Ritzville Hardware expands inventory to include lumber

After four successful years of operating Ritzville Hardware, Owner Bob Heater has officially expanded the stock at the local company to include high-quality lumber for area residents.

Heater, assisted by his son Ben, has been working for many months to purchase lumber products to sell in the new shop, adjacent to the Ritzville Hardware Store.

The decision to expand the hardware store to also include lumber came when Heater said customers began approaching him about also providing lumber supplies.

With 33 years experience in forest product management and driven by customer’s request, Heater began looking into his options of expanding the local store.

Last fall, the building beside the Ritzville Hardware store became available for purchase. After purchasing the building, Heater began working on improving the building in order to supply lumber to customers.

Heater said residents could expect to find only high-quality lumber products in the new shop. The local employees inspect every order, and any lumber deemed below the highest certified quality is removed and recycled into other lumber products.

While the store does provide custom cutting and specialty orders, the majority of lumber in stock ranges between the eight to 12 foot standards.

In the future, Heater intends on moving longer length supplies into the shop, and in the meantime will special order for customers with those needs.

“I don’t know the customer market,” Heater said about the immediate need of customers, “But I want to give them every reason they can to stay local.”

With the addition of the second building, Heater said they are working on making improvements and will eventually be moving some products from the hardware into the lumber shop.

Heater explained in the future he expects to have the pipe and glass cutting services operating out of the lumber shop in order to free up space in the hardware store.

The addition of the shop has also resulted in the hiring of a new full time employee and one seasonal employee, Heater said.

Employees will be working within the lumber shop and hardware store on a full time basis, and the lumber shop will also be open seven days a week, with a shortened business day on Sundays.

Heater became a business owner eight years ago when he bought a hardware store in Hayden, Idaho. After four years of operating the shop, he purchased the Ritzville store in 2011.

He is now in the process of looking to expand to a third store, but plans to keep Ritzville as his base of operations because of his appreciation for the town.

“I think it’s something our customers wanted to see,” Heater said about the expansion. “It’s a great town and I’d love to see it thrive.”