The WoodSpot- Charlotte (advice welcomed)

[RCCLT]

All,

We are very close to launching a new business that will be focused on supplying high quality hardwoods, plywoods and related woodcraft products (glues, sandpaper, blades, finishes) in our local store/warehouse in Charlotte. We are centering our focus on wood enthusiasts and hobbyists like ourselves (retail customer), who currently struggle to find a reliable, quality source in Charlotte at fair prices. We will also serve local business customers who also have similar struggles.

On-site Milling services to include planning, jointing, ripping, cutting to length will be available.

Would welcome feedback from this community on what we should be carrying as we work to finalize our finial inventory listing.

What type hardwoods and sizes?

We are planning to carry dimensional Walnut, white oak, red oak, Cherry, hard maple, curly maple, ash, poplar, cedar, hickory, yellow pine, sapele, purpleheart, S.A. mahogany

Slabs in walnut, White oak, maple, Cherry

What quality and thickness?
We plan to carry F1F and Better. Typical thicknesses of 4/4, 8/4. Is there a strong preference for 5/4 , 6/4, or 12/4 for dimensional lumber?

All lumber we plan to have s2s but open to your reactions to that?

Any preferences on average board lengths?

What type plywoods, sizes, grades? Majority is planned to be A1 and B2. Interested in everyone’s thoughts.

If we had a 43-52 wide-belt sander available as a service- would there be interest in that for table top flattening, etc.

Very appreciative of any/all feedback, guidance and obviously your support when we open!

 

[Jclrk]

All,

We are very close to launching a new business that will be focused on supplying high quality hardwoods, plywoods and related woodcraft products (glues, sandpaper, blades, finishes) in our local store/warehouse in Charlotte. We are centering our focus on wood enthusiasts and hobbyists like ourselves (retail customer), who currently struggle to find a reliable, quality source in Charlotte at fair prices. We will also serve local business customers who also have similar struggles.

On-site Milling services to include planning, jointing, ripping, cutting to length will be available.

Would welcome feedback from this community on what we should be carrying as we work to finalize our finial inventory listing.

What type hardwoods and sizes?

We are planning to carry dimensional Walnut, white oak, red oak, Cherry, hard maple, curly maple, ash, poplar, cedar, hickory, yellow pine, sapele, purpleheart, S.A. mahogany

Slabs in walnut, White oak, maple, Cherry

What quality and thickness?
We plan to carry F1F and Better. Typical thicknesses of 4/4, 8/4. Is there a strong preference for 5/4 , 6/4, or 12/4 for dimensional lumber?

All lumber we plan to have s2s but open to your reactions to that?

Any preferences on average board lengths?

What type plywoods, sizes, grades? Majority is planned to be A1 and B2. Interested in everyone’s thoughts.

If we had a 43-52 wide-belt sander available as a service- would there be interest in that for table top flattening, etc.

Very appreciative of any/all feedback, guidance and obviously your support when we open!

Personally Im a hobbiest mainly intarsia scroll work and boxes I don't oi furniture so for me cut offs are best classes would also be a plus. My 2 cents worth

 

[Roger45]

i would like to see more quality plywood options in the area. The wide belt sander would be interesting

 

[mark2]

where in CLT are you going to be? - Interested in a local source of materials

 

[gamiller3rd]

Sounds like you are on the right track. What is your timeframe and what part of the Charlotte area will you set up shop?

 

[AllanD]

I would be like to be kept updated. We definitely need such a source in the Charlotte area. I used to go to Wurth but they stopped selling to the public. I had a business account there twice but if I didn't go in every month it would get cancelled and would have to keep redoing it. Before that occasionally and after that I would drive to Mayodan or Gibsonville. I now use Kluttz Lumber in Concord and have been pleased.
To be blunt, prices would need to be comparable to Wall Lumber or The Hardwood Store or I would continue to drive up there.

 

[chris_goris]

Not a huge fan of S2S, especially 4/4 stock. It can be a struggle to joint and replane to a decent thickness.

 

[RCCLT]

Personally Im a hobbiest mainly intarsia scroll work and boxes I don't oi furniture so for me cut offs are best classes would also be a plus. My 2 cents worth

Thanks for the feedback. We will be keeping track of cutoffs and offering a cutoff bin of sorts. Classes are definitely in the works. We've had some preliminary conversations with General Finishes about them coming down to Charlotte to offer finishing classes. From there we also hope to get into other types...lumber prep/milling...cutting boards, etc.

