White House, TN—Woodgrain Millwork has acquired Lowe’s 350-employee millwork door and cabinet shop in White House, TN. Woodgrain, with U.S. headquarters in Fruitland, ID, also owns a 50 percent interest in ProMasa S.A., a vertically integrated millwork manufacturer based in Chile.
“This acquisition furthers our mission of making millwork easy by expanding our product offering and enhancing our vertical integration. We are excited to welcome the highly skilled Lowe’s millwork associates to the Woodgrain family and know they will continue to deliver on our commitment of quality millwork products,” says Todd Dame, president of Woodgrain Distribution.
The acquisition increases Woodgrain’s position in the southeastern United States, where it is building a new millwork manufacturing plant near Atlanta, home of another major client, The Home Depot. The move bolsters Woodgrain’s millwork and door manufacturing capabilities and its presence within Lowe’s home improvement stores across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic. Woodgrain says the Lowe’s door shop will be able to leverage its new owner’s expertise and efficiency to compete more aggressively in the market.
The acquired production center has been operating since 1989. A recent career video posted by Lowe’s says it employs 350 on three shifts, producing doors and assembling flat-packed kitchen cabinetry. With the new acquisition, Woodgrain will supply Lowe’s stores with Reliabuilt interior and Therma Tru Benchmark exterior doors.
Founded by Reed Dame in 1969, Woodgrain Millwork has six U.S. manufacturing locations and is one of the largest millwork operators in the world. Reed Dame led the company as CEO for more than 30 years until Kelly Dame succeeded him in 2009. Woodgrain Millwork manufactures and distributes quality wood moldings, doors, and windows. In 1997, after Woodgrain invested in ProMasa in Chile, it launched an aggressive expansion plan implementing new procedures along with using state-of-the-art technology and equipment from North America.
This went hand in hand with a vertical integration of the company, investing in new boilers, dry kilns, and a sawmill that are among the top producers in Chile with top-of-the-line technology. In 2003 ProMasa opened a pine door factory that uses some of the best technology worldwide.
