Copeland Lumber quietly changes hands

The change is barely noticeable. The Copeland Lumber sign still towers above Stewart Street. The staff hasn't changed and neither has the service.

What has changed is the owner. Copeland Lumber in Carson City is now owned by Bend, Ore.,-based Tum-A-Lum.

Tum-A-Lum has been leasing Copeland Lumber stores in Carson City and Susanville, Calif., for three years. Last year, the company bought the Susanville store outright, following it with the Carson store last month.

"We hired most of the established people that were there when we initially (leased) the store and the equipment," explained company President James Crawford.

"We still want to continue providing the great service and quality materials that Copeland has in the past. We're similar operators in that regard."

According to outside salesman Gary Somers, who has been with the store for seven years, 21 people work at the Carson City lumber store.

"Ninety percent of the people have been here since I was here," Somers said.

"Both companies have a lot of history," Crawford said by telephone from his Oregon office. "Copeland's been down there since the early 1950s and we're both well established lumber yards with great access to the supply side."

Crawford's family started out in the lumber business in 1906 in eastern Washington. They named their company after a nearby river, Tum-A-Lum, which is the Indian name for spreading water.

Tum-A-Lum lumber now has six stores in the Northwest.

For now, the Copeland sign will remain, but eventually, as people get used to the new name Copeland will give way to Tum-A-Lum, Crawford said.