Building materials supplier Norfolk Sash & Door, in Norfolk, Virginia, begun in 1893, closes as customers disappear with weak housing market

Diane Keaton

LOS ANGELES , August 4, 2011 (Forestweb) – Norfolk Sash & Door in Norfolk, Virginiak, has ceased operations, The Virginian Pilot reported July 29.

Owner Howard Filer said there are “no customers” for the company’s lumber, framing supplies, doors, and knobs, and its workforce dwindled.

Because of the weak housing market, demand for building materials plummeted, causing revenue to fall below US$3 million in 2010, in stark contrast to sales of $5.5 million in 2005, at the height of the housing boom.

Owner Howard Filer waited until June to see if the the situation would improve, but it did not.

The company opened its doors in 1893, bartering various products along the wharf, then evolving into a sawmill and eventually selling lumber and doors.

The primary source of this article is The Virginian Pilot, Hampton Roads, Virginia, on July 29, 2011.

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