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	The Manchester Enterprise A Heritage Newspaper Weekly Publication

Bridgewater Lumber getting new owner

Chelsea Lumber Co. acquires local business but will keep employees

By Terry Jacoby, Heritage Newspapers

PUBLISHED: January 18, 2007

Chelsea Lumber Co. has purchased the Bridgewater Lumber Co.

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The deal includes both of Bridgewater's locations in Bridgewater Township and Saline, and is expected to be made final early next month.

The Bridgewater store is located on Boettner Road and the Saline store is located on Michigan Avenue.

Chelsea Lumber Co. has been a Chelsea staple since opening its doors Jan. 2, 1926, as the Chelsea Lumber, Grain & Coal Co. The original headquarters was a three-story brick building at the intersection of Main Street and the railroad tracks, now the site of the Chelsea Milling Co.

The Chelsea Lumber, Grain & Coal Co. had a motto back in those early days: "Where the Home Begins."

And for the first time in its long history, "Where the Home Begins" will now reach beyond Chelsea's city limits.

While owner Bob Daniels believes in tradition and appreciates the history and heritage not only of his store but the community he helped build, he also believes in looking forward.

While Daniels can't predict the future, he believes adding the two stores will be a success both for the company and its new employees.

"It is our intention to maintain the services that Bridgewater has had there for years and to maintain the present employee group," Daniels said.

"We think it has been well-managed and well-run for many years, and has an established reputation, which we feel is excellent. It's our intention to maintain that relationship with the Saline and Bridgewatercommunities."

Daniels said he did not want to disclose the price of the transaction because of a number of factors involved in the deal.

He did say that the new locations would be under the direction of his son, John, who has more than 25 years of experience with the company.

"John is going to do an outstanding job," Daniels said. "We are excited about the potential and the possibilities about what can be done in these two communities and we want to be a part of that."

The Bridgewater Lumber Co. currently has 44 employees, who will now join the 95 employees of the Chelsea Lumber Co.

"We also plan on introducing some new ideas that we have that we hope will further enhance what the lumber company can provide for the Saline and Bridgewater communities," Daniels said.

Ron and Joann Finkbeiner, along with a cousin, Gary Finkbeiner, were longtime owners of the Bridgewater Lumber Co., which also has a long and proud history of serving its community. The Finkbeiner brothers, Ted, Ruben and Jake, started the company in 1938.

"The Bridgewater location has the feed business, which relates well to the farming community," Daniels said. "They have done a great job with that side of the business and we will continue to provide that for the local farming community.

"They have a great reputation in both the Bridgewater and Saline communities, and that was one of the enticements for the Chelsea Lumber Co. to acquire them."

While a number of independent lumber companies in Southeastern Michigan have either recently closed or significantly downsized, the Chelsea Lumber Co. has decided to build up its business rather than scale back. With Michigan's struggling economy and a housing market that isn't exactly booming, Daniels is still confident this is the right move at the right time.

"We feel that we provide a service to the contractors and customers in the Chelsea and the surrounding areas, and we feel that we do some things that have a positive influence in the community," Daniels said. "We feel we can do the same things in the Saline and Bridgewater areas.

"We feel like there are tremendous opportunities in Saline and Bridgewater, and we feel we have services that we provide in the Chelsea area that we would like to provide and introduce in Saline and Bridgewater."

Terry Jacoby is an editor with Heritage Newspapers. He can be reached at 1-724-475-1371 or tjacoby@heritage.com.