Koopman Lumber Core Values
At Koopman Lumber, we believe that true excellence is built over time. For generations, we’ve been supplying quality materials and outstanding service to those who trust us. Our mission: Supplying Excellence for Generations. It’s not just about today, it’s about creating a legacy of trust and quality that will last for generations to come.
What We Do
We are your neighbors and members of your local community simply seeking to serve you. Although we no longer build houses ourselves, we started as builders by trade. The most important building we can do is building a relationship with our customers to be a dependable resource for a lifetime.
For Contractors & Builders
We support builders through an extensive network of lumber yards, experienced outside sales representatives, and a dedicated inside support team. Our engineered lumber and estimating departments work closely with the sales team to plan projects before the first piece of lumber is delivered. This detailed coordination ensures smooth execution both during planning and on the jobsite.
Orders are fulfilled through our state-of-the-art distribution centers and delivered across central New England by a GPS-tracked fleet. In addition to lumber deliveries, our distribution centers also handle complete kitchen packages designed by our kitchen staff. For added convenience, our mobile showrooms bring the full kitchen design experience directly to the customer’s home, complete with on-site design services.
For Homeowners & Do-It-Yourselfers
Our growing network of lumber, hardware, and paint stores allows us to serve customers of all sizes. We’ve also become a destination for expert lawn, garden, and live plant advice.
Helpful service is at our core, especially in paint, where we guide customers through everything from simple projects to complex industrial applications.
Our History
Koopman Lumber History Timeline
This is the first retail hardware store on Church Street in Whitinsville. Notice the basketball hoop on the side -The Koopmans have a long history in athletics!
Don and Peter Koopman getting ready for the 2 day 50th anniversary bash at the Whitinsville, Uxbridge, and Grafton stores.
Peter Koopman passes away at the age of 88 in 1996. Leaving his wife of 64 years, 3 sons, 2 daughters, 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
TruServ honors Don Koopman with the TruServ manufacturing 10 High Sales Honor Roll Award in 1997 at the TruServ Spring Market in Dallas, Texas.
Our Founder and Family
Always Wanting To Help
Founder Peter T. Koopman was a resourceful builder who was willing to share resources with others. By stockpiling materials he needed to build, he was able to offer those materials to others from his garage and basement just a few feet from where the current Whitinsville store stands today.
His wife would tend the five children, and take care of contractors wanting supplies when they rang the doorbell on the garage. After WWII, John Nyenhuis returned from his service in the Navy and helped establish the hardware store and solidify the complete lumber yard. John was joined by several others who returned from the war and were provided work at Koopman Lumber as part of the GI Bill.
Volunteering
Pete Koopman set the bar high as he volunteered for those less fortunate in Mississippi and many rural areas in the South, and traveled to help rebuild areas struck by natural disasters. He also coordinated sending truckloads of hay from this area to drought stricken farmers in the Midwest.
These acts come from a mindset that we are blessed and should be a blessing to others. This is the reason why we work so hard to support local communities through schools, churches, and other groups. Up until the week he passed away at the age of 88, Pete continued to volunteer for the benefit of others.
Bringing the Family Onboard
Pete’s son, Bob Koopman joined Koopman Construction in 1962 helping build houses in the area. Bob’s brother, Don Koopman returned to town in 1973 and focused on hardware side of the business after serving 20 years as a school teacher and salesman.
Pete was the original founder, but it wasn’t until Don arrived that Koopmans took the steps to really fortify the foundation on which today’s Koopman Lumber is built. Not long after Don’s arrival, Koopmans underwent its first expansion to a storefront on South Main St in Uxbridge before moving to its current location on Rt 16 in 1980. In 1982, property was purchased and renovated in Grafton to house its hardware store and lumber yard. Don not only oversaw the first retail expansion, but he also invested in the business with some of the first computerized inventory control systems available and embracing all that True Value could offer in the hardware arena. In 1987, Don’s son, Dirk Koopman returned to the business after playing professional basketball in Germany. The Whitinsville store was expanded again in 1989. Dirk’s sister Denise returned to Whitinsville with her husband Tony and they joined the business in 1996.
Three years later, the Uxbridge store was expanded and modernized. After nearly a decade of planning, the current Grafton facility was constructed behind the original store. Just a few months after Grafton opened in 2002, the massive new distribution center opened in south Uxbridge making a dramatic leap forward in our delivery capabilities.
Strategic Expansions
Each expansion we have undertaken has been rooted in the desire to continually provide excellent service to our customers. A paint store was acquired in Milford in 2011. Knowing that painters need a supplier in close proximity to where they are working, we expanded our trading area to better serve them.
We then undertook the construction of the Sharon facility, which opened in the summer of 2013. After sending hundreds of delivery trucks to the greater Boston area in recent years, we believed we could better serve our customers with a location in the Metro West area.
Since then, Lampson Lumber was acquired in March of 2015 continuing over 100 years of service to the Hudson area and another family owned operation, Doyles Lumber in Andover was acquired in September of 2017. These locations serve as critical delivery outposts for the entire operation but along with all six yards, are extremely convenient pickup locations as well.
Cherishing Relationships
At the end of the day, it’s about the relationships. We know that unless we meet people where and how they need to be met, we can’t fill their needs. Every day, we strive to meet the high standard set so many years ago. We know life is about much more than worldly possessions. That’s why honesty, integrity, and hard work undergird all we do at Koopman Lumber.
We will continue to be grateful every day for the blessing of being able to serve those that give us the opportunity to serve them.
