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Family to sell Copeland Lumber Staff and wire reports PORTLAND -- After operating as a family business since 1913, Copeland Lumber Yards Inc. plans to sell its 68 retail outlets in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada and Arizona. Helen Jo Whitsell, chief executive and granddaughter of the company's founder, said she and her husband, Bill Whitsell, the company's chief operating officer, plan to retire. She said the lumber yards would remain open while the company is on the market. "We're not in a hurry," she said. "A number of our managers are inquiring about particular yards. The who, the what and the when are up in the air right now." Copeland's has three locations in the Rogue Valley -- one in Medford, one in Ashland and one in Grants Pass. The distinctive Copeland emblem, a black cat arching its back inside a vivid orange circle, is a well-known sight throughout Oregon, especially in smaller communities where it often is the only major supplier of lumber and hardware for commercial builders and do-it-yourselfers. Joseph Copeland, whose family had been in the hardware business in Iowa, opened the first Copeland lumber yard in 1913. Helen Jo Whitsell's father, J.W. Copeland, became president in 1926, a position he retained for 47 years before she succeeded him in 1973. Whitsell started with the company in 1960 as a bookkeeper. "While selling the company marks the end of an era of family ownership, it positions the yards for a strong future," the Whitsells wrote to the company's 1,000 employees. The company listed its annual sales at more than $200 million. Whitsell said Copeland was 35th among lumber yard chains in a recent sales ranking. Retail lumber yards have been pressured in recent years by so-called "big box" chain stores such as Home Depot that offer a wide variety of products for the do-it-yourself crowd. Copeland's biggest customers are professional builders and home remodelers, followed by industrial and agricultural accounts. The company lists do-it-yourselfers as its smallest customer category. "Our big competition is other dealers like us," Whitsell said. "We think the threat of big boxes has been overestimated." Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA