'It's the People Who Make the Business'
Eastford Building Supply Continues Legacy of Quality Service
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EASTFORD — “I never thought that I would own a lumber yard in my lifetime,” Ray Bergeron said. But then he did — and has been the owner of Eastford Building Supply for the past 21 years.
Eastford Building Supply (EBS) was founded by Ed Trepal in 1955. Trepal was a contractor who decided to start selling products, and he built a small building at the present location. That original building — which is now at the center of the store — has since been added onto eight times. In 1960, EBS was bought by Jack and Ned Hopkins, two brothers originally from Providence, R.I. The boys’ dad owned a lumber yard in Providence, which drew them into the business. One ended up moving to Eastford, and the other to Woodstock. They built a big base of custom builders, and focused on “quality product above and beyond their competition,” Bergeron said.
Bergeron is also from Rhode Island, and still lives there. Early on, he managed two Grossman’s building products stores there, then worked for a few wholesale lumber distributors, which led him to call on EBS. In 2003, Jack Hopkins apparently recognized Bergeron’s potential and lured him away from the distributor to become store manager at EBS.
Fast forward to 2005, when Bergeron bought the business. He has kept the focus on quality products, which he believes leads to a loyal customer base. EBS now has 400 to 500 active customers and delivers all over the area, including as far away as Cape Cod. Ninety percent of sales are to contractors. Eventually, Ray’s son Eric joined the business and now runs the hardware department.
“What makes us so good — besides quality products — are the people,” said Ray. “Knowledgeable people who know how to handle customers.”
Like most lumber yards, he said, they don’t have outside salespeople. But they will go to a building site and take measurements for quoting things like siding and roofing. EBS also has outside resources for truss design and floor systems. In sum, EBS aims to have all necessary materials and key services on hand for building homes.
Expanding into New Areas
In 2011, EBS opened its kitchen design center. Two years later, Chuck Bosquet joined the company as its kitchen designer. A second designer has since joined him. About half of the kitchens are sold to retail customers.
Bergeron is well aware of the surging prices of building materials over the past year — especially for cedar products — an increase he believes is partly due to the 15-percent tariff on the import of Canadian wood products. A lot of what he sells is imported, so high tariffs on aluminum and other products increase his costs. Higher-priced oil affects products like paints, stains, and PVC trim. Most of the price increases, however, have been market-driven.
“Companies get what they can get. They know what they can put on it. A lot of it is a greed thing,” he said.
It is a mystery to him that with so much competition in products like composite decking, prices continue to rise. PVC board prices keep going up because, although there seem to be many “manufacturers,” there are really only two companies who actually make the product. And consolidation of lumber yards and suppliers to lumber yards — primarily by private equity firms — is reducing both competition and salespeople’s product knowledge, he says.
Despite the ups and downs in the economy, when asked what keeps him up at night, Ray answered: “Actually, nothing.” That’s what happens when you do things right.
EBS continues to thrive, with 19 full-time employees — six of whom live in Eastford. He uses them year-round. During slow days or the off-season, employees perform maintenance and other work on-site.
“It’s the people who make the business,” he said.
Courtesy photos
