Falls Lumber Company of International Falls was established in 1948, and Wade Bacon joined on as a yard foreman in 1986. He was just 24 years old at the time but his ambition led into sales and management and he purchased the company in 2002.
Bacon developed his own brand of industry awareness through training and education designed to keep employees up on new products, techniques and building codes.
When Bacon renovated the Falls Lumber office, he also converted an old window shed into a Design Center to allow customers to see interior products on display as they would look in the home. Adding the design, instillation and service components brought the lumberyard to a higher level, he added.
Mitch Heyn, a representative of My Crystal Cabinets in Princeton, was at Falls Lumber Friday to present an award for excellent sales and customer service. He said the company’s $105,000 in sales exceeded expectations by four times that of last year.
Heyn credits the new Falls Lumber Design Center in part for the improvements in sales. He also acknowledged the company’s solid referral and consulting relationships with quality vender installers.
Linda Bacon said the Design Center gives customers an opportunity to “see, feel and touch” the cabinets, wood siding, tile, window dressings and furniture as it would look assembled in a home. It presents the materials in a variety of styles, manufacturers and price levels to help with budgeting a plan.
“It is very nice to see this award in recognition for our hard work that we, especially Linda, have put into this Design Center,” said Wade Bacon.
Wade said he is pleased that his company has met its goals since taking over in 2002. He noted that custom products and instillation have helped them to stand out. “We have many more plans for this business,” he added.
Falls Lumber works on custom designing and fitting kitchen and other home interior items. They use home and kitchen designing software to give the clients a preview of how the products in the design center would look in their home.
“There are plenty of customers out there,” said Wade Bacon. “People have goals and dreams for their homes. Many of our customers are on their second or third vacation home.”
One of the company’s recent projects was the Wagner home project on Rainy Lake.
Wade said that they have worked well as a vender with the city and county programs that award low interest renovation loans through residential and small business programs.
Linda Bacon joined Falls Lumber in 2005. The former county social worker says that she has always liked designing and building things. She recently completed work to become a certified installer of Hunter Douglas window dressing. The certification makes customers more comfortable with meeting manufacturer warrantee requirements, she added.
Linda also recently completed a Kitchen and Bath Design Certification from Century College. The 30-credit online course encompassed the foundations of building, kitchen bath design and drawing.
“That is what I do every day,” said Linda.
Heyn described Linda as a talented salesperson who “aggressively seeks knowledge of products and product use.” He complemented her for taking the Century College business course that he called difficult and time consuming.
“I have put a lot of effort into learning and asked Mitch a lot of questions,” she said. “There are a lot of products.”
Crystal Cabinets, a 61 year-old manufacturer of custom handcrafted cabinetry, last year received Environmental Stewardship certification from the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association. The company has established new guidelines as a framework for sound environmental business practices and works with venders to offer the same expertise.
“It’s healthier for customers and for employees to be environmentally responsible,” he said. “It is a proactive approach.”
Falls Lumber has also been recognized for adapting to the technology and material changes over the past 20 years, said Wade Bacon. He believes that carrying green products is important, but that training is necessary to build knowledge and expertise with the specifications and limitations and to be able to explain the options to customers.
“They are thinking about everything they need to do now for their business,” said Heyn. “Not for just around the corner, but to still be in business five to 10 to 20 years from now.”
