The story of this family-owned lumber business begins with cows, or the lack of them.
In the mid-1940s, the father-and-son business begun by Camille H. Pepin and his son, Camille E. Pepin, sold cows to the farmers who then populated the rural area around Woonsocket.
Until they made a regular trip to the Quebec province of Canada, and found no cows available.
“There were no cows to be picked up,” said Jeanne Pepin Budnick, daughter of Camille E. Pepin. “So, they picked up lumber instead. That’s how it started.”
The lesson for the multigenerational family business that eventually became Pepin Lumber was then set. Make the most of the seeming detours.
Over the years, as it passed through generations, the business has evolved to meet the current needs of its customers, who no longer want the traditional lumber in the way they did 20 to 30 years ago.
In addition to the lines of framing lumber, and finishing materials, Pepin Lumber now carries pressure-treated lines and a full assortment of decking products, including the synthetic Trex system.
The market no longer is exclusively homebuilders, but materials and tools aimed at home remodelers and do-it-yourself homeowners. Ready-made furniture and other decorative items are sold in the Country Store.
Budnick, the youngest of the sibling owners, grew up in the lumber yard, as did her brother and sisters.
In the late 1980s, when the homebuilding “boom” was transforming Rhode Island, products “flew” out of the store, she recalled. By the early 1990s, the big-box home centers had entered the local market, and the national retailers became a competitor for the large projects. Pepin Lumber adapted by focusing on individual remodelers.
“How we got through the recession was we changed,” Budnick said. “We didn’t take the risk. We catered to the smaller remodelers, and smaller jobs, [such as] decks and sheds.”
Through the years, customers have remained loyal to the family.
In mid-March, a 91-year-old customer came into the store. She told Budnick and her sisters that their lumber had built her home, an account for which she and her husband had repaid $1 a week.
In recent years, construction has returned to Rhode Island. Although the family does not share sales figures, the volume and sales have been increasing over the past three years, Budnick said.
One of the factors in that was the powerful and destructive snow and storms of the winter of 2015. “There was a lot of destruction that people are still repairing,” she said.
Not that destruction is a good thing, she noted, but it’s good business for a construction supplier.
OWNERS: Elise Pepin Houle, Camille W. Pepin, Denise Pepin Levreault, Louise Pepin Sutherland, Gisele Pepin Lambert and Jeanne Pepin Budnick
TYPE OF BUSINESS: Retail lumber and building materials
LOCATION: 830 Cumberland Hill Road, Woonsocket
EMPLOYEES: 8
YEAR ESTABLISHED: 1947
ANNUAL SALES: WND
