ELYRIA TWP. — Bradco-Wickes Lumber will shut its doors for good at the end of the week, making it the second lumber company in Lorain County to go out of business this month.

Workers at the North Ridge Road store were given notice Tuesday, manager Justin Lucas said. About 10 employees will lose their jobs as a result.

STEVE MANHEIM/CHRONICLE

A manager at Bradco-Wickes Lumber on North Ridge Road in Elyria Township said the lumberyard will be closing at the end of the week.

Bradco-Wickes will remain open through Saturday — and maybe a couple of days longer — in an attempt to sell off its stock, he said.

Lucas said he couldn’t comment on what the business’ New Jersey-based parent company will do with the property when it’s no longer a lumberyard.

The lumber supplier has seen hard times in recent years, Elyria economic development director Don Brackenhoff said.

“Wickes looks like it’s been pretty stable until the last few years,” he said. “Years ago, the housing starts were up, and that meant people were buying lumber. Now the housing market is down.”

Bradco-Wickes isn’t alone in its troubles. Del Lumber Co. announced last Wednesday that its Griswold Road lumberyard will close March 28 after 45 years of business in Elyria. About 30 workers will lose their jobs.

Del Lumber owner Doug Charles said the sub-prime lending crisis killed the housing market, which in turn devastated sales of building materials.
Brackenhoff said that when lumber companies suffer, it signals dark times for the economy.

“We’re waiting to see what will happen with the economy in this country. This is a wide-ranging problem in our region,” he said. “I would imagine that sales at big-boxes like Lowe’s and Home Depot are down, too.”

Eric Ziscak, manager at Carter Lumber in Oberlin, said customers aren’t coming in to buy do-it-yourself materials much these days, and builders have all but stopped constructing new houses as the market is saturated with homes for sale. But none of the Carter stores in the state are slated to be closed, Ziscak said.

“It’s pretty slow,” he said. “People are scared and hanging on to their money. They hear things are bad and they stop spending.”

Contact Jason Hawk at 329-7148 or jhawk@chroniclet.com.

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.
You must be registered and logged in to post a comment. If you aren't already registered, click here.
If you are registered, click here to log in.
Need help? Email Us.