About
Family-owned in the Pacific Northwest
Based in Vancouver, Washington, TAL is a family-owned company helping to build better communities. At our 32 building centers located throughout the Pacific Northwest, we create a positive experience for our customers—pros and homeowners alike—by providing guidance for innovative, smart building solutions.
Founded in 1906
In 1906, Tum-A-Lum Lumber of Walla Walla, Washington was founded by J.M. Crawford. The company was established on a simple business premise: every product and service offered by the company will benefit its customers. That basic philosophy has been the company’s cornerstone for over 100 years.
Tum-A-Lum to TAL
In 2010, fourth-generation owner Susan Cornelius, her husband, Bill, took the reins of Tum-A-Lum. TAL, an acronym of Tum-A-Lum, was formed in 2011 as a vehicle to spur growth and diversify the business. At the time, TAL managed Tum-A-Lum’s four stores in Hood River, Pendleton and The Dalles, OR and Susanville, CA.
Strategy for Growth
As the business grew, three strategies to accelerate expansion took hold: partner with legacy building materials companies, invest in our people, and invest in our stores.
Legacy Brands
From the start, we focused on partnering with businesses that have a similar culture, are well respected in their communities, and who are located in county-seat markets in the Pacific Northwest.
Between 2017 and 2023, thirteen companies joined the TAL family of brands: Marson and Marson Lumber (2017), Browne’s Home Center (2017), Gerretsen Building Supply (2019), Lake Chelan Building Supply (2020), Mount Vernon Building Center (2021), Badger Building Center (2021), Bayview Building Materials of Elma (2022), Midway Building Supply (2022), Best Built Builders Supply (2022), Miller's Home Center (2022), Harbor Rental and Saw shop (2023), Ennis Building Center (2023), and Beaverhead Building Center (2023).
Invest in Our People
In 2019, we crafted our mission statement and core values based on valuable feedback from our employees. Today, the entire team is united by our mission statement, "We Help Build Better Communities." This serves as a guiding principle that drives our actions and decisions, ensuring that we are all working towards a common goal of making a positive impact in the communities we serve.
We invest in our people by offering excellent benefits and compensation, prioritizing health and wellness through newsletters and contests, providing robust training and development programs, and celebrating our wins together with service awards and core value champions.
Invest in Our Stores
In 2016, we remodeled our Tum-A-Lum Hood River store. The Hood River remodel won a ProSales Excellence Award and set the stage for future improvements.
In 2022, we opened the doors to two new and modern stores, located in Pendleton, Oregon and Ephrata, Washington (pictured here). Our Pendleton location won the Beacon Award for Best New Store. As we continue to invest in significant updates at our locations, our objective is to diversify our product mix and create an inspirational shopping experience.
Optimistic About Growth
“We want to continue to explore new ways to utilize technology in our industry. We want to continue to learn from the success of each other and explore replicating that in other markets,” says CEO Jason Blair. “I am proud to be serving the beautiful communities we are a part of, and I think those markets will continue to do well.”