having a valid vendor's license in your state of residence. Believe me, you do not want to do this in Ohio just to be able to buy lumber there. The state Department of Taxation will be on you for regular submission of sales taxes collected, even if you sold nothing.
I just heard the same thing this morning. I have yet to have it confirmed.
Frank Miller Lumber, Union City, IN delivers to Cincinnati on a weekly, or nearly weekly basis. The other mills IWilhelm, Mutterspaw, etc.) around the area both involve a little travel and from what I've been told have variable quality.
Actually I live a little south of Cinci, in KY, so the delivery thing probably won't be an option. Plus I always liked being able to look the wood over, check the grain, etc... Union City is too far to drive. There is a place in Enon, OH called The Hardwood Store, but that is a bit of a hike as well. C. R. Muterspaugh in the Xenia area looks promising for domestic woods. Not much else to choose from....
I'm in Kentucky as well, Louisville, actually, and I haven't found a local hardwood supplier yet. So I've subscribed to this thread so that if someone has a source in this area, I'm all ears.
Mike D
Check out this website. Only a few of these listings are hardwood-related, but a couple may be of interest to you, I don't know.http://www.kyagr.com/buyky/cats.aspx?group=10&category=79
It has been quite a few years since I was there but is Imbus Lumber still located in Madeira, Ohio?
Never heard of Imbus Lumber but Paxton's is located in Madeira.. maybe it's the old building.
If it is located on Dawson Road and has a railroad siding coming into the building, then that is the one! I grew up in Madeira and knew the Imbus family (Frank, Dorothy, and Maurie) when their business was in Cincinnati's west end - near Crosley Field.
that'll be the one....maybe the Imbus family wants to reopen their hardwood lumber yard to help out fellow Cincinnatians.....lol
Mvflaim, I doubt if the Imbus family I knew would be interested. They may not be alive - they were all older than I was then and I am now slightly over eighty. You might try a person named byhammerandhand at http://www.cincinnatiwoodworkingclub.org/ maybe they can help you find a good source of hardwoods. good luck, dull tool.
P.S. try me at [email protected]
Try the Willis Lumber Company, in Washington Court House Oh. Their prices are great and if you order 500bd.ft. they deliver free. We usually get two or three area woodworkers together and split the 500 bd.ft.
Do they carry exotic woods, or only domestics?Jeff
I do not know if they carry exotic woods, never ordered any. Only ordered poplar. cherry . ash, walnut sassafrass, maple, cherry, oaks and a few others. Here is their web site. Great outfit to work with. They replace any bad boards with no questions, and when I check the board feet ordered versus what I got , they usually are a little over, never short change you. Been dealing with them since 1972, and they deliver up here to Lake Erie.
http://www.willislumber.com/
I've just found out through email at work that there will be a new hardwood supply store opening up in Milford across from the old Furrows off of ST Rt 28.
A new woodworking store called Hardwood Lumber and More, Ltd. is in the making and will be located at Milford Station Shopping Center. The store will specialize in domestic and exotic wood, and will also carry power tools, hardware, tools, etc. They plan to open in the fall.
The store will be staffed and managed by former employees of the Frank Paxton Lumber Company’s Woodcrafters’ Store in Maderia, which closed in March 2007
Go to http://www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com for more information.
I had a feeling that was coming. Thanks for the link, I'll be up there to check them out.Jeff
I know.. it's the best news I've heard in a long long time... It's right by my house.. Incredible!!!!
: )
I found a great new source for domestics, at least local domestics, but I had not found a good source for exotics since Paxton closed up. I don't buy a lot of exotic wood, can't afford it. But I am sure all those high-end builders and contractors in the Cinci area will be glad to have these guys open shop. I'll keep my eye on the site, and make a road trip in the Silverado as soon as the doors open ;-)
Where's your new source for domestics? do you have to buy in bulk from a mill?
I buy from a mill, rough cut lumber. But I don't have to buy in bulk. I've gone down there and bought 10 bf and left. Nice wood, great prices. Eastern KY, about an hour drive from Lexington. E-mail me if you want more info, I have a price sheet around here somewhere.
Thanks for that, it's just down the road from Leesburg.
Jack
Where did you hear it was closing? I was by there about a month or so ago, and got some nice 6/4 qswo, and some red oak just a few weeks ago. They even let me go in and pick the boards I wanted, and I'm just a lowly DIY-er.
They have gotten rid of their tools and finishes, I was told, in an effort to cater more to the contractor types, but they still will "sell to anybody," according to the manager. What initiated the discussion was that I noticed their lumber prices have come down a bit, which I think is in line with trying to get and/or retain a mainly contractor customer base.
There are a couple other places on the east side of town I've been to as well. If anyone is interested, e-mail me, and I can give you that info.
Fred
Fred, if you have a source on the east side of town email me
[email protected]
thanks Mike
this discussion had me curious, so as I was driving through Madeira this morning, I stopped in. I was originally told that you had to have a vendor's license to buy after the reorg (or I suppose a non-profit or government organization). The word I got today was "We will sell to anyone, but no cuts, including plywood." They are liquidating hardware and finishing supplies at 30-50% off.Steve and Larry are busy lining up stuff for the new store that will include hardware, finishes, and tools. I think their business plan is to be a full-service supplier, including value-added advice.
Well that's good.. at least we'll have couple of places to choose from when the new hardwood lumber store opens up in Milford in the fall.
There is a sawmill/lumber yard in St. Leon off I74 but the mailing address is in Brookville 30 minutes from Florence and/or Cincinnati.
Brookville, IN 47012
(812) 576-3380
Thanks man. I have found a really good mill closer to my house in KY than that one. Great source for domestics. Just looking for those exotics now. Can't wait for the new place in Cinci to open.Peace.Jeff
Jeff,
Where did you find your Kentucky mill? Anywhere near Louisville?
Mike D
It is in Morehead, KY. Eastern KY, about an hour drive from Lexington. LMK if you want directions. Their prices are great.
Wilhelms is a really well stocked sawmill/yard. And I've found the selection to be quite good. But they really aren't set up for the hobbiest or the sale of a few boards here and there also, their prices are higher than Frank Miller in Union City. Sometimes it's kind of a hassle to get in there and out of there in a timely manner when all you needed was a couple of boards. They have wood stacked everywhere and often times to get a board of some particular species they have to move upto a dozen stacks of material to get at it. Everytime I go there I want to be able to pick through a pile and the yard man always suggests that I try to wiggle what I need out of a pile buried under four other stacks. neither safe or very efficient at getting a look at whats in the stack.
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