On-site milling and sorting capabilities allow Weston Premium Woods Inc. to produce roughly 25,000 board feet per day on a Newman Whitney 284S Planer and grading chain at the Brampton, Ontario, location.
Brampton, Ontario—Weston Premium Woods Inc. has successfully built their business based on three significant principles, premium quality, outstanding customer service and a diverse selection, according to Nico Poulos, U.S. hardwood sales manager.
Weston Premium Woods Inc. is a member of the Weston Forest Group of Companies. It is a family owned and operated Canadian company that has been distributing domestic and imported hardwoods, softwoods and panel product since 1953. Weston Premium Woods operates out of a state-of-the-art 105,000-square-foot climate-controlled facility in Brampton, Ontario, a northern suburb of Toronto, with 50 employees.
“Weston Premium Woods is an innovative and diverse supplier of high-quality hardwoods, softwoods and panel products in North America,” said Poulos. “With an extensive supply base and one of the most experienced work forces in the industry, we’ve been creating customized wood solutions for our business partners for more than 50 years. We offer both technical and market-related industry expertise in building long-lasting value-added partnerships with
Weston Premium Woods has a fleet of five trucks that are owned and operated by the company, making daily deliveries within a 300-mile radius.
our customers and suppliers. With Weston Premium Woods as your partner, you can focus on what you do best—growing your business.”
Weston Premium Woods was established in 2005, but the company’s roots reach much further. The company started out as Weston Road Lumber in 1953, and was located in Toronto. The firm served the building product needs of local contractors and builders. Throughout the years, the company has expanded dramatically, and in 2005 the Weston Forest Group was created as a family of separate but related companies. Each division became an independent limited company with its own location in order to better meet their customers’ needs. Today, the Weston Forest Group generates sales of more than $200 million, servicing customers in more than 40 countries.
Weston Premium Woods’ inventory includes domestic hardwood lumber in Beech, Aspen, Basswood, Cherry, Hard and Soft Maple, Hickory, White, Yellow and Red Birch, Northern Red Oak, Walnut, White Ash and White Oak, as well as Eastern White Pine, Red Pine and Western Red Cedar in softwood products. The imported inventory includes Genuine and African Mahogany, Andiroba, Jatoba, Banak and European Beech. Weston also inventories a full line of panel goods including hardwood plywood, melamine, MDF, particleboard and dozens of other panel items.
“Our diverse inventory of hardwoods, softwoods and panel items is what sets us apart,” stated Poulos. “We have a purchasing group who is constantly sourcing new products globally, and this results in an extensive range of lumber and sheet goods that allow our customers to do one-stop shopping.”
Weston Premium Woods’ 105,000-square-foot head office is located on eight acres just 25 minutes from downtown Toronto and minutes from all major roadways.
Poulos added that the firm is also starting to sell components to further accommodate its customers. “It is still in the growth stage, but in this changing market, we have to do things differently to properly service our customers,” he explained. “So, we are starting to offer stair parts—hand rails and stair treads—as well as kitchen cabinet and other dimension parts. We are ever-changing what we do every day to accommodate our customers.”
With this diversity, Weston Premium Woods has the ability to easily ship mixed orders. “I had a customer call me up on a Friday at 4 p.m. and ask for 6,000 board feet of Hard Maple, 3,000 feet of Soft Maple and 2,000 feet of Birch, but he needed it Monday,” said Poulos. “He’s going to get it on the Monday. There are not a lot of companies who can do that.”
The Brampton site is located centrally to all the major arteries of transportation in Toronto, and is only an hour from the U.S. border.
“This location allows us to ship to a customer base anywhere within a 500-kilometer radius on our own trucks,” explained Poulos. “Out of this facility, we ship throughout all 50 of the United States and anywhere in Ca
Kiln-dried FAS1Face #1 White Hard Maple ready to be loaded onto a container for shipment.
nada outside of the 500-kilometer radius via common carrier. Our global supply chain and dedication to service allows us to keep you on the leading edge of the constantly changing market place. Out commitment to these principles brings value to your businesses that set us apart from our other suppliers.
“The quality of our products is very important at Weston Premium Woods,” according to Poulos. “It’s what keeps the customer coming back for more.”
Being located close to the supply allows the company the ability to constantly monitor the quality of its products. “I think northern hardwoods are the best, and we are able to have them at our fingertips at any given time,” commented Poulos.
Weston Premium Woods has a custom drying facility in Montreal, Quebec, called Neos Forest Products, a member of the Weston Forest Group, and other custom drying facilities in Ontario. In addition, Weston Premium Woods offers on-site milling on a Newman Whitney 284S planer and a grading chain. “We needed to make this commitment to ensure that we can control the quality of the product from the early stages of sawing to the product that ends up in the customers’ hands,” explained Poulos.
The firm’s 5 million board feet of kiln-dried inventory allows Weston Premium Woods to mix loads with several different species, grades and thicknesses.
“Another part of providing quality products is that all of our lumber and sheet goods are loaded and unloaded indoors in our warehouse facility here,” said Poulos. “So, whether it’s at a loading dock or at ground level, the product that we are selling is never exposed to the elements. Everything is stored in a climate-controlled environment.”
The third part of Weston Premium Woods’ success is service. “We understand that in these challenging times offering exceptional service is not a luxury, it’s a necessity,” commented Poulos. “We have one of the most experienced sales and administrative teams, with people who have been at the company for more than 25 years. At Weston Premium Woods, our mandate is to continually strive to offer our partners the best service in the industry.
“We are a big company with small company values,” he continued. “We spend extra time to educate and train our sales people, which allows them to become specialized product consultants to our customers. We are also prepared to do whatever it takes. If we need to stay the night and mill up a load for someone who needs us to put it on a truck and ship it to California the next day, we are going to do that.
“Our philosophy is very simple,” Poulos said in closing. “Provide the best products, at a fair price,
Complementing the company’s Hardwood business is a diverse sheet good inventory from Melamine, Particleboard, MDF, hardwood Plywood and dozens of other Panel related products.
and combine that with unparalleled service.”
Weston Premium Woods is a member of the National Hardwood Lumber Assoc., of which Rick Ekstein sits on the board of directors; the Canadian Lumbermen’s Assoc.; the Wholesale Lumber Dealer’s Assoc.; the Indiana Lumbermen’s Assoc.; and the North American Wholesale Lumbermen’s Assoc.
Weston Premium Woods can load and unload up to seven tractor trailers indoors simultaneously under a climate-controlled environment, allowing quick turn around for customers and suppliers.
