Marling Lumber Co. may have a long history as a family business, but it's by no means a mom-and-pop operation biding its time until it wilts under the pressure of big-box home improvement retailers.
In fact, the company soon will branch out from its downtown location into the neighborhood of Home Depot and the soon-to-be-built Menards on Janesville's northeast side.
Later this fall, Marling will open HomeWorks in the former location of Wolohan and then Stock Lumber on Highway 14. Stock closed earlier this year, and Marling bought the 15,000 square feet of covered space that sits on nearly 7 acres of land.
"We're evolving within the specialty niche," said Kurt Marling, general manager of the family's Janesville operations. "The big-box stores appeal to a certain market, but when someone wants more product variety and design capabilities, they look to us."
A worker restocks bins in the yard at Marling Lumber Co. on South River Street in Janesville.
Later this year, Marling will consolidate several facets of its business in a recently acquired property on Highway 14 that was the former home of Stock Lumber. Marling's lumber operation isn't expected to move to the new site for several years.
Dan Lassiter/Gazette Staff
Marling said customers can look to HomeWorks as a consolidation of the company's products, including windows, doors, siding, decking, roofing, cabinetry and millwork.
Many of those are now scattered around Marling's store and yard on South River Street and at Marling Distributors on Barberry Avenue. HomeWorks will open for a few months in the Janesville Mall before moving to it final destination on Highway 14.
The Barberry store will soon close, and Marling said the lumberyard operations downtown could move to the Highway 14 site in four or five years.
"The HomeWorks in Janesville will be patterned after our HomeWorks store in Madison," Marling said. "It will be centralized and be a one-stop shop for customers."
HomeWorks, he said, will be a shopping mall for builders and remodelers that's all under one roof.
Dave Konowal, left, a custom remodeler from Beloit, is serviced by Marling's Bob Hanson.
Dan Lassiter/Gazette Staff
Marling plans to make the new location a one-stop shop for area contractors, who will have round-the-clock access to the facility to bring in their customers. Seminars, presentations and a variety of promotions are on the drawing board.
"It's a totally new concept," Marling said. "We hope to partner with other area companies and allow space for family businesses that offer building-related products and services."
Examples, he said, will include CB&K Supply, State Electric Supply, McCann Floors and Shumway Appliance. Together the companies have nearly 370 years of professional experience
Each would have its own kiosk in the facility.
Kurt Marling
"The big key will be the 24/7 access for builders to bring in customers," he said. "It will be a great combination of expertise.
"These would all be Janesville-area companies that have continually given back to the community."
And they're also companies that are active in a variety of industry events, said Tom Bowman, sales manager for Marling Distributors.
"We hear it over and over again: Home Depot lacks in service," Bowman said. "We're just more educated and more involved in the community."
Marling said the company markets itself to professional contractors and the semi-pro do-it-yourselfers who want over-the-top service.
Marling got its start in Janesville in 1926 when Walter A. Marling, Kurt's great-grandfather, bought the Brittingham and Hixon Lumber Co. on South River Street.
Twenty-two years earlier, Walter bought into the Miller-Parkinson Lumber Co. in Madison. Eventually, he would own the entire Madison operation, plus others in Wisconsin Rapids and Janesville. Today, the Wisconsin Rapids store has been replaced by a distribution center in Green Bay to round out the family corporation, which had sales approaching $40 million in 2005.
On a corporate basis, Marling employs 155 people, with 50 to 60 of them in Janesville.
"There used to be five or six lumberyards in Janesville," said Kurt Marling, a representative of the fourth of five generations involved in the family business. "We're the only one that survived, and I think that's because of our commitment to offering professional solutions.
"We've got a proven track record and a commitment to quality and service. Fifth-generation family companies are few and far between, and there's a reason for that."
History of Marling Lumber Co. 1904: Walter A. Marling bought a share in the Miller-Parkinson Lumber Co. in Madison.
1907: Marling bought three small lumberyards in Wisconsin Rapids.
1920: Marling bought out the remainder of the Madison company, formed Marling Lumber Co. and moved the company to East Washington Avenue.
1926: Marling bought the Brittingham and Hixon Lumber Co. in Janesville.
1929: The company was incorporated.
1971: Fire destroyed the Marling operation in Janesville. It was rebuilt and reopened in 1972.
1975: The Wisconsin Rapids operation closed to make way for a mall complex.
1975: Marling Kitchen Distributors was formed to sell Merillat cabinets.
1980s: Marling opened a cabinet distribution center in Green Bay.