Thanks

 

[RCCLT]

where in CLT are you going to be? - Interested in a local source of materials

We have a few locations up in the air at the moment. We hope to be in a central location for easy access from all directions, but not too close to the city to have to deal with the hustle. Looking for easy access to the major highways. We'll certainly keep everyone posted once we lock a location down. We've bounced around some places by Camp North End also some out by OMB.

 

[RCCLT]

I would be like to be kept updated. We definitely need such a source in the Charlotte area. I used to go to Wurth but they stopped selling to the public. I had a business account there twice but if I didn't go in every month it would get cancelled and would have to keep redoing it. Before that occasionally and after that I would drive to Mayodan or Gibsonville. I now use Kluttz Lumber in Concord and have been pleased.
To be blunt, prices would need to be comparable to Wall Lumber or The Hardwood Store or I would continue to drive up there.

I certainly feel your pain there. Myself of the other owners have been driving up to Conover to buy lumber for the past several years. This is the main driver leading to our business model for opening up the store (how do we provide high quality lumber at a fair price to prevent people from having to drive 3 hours round trip to get it). I think you'll be pleased where we land on prices for the Charlotte market. We've done a lot of market comparisons to ensure that we are coming in competitively, and the stores you mentioned above have all been included in our analysis.

 

[Charles Lent]

Somewhere near the beltway would allow easy access from any direction, but I would vote for the North side, as it's closer to me. I too buy from Klutz Lumber now more frequently than from anywhere else.

Charley

 

[RCCLT]

Not a huge fan of S2S, especially 4/4 stock. It can be a struggle to joint and replane to a decent thickness.

Thanks for this feedback, Chris. This is something I've battled over for the past several months to decide. I think we'll land on offering a mix of S2S and rough so that we can cover everyone. Some people love seeing the grain after S2S to help in their decision making, but you're left with thinner stock. Others can see through the rough and put an emphasis on thickness. I think offering both will help solve both problems.

 

[jlimey]

All,

We are very close to launching a new business that will be focused on supplying high quality hardwoods, plywoods and related woodcraft products (glues, sandpaper, blades, finishes) in our local store/warehouse in Charlotte. We are centering our focus on wood enthusiasts and hobbyists like ourselves (retail customer), who currently struggle to find a reliable, quality source in Charlotte at fair prices. We will also serve local business customers who also have similar struggles.

On-site Milling services to include planning, jointing, ripping, cutting to length will be available.

Would welcome feedback from this community on what we should be carrying as we work to finalize our finial inventory listing.

What type hardwoods and sizes?

We are planning to carry dimensional Walnut, white oak, red oak, Cherry, hard maple, curly maple, ash, poplar, cedar, hickory, yellow pine, sapele, purpleheart, S.A. mahogany

Slabs in walnut, White oak, maple, Cherry

What quality and thickness?
We plan to carry F1F and Better. Typical thicknesses of 4/4, 8/4. Is there a strong preference for 5/4 , 6/4, or 12/4 for dimensional lumber?

All lumber we plan to have s2s but open to your reactions to that?

Any preferences on average board lengths?

What type plywoods, sizes, grades? Majority is planned to be A1 and B2. Interested in everyone’s thoughts.

If we had a 43-52 wide-belt sander available as a service- would there be interest in that for table top flattening, etc.

Very appreciative of any/all feedback, guidance and obviously your support when we open!

- 5/4 or 6/4 for table tops is nice.
-12/4 for table legs; probably both of these in somewhat less quantities than 4/4. You only need a couple of 12/4 at a time, I would bet. Not sure how you can purchase

- Like Chris, I am wary of S2S as it limits correction of anything that is not dead flat and straight. Skip planing to show some grain is fine.
- personally, I don't mind paying for better quality, but a #1 common pile of cherry or walnut might be attractive to folks who make smaller items
- do to storage, I prefer 8-10' lengths. My 12' are problematic- but note I still buy them
- I am sure a belt sander at reasonable prices would be appreciated

 

[beloitdavisja]

I'm excited for some more options in the Charlotte area. Here are my thoughts, being a hobbyist:

• I prefer rough lumber so I can get the most out of it. Skip plane to see some grain. S2S I'm going to joint & plane square anyway, so it's not really saving me much work spending more for S2S.
• I don't have a truck, so 8 footers are what I always get. That will at least fit comfortably in the minivan.
• I have a desk project I've been wanting to start, but was needing some hardwood plywood. Originally planned on doing it in walnut, but walnut prices have me rethinking. Having some hardwood plywood choices beyond oak & maple would be great.
• You might also want to look at 1/8" / 3mm baltic birch plywood. Lots of people (including myself) are buying lasers, and the 3mm stuff is perfect for engraving & cutting. I buy packs of 12"x20" since that's the size of my laser bed.
• One thing you didn't mention - Saturday hours, even limited hours. Those of us who have a 9-5 job find it hard to get to a lumber place during the week. Kluttz used to not have Saturday hours and that was the one reason I had never been there until recently.

