Lumber, mud and Lions

RONNIE SPRADLIN Ronnie Spradlin, owner and operator of East Texas Lumber, talked to Lions about the business and how it has progressed over the years.

Spradlin said he took over the business from his father in 1983 when Sonny Spradlin retired. "I had worked in the lumber business all my life, even as a kid," said Ronnie.

Spradlin said the business is now mostly done in two parts: "we sell lumber and drilling mud. The drilling mud is a combination of chemicals put down the shaft of a drilling rig and, depending on what type of soil or rock your drilling through, keeps the pipe from collapsing and takes the debris out of the hole," said Spradlin.

Spradlin said mud jobs can range from $10,000 to over a million dollars, depending on the size of the job.

Spradlin said most of the mud used in this area is for gas wells and more of it is used in the Palestine area.

Spradlin said most of the lumber East Texas Lumber sells is outside of Kilgore and mostly now to contractors. "It changed in 1991 from do-it-yourself buyers to mostly contractors," said Spradlin. "Most contractors don't have time to wait in line at Lowe's and want to be put first."

Spradlin said East Texas Lumber even sells lumber to Lowe's from time to time "because they don't stock the variety we do."

Spradlin said the lumber business is a lot like owning a grocery store - there is not a lot of profit in each item, you just have to sell a lot of each. "There is only about a six and a half percent mark up in lumber," said Spradlin.

Spradlin said most of the homes being built that East Texas Lumber is selling to are over $200,000. "In the last twelve months more wood has been coming from Canada because it is in demand from the contractors," said Spradlin.

Spradlin said the business has two locations, the Palestine store which has approximately nine to ten employees, and the Kilgore location which has 23 to 25 employees.