Whyte’s Lumber is a three-generations rural success story as Craig Whyte has patiently continued in the business that his father John Whyte began years ago. Now, Craig and MaryAnne Whyte’s son Danny is also hands-on with the business.
It’s winter, there’s a lull in the lumber trade but come May, the Kenton lumberyard will be a hive of activity if past years are any indication.
Whyte says he’s cautiously optimistic for 2024, noting, “Last year was extremely busy.”
He admits it’s difficult to forecast the market, due to factors outside his control. “Last year we weren’t busy at all until the beginning of May.” In early spring he was concerned about prospects then but when the weather changed, he says, “We were run off our feet until the snow came.”
There are some building jobs that can’t be put off, but the area’s economy also has a lot to do with the lumber business. “It depends on how the agricultural part of our economy feels about what’s coming. If they feel it’s going to be a good year, there’s some money around.”
Part of Whyte’s success story is his longstanding relationships with contractors. “You’ve got to look after them, because if you don’t there’s always someone who will,” Whyte says.
Travel costs figure into people’s choices too and lumber yards have become few and far between. DIYers and builders in the area also appreciate the convenience of the Kenton store. “When I started, there were two in Hamiota, now there’s nothing. There was three in Virden, now there’s one. There was one in Oak Lake, there’s nothing.” A dwindling rural population might have something to do with that, but there’s also been significant building projects and home upgrades as well.
Lumber and building supply costs have fluctuated, with a huge spike during Covid years, keeping a retailer’s life “interesting.”
Now, Whyte says prices are easing, a great thing for the building trade but as with everything, there’s a new normal: “Lumber and plywood have dropped a lot, but I don’t think they’ll ever go back to pre-Covid numbers.”
When Covid hit, lumber prices doubled and tripled in some cases.
Whyte says, “It was hard to get product.” It was a tough time for builders because “what was penciled in as a $40,000 cost for building materials, sometimes jumped to more like a $100,000 cost for that same load.
“I bought a load of lumber today and probably from pre-Covid it would be up 50% of what it was then (in 2019). Every time we go through one of these hiccups, the floor price seems to go up,” says Whyte.
“We saw a lot of increases on everything else. Some have rolled back. Not a lot. So, anything we saved on lumber, still the increases on insulation, on drywall, on siding – they’re still there. Now, from a $100,000 mid-Covid cost, the bill could be back down to about $60,000,” Whyte ball parks.
Having just bought a load of lumber for $30,000 he sums up saying, “At one time we used to figure that lift would be $18,000, before Covid. It probably got as high as $50,000 for that same load.”
With son Danny and Blair Fordyce as full-time employees, come building season Whyte expects he will need to hire. “The talent pool in Westman is not real deep. If you want somebody that’s a good fit, sometimes you’ve got to wait. There are good people out there, it’s just, you’ve got to find them.”
