Sustainable Northwest Wood

When I arrived in the warehouse, an older gentleman was concluding his business with an employee by evenly stating «I’m sorry for being a customer.» I assumed he was being difficult and unfair, but reflecting on my own experience I’ve concluded that their business model must not be reliant on individual drop-​in customers.
The employee who greeted me was inattentive to the details of my request, handed me a tape — measure and sent me on a wild goose chase through items that were either inapropriate for my needs or comically unreachable without a ladder or fork. I was deferential because I assumed there were other customers waiting and I had no cause to monopolize their time, but when I walked back into the office he was seated making casual conversation.
Before leaving I was careful not to make an unreasonable demand for specifics when I asked if there was a likelihood of finding an appropriate piece in a future shipment and roughly how often they may arrive, but the employee was more interested in avoiding promises than in providing information.
Customer service is part of my profession, so I try not to approach other businesses with a sense of entitlement or unreasonable expectations. Nonetheless in this case I have to agree with the gentleman ahead of me: «sorry for being a customer.» If your project is small scale I think you are wasting their time, and they won’t hide it.

Love this place. They have so much selection and are always easy to work with. If they don’t have it, they’ll find it and you don’t pay any extra for a sustainable product.
You must check it out!

This is a unique supplier of wood for construction and hardwoods for making furniture. Unlike at a large building supply store, at this store they can tell you exactly where the wood came from.
My primary interest is in the hardwoods which are harvested in Oregon, and even in Portland, and sanded both sides. They have unusual woods like madrone, myrtle and juniper, along with walnut, maple, oak and fir. They have a unique Northwest wood, campground blue pine, but it has a bittersweet story. The pine beetle is spreading across the West. The beetle bores into the tree and injects a fungus. The fungus shuts down the immune system of the tree and its circulation of water. The tree dies, making more homes for beetles. Were possible, foresters remove the diseased trees to slow the spread of the beetles. The wood is milled and dried with heat to kill the fungus and any beetles. The resulting wood has bluish streaks.
They have dimensional lumber and outdoor treated wood as well as plywood and veneered plywood, maple butcher block, cedar fencing, rough siding and some finish lumber.
Much of their lumber comes from small lots and small mills, right in the area. So you are supporting local small businesses.
Sustainable Northwest Wood is a supplier of building supplies and hardwoods, from here, for here!