Dick's Lumber, Vancouver, wins Outstanding Retailer Award

Vancouver-based Dick’s Lumber has been named this year’s “Outstanding Contractor-Specialist Retailer” by the trade magazine Hardware Merchandising.

“For 48 years, contractors shopping at Dick’s Lumber have been treated as more than just customers. They’ve been treated like partners,” the magazine said.

“To keep these partnerships growing, the store has built a solid reputation for supplying the right products at the right time to ensure maximum cost savings and efficiencies. It’s a style of thinking that has helped Dick’s grow from a family business into the industry leader in the building material supply business with seven locations servicing the Greater Vancouver Area.”

Dick’s Lumber was founded by Dick and Delma Alexander in 1964.  After 43 successful years in the building supply business, the Alexander family handed over the reins of their company to RONA in 2007.

Since that time, RONA and the team at Dick’s Lumber have implemented programs and technological changes to meet the challenges of today and to prepare for a prosperous future.

Dick’s Lumber Gilmore features 18,000 square feet of retail space, a storage area measuring 76,749 square feet, and an 11.5 acre lumberyard. With a 92 percent contractor clientele, the store’s product mix includes anything and everything pros need to get their jobs done.

In addition, contractors also benefit from an array of specialty construction services offered through Dick’s subsidiaries—Dick’s Truss, Dick’s Door Store and Engineered Wood Product Design.

And no matter what it is, Dick’s Gilmore can get it there with a fleet of delivery trucks that ranges from one-ton flat decks to 70-foot crane trucks.

And if a client’s trucking requirements are beyond the capabilities of its fleet, the shipping department can arrange any service needed.

But, for Dick’s, business is more than just pushing boards. Its success lies with its people, who dedicate their time to learning about new products, regulations and building techniques so they can be a resource, as well as a supplier, to contractors.

Because knowledge is key, mentoring is an essential part of the staff training process at Dick’s. Staff champions assist new team members in learning the “Dick’s Lumber Way” of doing business.

Extensive training, competitive compensation packages, flex extended health programs, pension plans and generous incentive programs are just a few of the ways that Dick’s invests in its employees—for the long term.

In return, the store’s staff works hard every day to provide the best possible service to contractors.

The store’s team includes contract sales, customer service sales, finishing sales, support staff, shipping staff, and in-house engineered wood design staff, truss design staff and door shop staff.

Dick’s staff, specifically its key account management team, is its greatest marketing asset. They drive through the store’s trading area, with the Dick’s logo on their vehicles, wearing Dick’s gear at job-sites and industry events, and selling Dick’s Lumber with their professionalism, service and knowledge.

Working together, these employees ensure that Dick’s Lumber lives up to its motto of being a “One Stop Shop” for contractors.