 

[Bearhalter]

Sounds like you are on the right track. What is your timeframe and what part of the Charlotte area will you set up shop?

We're hoping to open in the next couple months. Still looking to lock down an official location, but hoping to stay somewhat central so there's easy access from the various neighborhoods of Charlotte.

 

[Bearhalter]

- 5/4 or 6/4 for table tops is nice.
-12/4 for table legs; probably both of these in somewhat less quantities than 4/4. You only need a couple of 12/4 at a time, I would bet. Not sure how you can purchase

- Like Chris, I am wary of S2S as it limits correction of anything that is not dead flat and straight. Skip planing to show some grain is fine.
- personally, I don't mind paying for better quality, but a #1 common pile of cherry or walnut might be attractive to folks who make smaller items
- do to storage, I prefer 8-10' lengths. My 12' are problematic- but note I still buy them
- I am sure a belt sander at reasonable prices would be appreciated

Thanks for the recommendations. Skip planing instead of S2S may be a good option, just to see some grain beneath, but still keeping some extra thickness. I think our goal will be between 8 and 10. 12 and 14 in lesser quantities for those that need it. Good recommendation on the Common pile as well. Even though we're buying F1F and better, I'm sure some Commons will slip through, and segregating them out at lesser price is a great option.

 

[Bearhalter]

I'm excited for some more options in the Charlotte area. Here are my thoughts, being a hobbyist:

• I prefer rough lumber so I can get the most out of it. Skip plane to see some grain. S2S I'm going to joint & plane square anyway, so it's not really saving me much work spending more for S2S.
• I don't have a truck, so 8 footers are what I always get. That will at least fit comfortably in the minivan.
• I have a desk project I've been wanting to start, but was needing some hardwood plywood. Originally planned on doing it in walnut, but walnut prices have me rethinking. Having some hardwood plywood choices beyond oak & maple would be great.
• You might also want to look at 1/8" / 3mm baltic birch plywood. Lots of people (including myself) are buying lasers, and the 3mm stuff is perfect for engraving & cutting. I buy packs of 12"x20" since that's the size of my laser bed.
• One thing you didn't mention - Saturday hours, even limited hours. Those of us who have a 9-5 job find it hard to get to a lumber place during the week. Kluttz used to not have Saturday hours and that was the one reason I had never been there until recently.

All great recommendations! We're 100% going to be open on Saturdays. Like you said, that's another tough spot of the Charlotte market...very limited weekend options when we actually have time. Also, our plan for weekdays is to stay open a little later so that people can swing by once they get off work. We don't know exactly which weekdays we'll be open to start, but will probably start off limited, and build up as we get our feet under us. So maybe a weekday or two...plus Saturday.

We'll keep you in the loop with our plywood options. Cherry, Walnut, bookmatched white oak are all on the table. We want to bring some variety that traditionally isn't available to the typical consumer like us.

Related to lumber, we'll probably lean towards 8 and 10 footers as the standard. Like you said, not everyone has a truck, so we need to accommodate that.

 

[Bearhalter]

i would like to see more quality plywood options in the area. The wide belt sander would be interesting

Good, quality plywood is certainly on the list. Looking into higher grades and some more species that you can't get in the box stores. We're really looking forward to making the more quality species and grades available to the consumer, as opposed to only dealing with businesses.

 

[Tarhead]

We have a few locations up in the air at the moment. We hope to be in a central location for easy access from all directions, but not too close to the city to have to deal with the hustle. Looking for easy access to the major highways. We'll certainly keep everyone posted once we lock a location down. We've bounced around some places by Camp North End also some out by OMB.

That North End location would be convenient for the M-F trades too. Most of the large suppliers are very close. You should make an offer to McGee.

 

[RCCLT]

Thanks Tarhead- great input.