Setting a New Standard
Setting a New Standard at Highland Hardwoods By Michelle Keller Brentwood, NH—Celebrating their 34th year in business, Highland Hardwoods is well-known by its customers for honoring their tagline, “Setting a New Standard for the Future.” Since inception, the staff at Highland Hardwoods strives daily to improve upon providing the highest-quality Hardwood and secondary wood products available. The company distributes Hardwood lumber in a wide variety of species, and also offers Hardwood flooring, plywood and decking. Purchasing over 10 million board feet of Hardwoods annually, the firm procures its inventory from high-end sawmill producers all over the country, as well as from distributors and wholesale firms. Species available include White Ash, Yellow and Red Birch, Cherry, Hard and Soft Maple, Red and White Oak, Basswood, Yellow Poplar, Black Walnut, Curly and Birdseye Maple, and Hickory. Softwood species available include Eastern white pine, aromatic red cedar, red pine and Douglas fir. The firm also inventories a variety of imported woods including Bloodwood, Jatoba, Bubinga, Spanish cedar, African Mahog- 20 JUNE 2020 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE Rick and Wendy Lang founded Highland Hardwoods in Brentwood, NH in 1986. Highland Hardwoods was started primarily to supply quality kiln-dried Northern Appalachian Hardwood lumber to the New England woodworking trade.
A Highland Hardwoods customer pulls lumber from the retail bins. any, Santos Mahogany, Lacewood, Black Limba, Purpleheart, Genuine Mahogany, Padauk, Sapele, Wenge, Teak and Zebrawood. Founded in the summer of 1986 by NHLA graduate Rick Lang and his wife Wendy, Highland Hardwoods was established primarily to supply quality kiln-dried Northern Appalachian Hardwood lumber to the New England woodworking trade. By 1987, the firm leased a facility at an existing lumberyard, which enabled the start of a quality-control program and warehousing of a moderate inventory of Hardwoods for prompt shipment. “During that time, we started servicing some of the smaller accounts in the area including millwork houses, cabinet shops, custom woodworkers, and builder and contractors,” Rick Lang explained. “We focused on serving customers who purchase less than full truckload quantities of Hardwoods. We purchased a truck and started making our own lumber deliveries.” A retail division was eventually added to cater to the growing number of custom woodworkers, builders, contractors, and wood carvers who would visit Highland Hardwoods looking for just a few boards at a time. “We built a series of retail lumber bins set up as a ‘selfservice’ retail store,” Lang said. By 1996, the company had outgrown its initial location and subsequently purchased a nine-acre parcel of land in Brentwood, NH, breaking ground in 1997 to build a new lumber facility. This included a 60-foot by 200-foot retail building, two 60-foot by 75-foot lumber Please turn to page 34 Highland Hardwoods offers delivery to their customers throughout the Northeast. “Consistent high quality is the key to everything that we do here. Our goal is to always come through for our customers by knowing and understanding their needs.” —Rick Lang, owner, Highland Hardwoods JUNE 2020 n NATIONAL HARDWOOD MAGAZINE 21
