Lumber yard caters to contractors

By Amie Steffen | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, February 26, 2007

Right when you walk in the door of Grant County Lumber in Elbow Lake, you notice Emma. The familiar blonde greets you warmly, doesn’t pressure you into buying anything and works all day without pay.

Unless you count dog treats and pats on the head as payment.

Emma, the golden retriever, is the mainstay of Grant County Lumber, Manager Dan Denardo admitted.

“A lot of people come in for her,” he said.

But the lumberyard and hardware store manages to attract and retain customers on their own, too.

Denardo said the business isn’t generally a do-it-yourself store, like Home Depot and Menard’s, but more of a contractor yard. They won’t turn customers away, however, and have started branching out to that crowd, offering installation on windows and doors as well.

“It’s getting to be a big part of everybody’s business,” Denardo said. “That’s going to be the future.”

Lumber is their biggest seller, he said, what with people building more and more lake houses in both Grant and Otter Tail counties.

“We get a lot of people from the Twin Cities moving up here,” he said.

But insulated concrete forms are getting to be popular for building as well, Denardo said. They’re stacked, filled with concrete and are quieter and warmer to live in, he claimed.

“People build them like Legos,” he said, noting they were also “pretty much tornado-proof.”

Denardo began working construction in the Twin Cities himself, building homes with his neighbor. Then, at 22, he was offered a job at Grant County Lumber from owner Gene Wenstrom.

“Gene asked me, and I couldn’t turn it down,” Denardo said. “I learned on the job.”

That was 16 years ago. Now, Denardo does all the buying for the lumberyard, sets up advertising and bids construction projects, which he said is the most challenging part of his job.

“You have to watch the market,” he said. “It might take three, six, nine months to build, and it’s a challenge to lock in prices.”

But the best part, he said, is managing his six full-time employees — many of whom have worked there for six or seven years. He attributed it to the employer-employee relationships he tries to cultivate.

“That’s key to running a business,” Denardo said.

As he walks around his yard, it’s obvious he loves what he does.

“I’ll probably always be in this line of work,” he said.