Life at the Lumberyard

  I told myself I wasn’t going to cry anymore about this, but I may need to just one last time as I write.  It’s very good therapy for me. (Writing… and sometimes crying too I guess.) And though sharing your problems online is often frowned upon and does very little good (if any), if sharing what happened to us “saves” someone I know - or anyone, frankly - or if any positive spin I put on this grows your faith, then at least something good came from all this hassle and heartache. On April 27th, we received a call to our store for a large shingle order.  An out of town roofer from Indy happened to pick up another job while working in Morris.   Surprisingly, this happens about once a month and has for about 3 years, so this would not be an odd call for us.  We took the order, they spoke the lingo of roofing supplies, brands, and like items.  He was kind.  He spoke with a Spanish accent.  He needed a copy of the receipt email to him.  He provided an address for the shingles.  He gave us a

Today, March 28th, 2023, we celebrate our one thousandth day at Dunlaps.  What a journey it has been... We have learned so much about our community, the lumber market, products of all types - from tapcons to strike plates to stain to underlayment and everything in between. We've learned about what it means to maintain a business and what it takes to grow a business. And how nearly impossible those tasks can be. I've learned about a global pandemic can do to shipping and the price of raw materials. Sadly, I've learned that big businesses have found ways to create shortages to overinflate prices and hurt little guys and small town America. But on the other side, I've learned how important our dinky hardware store can be and how needed we are.  There have been so many memories and moments jammed into those thousand days. I think about some of our first moments -- they were such a blur and so scary. I think about how tight money has been at times and sing that one Oak Ridge