Highland Hardwoods was founded in the summer of 1986 for the primary purpose of supplying quality kiln dried Northern and Appalachian hardwood lumber to the New England woodworking trade. Based in Kingston, New Hampshire, the company started out as an office wholesale business supplying truckload quantities of lumber to some of the larger furniture companies, flooring manufacturers, moulding & picture frame companies and kitchen cabinet makers in the Northeast and Canada, as well as a variety of other secondary manufacturers who used hardwoods. In the summer of 1987 we moved our operation to a leased facility located on Route 125 in Brentwood, NH. This enabled us to establish a quality control program by by re-inspecting all of the lumber we purchased. It also made it possible to carry a moderate inventory of hardwoods on hand for quicker response to our customers' needs.

Distribution Yard Business

At that time we began to service some of the smaller "distribution yard" accounts in the area including several of the millwork houses, cabinet shops, custom woodworkers, builder/contractors, etc., who purchased less than full truckload quantities of hardwoods. We also purchased a truck and started making our own lumber deliveries. Due to a steady decline in the number of larger wholesale lumber customers remaining in our part of the country in the early 1990's, we felt a need to expand our "distribution yard " business. Accordingly over the next few years, we concentrated on building up our customer base, adding additional trucks to service our newly acquired accounts.

Retail Sales Division

Over time we also added a retail division of our company to cater to the growing number of custom woodworkers, builders, contractors, wood carvers, home hobbyists etc., who would visit our facility looking for only a few boards at a time. We built a series of retail lumber bins, designed as a "self-service" retail store. The response was overwhelming and our retail business continued to grow, especially as the economy improved in the mid 1990's. We decided to offer hardwood plywoods as well, and felt this went hand-in-hand with our existing hardwood lumber sales. We also introduced a line of strip and plank hardwood flooring to add further diversity to our product mix.

New Facility

By 1996 we had outgrown our existing location, and began to look for a parcel of land to build a new, modern facility better suited to handle the business we had developed over a ten year period of time... which was continuing to grow. We subsequently purchased a nine acre parcel of land on Route 125 in Brentwood, NH, approximately one mile north of our existing location, and broke ground in May of 1997. The construction was completed by February of 1998. The new operation consisted of a 60'x200' retail building; two 60'x175' lumber storage warehouses; a 80'x135' building to grade and tally lumber as well as load and unload trucks under cover; plus a main office building. The total square footage is estimated at 55,000 in all. The buildings are all steel construction with reinforced concrete floors. This gave us the capability of increasing our "on site" inventory of hardwoods to an estimated 1.5MM board feet. We have since paved the entire yard ensuring that all of our lumber and secondary wood products could be stored in a dry, dirt/dust free environment. Since then we built a new office for our traffic department and yard production staff, as well as a 10,000 sq ft heated building to store secondary products in winter months. This also provided relief from the cold for our lumber inspectors and handlers.

Our new lumber facility has given us the tools we desperately needed to improve our productivity and efficiency, and improve the working conditions for our employees. Most importantly, it has given us the means to expand upon and further improve the quality of service we are able to offer our valued customers. It is obvious to all of us at Highland Hardwoods that this very important move offers our company a new and much greater potential for the future. With sound management, renewed determination, and continued hard work and improvement on our part, we hope to continue to develop that potential to the benefit of everyone who walks through our doors.

Highland Hardwoods Today

Our newly constructed, modern lumber facility has given us the tools we desperately needed to improve the working conditions for all those employed at Highland Hardwoods and, most importantly, the means to expand upon and further improve the quality of service we are able to offer our valued customers. It is obvious to all of us at Highland Hardwoods that this very important move offers our company a new and much greater potential for the future. With sound management, renewed determination, and continued hard work and improvement on our part, we hope to continue to develop that potential to the benefit of everyone who walks through our doors.