Tucked into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, just 30 miles out of State College, Pennsylvania, sits the small town of Reedsville. At only 435 acres, and with a population just shy of 500 people, you could be forgiven if you had never heard of it.
But 10 of those 435 acres are home to one of the nation’s preeminent Hardwood flooring companies: Peachey Wood Products. Founded in 1998 as a sawmill, the business was transformed into a custom flooring and wholesale lumber company in 2006. Peachey was subsequently purchased by the Coleman family in 2014 and refocused on high-end custom flooring and away from lumber. The Colemans made the change after they examined the product makeup of other mills in the country and market demand forecasts, determining that the greatest potential for the company was in focusing their efforts on the custom flooring market.
Since then, the company has grown in terms of both size and prestige. In fact, Peachey Hardwood Flooring has been recognized for three of the past four years with the National Wood Flooring Association’s (NWFA) highest achievement: the prestigious Wood Floor of the Year award.
Don Coleman, President and CEO of Peachey Wood Products, said that the recognition is a testament to the focus and attention to detail that the company’s craftsmen put into every board that they produce. He noted that the company’s product lineup has evolved and grown over the years to better meet the needs of its ever-expanding customer base.
“Over time, consumer preferences change, so as color and design trends evolve we update our offerings to meet current demand,” he said. “In addition to solid Hardwood, we are seeing increased interest in high-end engineered products, as well as, decorative herringbone and chevron options.”
Coleman noted that the company’s 100,000 square-foot facility includes 24,000 square-feet of storage warehouses and 2.4 million board feet of dry kiln capacity. The company routinely has over 3 million board feet of green and kiln-dried lumber on hand, and a green lumber yard that stretches for four acres. That level of inventory allows Peachey to meet their various customers’ demands and supply flooring that is unique in the industry.
“About 80 percent of our business is wholesale through distributors and 20 percent through our retail showroom, which focuses on homeowners and contractors,” he explained. “As a national manufacturer, we offer local delivery and pickup within a limited radius of our facility and also ship nationally via commercial carriers.”
One reason for this national-level demand is because Peachey offers one of the widest varieties of sizes and species in the flooring industry, including flooring up to 16-inches wide in solid and engineered platforms with long length options. The most well-known species include Red and White Oak, White Oak rift and quartered, White Oak live sawn, Cherry, Maple, Walnut and Hickory. Of these, the trend has been steadily moving toward White Oak because it offers a neutral pallet for designers and homeowners to tailor each floor to their own unique desires.
He also noted that Peachey Wood Products offers prefinished and unfinished options, stair parts, millwork and retail Hardwood lumber. In addition, they have specialty products such as reclaimed Heart Pine and Oak mix, which are harvested from Mid Atlantic antique barns and buildings. In fact, the company’s two most recent NWFA Hardwood Floor of the Year awards were for a floor that featured reclaimed lumber.
“When we buy our reclaimed material, we buy it from processors around us that specialize in carefully taking down antique barns and buildings, preserving the rich history each board contains. We make sure each has the nail holes, worm holes, mortise and tenon joints, and the historic patina,” Coleman said. “We try to keep as much of the original character as possible. We offer an original face option from exterior barn boards which retains the original saw marks, or a milled face version which is smooth. We get more interest in reclaimed Oak than the reclaimed heart pine. Reclaimed is a very unique floor, so there are some who will really like the very antique look and then there are those who want the smooth, finished more traditional Hardwood floors.”
In terms of equipment, Peachey utilizes some of the most technologically advanced resources in the industry, including machinery manufactured by Leadermac, Ultimizers, Mereen-Johnson, Cameron Automation, Stanza, Marinus, Union Tool, Wintersteiger, Friulmac, Eagle Machinery and Pneumafil. This focus on automation has been particularly important during the past few years, as the COVID pandemic affected staffing levels across the entire industry.
“Since the pandemic most businesses have struggled with available labor and we are no different. So, we have added automation where possible to deal with those labor challenges,” Coleman said, adding that the company currently has 40 full-time mill employees. He also noted that just as labor shortages have affected the industry as a whole, so too have supply chain issues brought about by the pandemic.
“In the past few years, supply chains have been less predictable and resilient creating new challenges that have to be dealt with. Everything from Hardwood to plywood, adhesives and finishing supplies have all been impacted, but we have been able to manage those challenges and minimize the impact on the business. Some of these challenges still exist but we have become more skilled at solving those issues,” Coleman said.
Looking forward, Coleman said he believes that both the Hardwood flooring market in general and Peachey Wood Products in particular will continue to thrive.
“Where we see things going is for demand for wide plank custom flooring remaining strong. We have grown and built out capacity where it is needed focusing on automation wherever possible,” he said. “At Peachey Wood Products, we continue to see strength in the wide plank, custom Hardwood flooring space. The interest in custom flooring continues to grow each year, and consumers are increasingly looking for American made, real Hardwood products. There are substitute look-alike products available such as luxury vinyl and ceramic tile products, but there is no comparison to the benefits and desirability that Hardwood offers. Not only is there a story behind each piece of wood, but it adds resale value to a home that typically exceeds the actual cost of the product.”
As far as articulating what makes Peachey Wood Products uniquely positioned to meet this continuing and rising demand, Coleman did not hesitate to explain the Peachey difference.
“At Peachey, we are capable of providing just about anything a customer could ask for, with widths up to 16-inches and lengths up to 12-feet. We have complete control of our production, from the green lumber through finishing and delivery,” he said. “This has allowed us to tightly control the quality of our products. We are known for having some of the highest quality and most attractive flooring in the industry, along with having sizes that few other flooring mills have. Two elements of the Peachey Promise that we make to every customer are ‘to provide customers with a virtually limitless collection of hand-crafted, made-to-order Hardwood flooring designed to provide a lifetime of elegance and performance,’ and ‘to never confuse quality with quantity.’”
To learn more, visit www.peacheyhardwoodflooring.com.
