Sanford Lussier Millwork History
Sanford-Lussier began operations on July 1, 1946. In 1974, they incorporated. They were located at 2200 Nadeau St in Huntington Park, California 90255. PH# 323-585-2811 (no longer active).
At one point, they employed 40 full time employees in the wood manufacturing sector. Sadly, their operations closed approximately 2019, if my memory is correct.
Millwork is any type of woodwork that is produced in a mill. This includes doors, molding, trim, flooring, wall paneling and crown molding. Millwork is a wooden product that has been produced in a mill. Molding and flooring are often produced in mills and are therefore considered to be millwork.
source: Kitchen Cabinet Kings
Sanford-Lussier Products
Sanford Lussier (sometimes referred to as SanLu) was a manufacturer of high quality mouldings, flooring accessories and stair parts.
Located in the heart of industrial Los Angeles, they were a fierce competitor in the hardwood industry. Typically, they kept a standing inventory of finished handrails & mouldings at relatively fixed & low price-points in red oak, poplar, maple and cherry.
SanLu’s consistent high quality control and availability made them difficult for other hardwood lumber companies to compete. Additionally, long-standing relationships with stair part distributors such as Leepers Stair Parts, of Compton, CA, gave them consistent & predictable volume for many years. As a result, SanLu often had significant scale advantages against their hardwood competitors.
Sanford-Lussier Products
SanLu’s product line includes the following:
- Lumber
- Millwork
- Contractors
- Lumber & Wood Products Manufacturers
- Cut Stock
- Resawing Lumber
- Planing Lumber
- Manufacturers
- Lumber Wholesale
- Sawmills and Planing Mills
- General and Lumber Manufacturers & Wholesale
Closure of SanLu Operations
Tauber Aarons conducted an auction of Sanford-Lussier’s assets on March 3, 2020. As you can see from the items sold, their milling capabilities were vast.
I don’t know former President William K Pechstedt or the reasons behind Sanlu’s closure. However, here’s a reasonable guess. The Los Angeles real estate it operated on became so valuable that operating a wood manufacturing company was no longer the highest and best use. As you can see from this Loopnet listing, they were situated on almost a city block bordering the Alameda Corridor, close to LAX and the Port of Los Angeles.
Thus, another high quality hardwood operation closed without relocating to a lower-cost area. That is sad for the hardwood industry, but not unfortunately unusual.
Sanford Lussier Mouldings?
If you are looking to match old SanLu hardwood mouldings or millwork, please get in touch.
We are very familiar with many of the wood profiles they ran and their quality-control. Our operation in Fontana, California is nowhere near the scope of the former Sanford-Lussier plant but we have the capacity to make most of what they used to stock.
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