By Mari Radtke
Doug Sweeney looks back at his 20+ years with the Sutherland and Paullina Lumber yards/hardware stores. Sweeney came home from his military service to Sutherland in August 1991. He started then at what was once Sutherland Lumber under owner Dennis Grant. In 1999, Sweeney and Grant formed a partnership. In 2001, that partnership acquired Paullina Lumber from Paul Erdmann. It wasn’t long before Dennis Grant chose retirement. The exit was easier than most. Grant sold his half to his partner, Doug Sweeney in 2003.
Both stores were full service lumber yards. During the 20 years with Sweeney at the helm nothing changed for the customers. “During 22 years, keeping it manned with knowledgeable people was difficult. There are good workers but not as knowledgable. It would take a long time to teach them everything I knew,” said Sweeney.
The conversation about what to do with the Paullina location began in early November. “I talked with the bank,” Sweeney explained. “It’s just not feasible to operate 2 businesses, 2 inventories just 10 miles apart,” Sweeney concluded. “It was a really hard decision. It’s not an easy business decision.”
The Paullina business went up for sale but there were no takers. Sweeney says he hoped there would be a local buyer to take it over. “It’s a tough business.” The property is for sale.
The inventory at Paullina will be brought to Sutherland. Sweeney’s Farm and Home remains a full service business including design and estimation, delivery and all that goes with a lumber yard; windows and doors, siding, roofing. “We’re just 10 miles away and go that way. We are closer than any other lumberyard to that area and hope to retain our customers. We have very good customers in the Paullina area,” Doug explained when talking about his hopes for the future. He went on to say he has a lot of customers in the Paullina area and that they’ve done many projects there. “Paullina is lucky to have a good hardware store,” he added.
The Sutherland location took the name Sweeney’s Farm and Home. The Sutherland store remains a full service lumber yard.
“It’s never easy. You have to look at the business and make sure it’s going to survive. The economy does not have a lot going for it right now. Construction over the last year and a half has slowed down,” Sweeney explains. He went on to talk about how the government financial support during COVID fed money into home projects. “You couldn’t do anything else.” But now that is over and people have returned to the habits of going out to eat or movies, spending their money in other places. “It was a business decision. I would have loved to have sold it. It didn’t happen. We’ll move the inventory to Sutherland and keep helping our customers!”