Based in Chino, Calif., Atlas Lumber Co. has nine full-time salespeople and 50 staff members who serve a geographically broad customer base throughout the western United States with high concentration on Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Mexico, as well as California.
Chino, Calif.—Quality comes first at Atlas Lumber Co., where associates are constantly seeking opportunities to add value.
“Customer expectations are much higher than they were three to five years ago,” said Stephen Ondich, vice president of sales and marketing for the Chino, California-based company. “The Hardwood marketplace is extremely competitive. When we consult potential clients, they want to know exactly how we can help them. They aren't interested in slightly lower quotes on materials they're already buying. Anyone can do that and it's rarely enough of a savings to justify changing suppliers.”
Atlas Lumber has been operating on a “quality first” philosophy since the company was founded in 1944. Headed up by Randy Porter, president; Chris Porter, chief financial officer; and Ondich, the 50-employee company makes and delivers custom parts and lumber to many
Randy Porter is the chief executive officer of 63-year-old Atlas Lumber Co.
different industries.
Situated on five acres of land, Atlas Lumber has a 50,000-square-foot plant and stocks about 2 million board feet of Hardwood and softwood lumber, as well as sheet goods. Key species that the company carries include Red and White Oak, Hard and Soft Maple, Cherry, Poplar and Walnut. Most of the company’s domestic Hardwood lumber comes from sawmills in Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Northern-Appalachian regions, as well as Canada. The firm imports more than 500,000 board feet of various species from countries in South and Central America, Africa, Europe and Asia, including Mahogany, Beech, Spanish Cedar, Meranti, Sapele, Teak and Jatoba.
In keeping with their mission to provide top quality products, Ondich said Atlas Lumber’s buyers pay close attention to the quality of the wood that they purchase.
“Our clients ask a lot from us and we ask the same of our suppliers. We have many long-term relationships with quality vendors. The new suppliers that we've allowed in have opened the door by offering us something special or unique,” said Ondich.
Upon arrival at Atlas Lumber, incoming lumber from those sawmills is first inspected to assure the lumber meets the appropriate standard as
Chris Porter is chief financial officer at Atlas Lumber Co.
required. Orders are then pulled to meet the specific needs of each order, and stock is sent to each milling station required to fulfill the customer’s order. The lumber and/or component is then inspected for accuracy during the milling process, and the custom part is packaged and sent to the company’s fleet of trucks for delivery.
Founded by the current owners’ grandfather 63 years ago, Atlas Lumber got its start in Los Angeles, Calif., as a distribution yard for Hardwood lumber grown in the Eastern United States. The company’s strength lay in its ability to forge strong relationships with the highest quality Hardwood lumber mills, and then to service lumber users in the West.
After graduating from college, Randy Porter joined the company in 1980, and later purchased it from his grandfather. Armed with a background in corporate finance, Chris Porter joined his brother in running the family business. As the company grew, new products such as high-grade softwoods from the Northwest, imported Hardwoods and panel products, and new services like onsite finish milling and delivery, were added. In 1987, Atlas Lumber relocated to Chino in order to better serve the expanding southern California market.
Steve Ondich, vice president of sales and marketing at Atlas, commented, “Customer expectations are much higher than they were three to five years ago. The Hardwood marketplace is extremely competitive.”
Recognizing an evolving market, Atlas Lumber diversified in 1996 by adding custom part manufacturing capabilities and, later, a milling facility.
“As the business grew, it evolved to address a changing marketplace,” Ondich said. “Today, we're capable of serving clients with raw materials, moulding blanks, glued panels, mouldings, or component parts. We offer a variety of services that are attractive to companies that do high-end work but don't have the capital or skilled labor to manage all of their operations in-house.”
For Atlas Lumber, the additional revenue stream couldn’t have come at a better time. Having watched its domestic base of furniture manufacturing-clients dwindle over the last 10 years, the company has had to find new ways to generate business.
“In the mid-‘90s, furniture production was driving a lot of our business,” recalled Ondich. “We were able to move large volumes of material relatively easy simply by having stock on hand. We still service that industry but most of our furniture clients now have smaller operations and ask us to deliver a value added product instead of just raw materials.”
Being able to quickly customize such orders to meet client demands—particularly when it comes to component parts—has helped Atlas Lumber fulfill a need that its customers previously had to handle on their own.
Situated on five acres of land, Atlas Lumber has a 50,000-square-foot plant and stocks about 2 million board feet of Hardwood and softwood lumber. The company also has an enclosed warehouse.
With nine full-time salespeople who operate from its Chino location, Atlas Lumber serves a geographically broad customer base throughout the western United States, but is concentrated mostly in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Mexico. Key product areas include: shutters, flooring, cabinets, windows, doors, architectural mouldings and stair parts.
To address new potential market, Atlas Lumber opened a contractor sales center in 2005, and in doing so created a way to interact more personally with its customers. Featuring a full line of mouldings, which customers can touch and feel before ordering, the center caters to small shops and do-it-yourselfers who prefer to make their purchases in person, rather than over the phone.
A longtime member of the National Hardwood Lumber Association, located in Memphis, Tenn., Atlas is in the process of becoming FSC certified to address the growing demand for green materials. Realizing that success is a moving target, Atlas has evolved to meet changing client expectations. ”Over the next 12 months,” Ondich said, ”progressive distributors like Atlas will continue to pick off business from competitors who ignore their customers' issues. Now is an especially bad time to be complacent.”
For more information about Atlas Lumber Co., call 909-591-9442 or go to www.atlaslumber.com.
Founded by the current owners’ grandfather, Atlas Lumber got its start in Los Angeles, Calif., as a distribution yard for Hardwood lumber.
The moulder operation at Atlas Lumber Co. includes state-of-the-art machinery and equipment.
Sheet goods are included in the vast inventory housed at Atlas Lumber Co. Key species offered by the firm include Red and White Oak, Hard and Soft Maple, Cherry, Poplar and Walnut.
