Fisher Boards Up

By Gene Williams
Staff Writer

February 3 -- A burly carpenter set foot inside the Fisher Lumber store early this week, and what he saw made his jaw drop. "Wow!" was all he could say.

Many of the racks and shelves, once filled with hammers, saw blades, fasteners and adhesives, were half empty, never to be restocked again. Large plastic signs advertised the remaining items at 30% to 50% off. Other displays had been taken out altogether, leaving large empty spaces on the 18,000-square-foot floor.

For 82 years Fisher Lumber had supplied much of the material that built Santa Monica. Now it was going out of business. The company says it will close its doors sometime next week. Its sister store in Malibu will soon follow.

"It's very sad because we were a really profitable company, and the parent company decided we were no longer a core (of their business),"said Marilyn Jacobson, a store manager who has been with Fisher for 23 years.

"Some of the guys who shop here today, their fathers and grandfathers were contractors who shopped here," she said. "It's very sad for the community and for us because we are all out of a job."

"It's been hell, even just thinking about the end," said Bill Hartshorn, who has worked at Fisher for 21 years.

Fisher Lumber employee Bill Hartshorn. (Photos by Lookout Staff)

"I've already been through two closures with other retailers in the past," he said. "It's hard because you got all the benefits and everything that goes with it, and now you have to start all over again."

The fate of the local business was sealed two years ago, shortly after the parent company, Weyerhaeuser Co. -- a giant wood products conglomerate headquartered in Federal Way, Washington -- announced it was getting out of retail sales.

According to Fisher's president, Erik Jorgensborg, several lumber companies were interested in taking over the business at 14th Street and Colorado Avenue. But they were outbid by developer KC Riverstone, which was only interested in the real-estate. The developer closed the deal with Weyerhaeuser in early 2003.

Then, last fall, the City of Santa Monica, which had long been eyeing the three-acre parcel, purchased the land from Riverstone for $18.5 million. The City will likely use the acquisition to expand its adjacent Memorial Park.

For the last two years Fisher has continued doing business under a lease that expires at the end of March. The lease will not be renewed.

"It's like a family parting ways," said Jorgensborg, who began working for the company as a yard employee 30 years ago. "Every time someone leaves here, you see them walking around the yard, hugging everybody."

Customer loads sheets of plywood from Fisher Lumber yard.

And what about the customers? "They don't know where they're going to go," Jorgensborg replied. "The choices they have, they don't want to use."

Ninety-one-year-old Joe Eorio, a retired general contractor and a loyal customer of Fisher for more than 50 years, said, "The closing part really breaks my heart because here's a pretty good sized town and there's no lumber yard."

"I'm absolutely devastated," said John Tennant, Sr., a Santa Monica builder who has been a customer since 1960. "It's a local business that should not be closed."

"It's a disaster not having them in Santa Monica anymore," said James Barry, whose construction company has relied on Fisher for the last 12 years.

Gary Ricard, a second generation Santa Monica builder, remarked, "I think everybody's going to say the same thing."

Fisher's long history can be seen in photographs that hang on the walls of its upstairs offices, photographs of horse drawn carts and early automobiles in a lumber yard with train tracks running through it.

John W. Fisher became president of Alley Lumber sometime around 1924. The company adopted the Fisher name in the 1930s and remained in local hands for decades after the old man retired in the 1940s.

Weyerhaeuser bought the business in 1980 and purchased the land from Southern Pacific Railroad in 1995, during an era when large corporate mega-stores were squeezing out small retailers.

Then, in 2002, in a business atmosphere of eat-or-be-eaten, Weyerhaeuser acquired Portland Oregon based Willamette Industries through a hostile takeover that cost the company $8 billion.

Saddled with more than $14 billion of debt, Weyerhaeuser has since been closing plants and shedding assets world wide.

Fisher Lumber was one of those assets put on the chopping block.

At least one local business seems ready to step in and fill the void.

John Bourget said his building supply company has already hired four of Fisher's staff, and is working to get the necessary permits from the City to expand Bourget Brothers' line of lumber. But, according to Bourget, it's not a done deal yet.

Recently, Weyerheauser posted earnings of $1.3 billion on sales of $22.7 billion for 2004.

"Our strong performance for the year demonstrates that our focus on customers, efficiency and financial management has created a competitive Weyerhaeuser that can deliver strong shareholder returns," stated Weyerhaeuser CEO Steven R. Rogel in a January press release.

When asked about Fisher's financial performance, Weyerhaeuser spokesperson Kate Tate responded, "I would have to say that we don't comment on the profitability of any of our businesses."

One of Fisher's large lumber sheds is now empty.

Meanwhile, Fisher's 50 some employees in Santa Monica and another 20 at the Malibu yard will receive 60 days severance pay and eight months continued benefits as they look for new jobs.

"The show will go on," said a Fisher employee who withheld his name. "This is happening all over the country."