The new owner of Crouse Lumber is excited about a new opportunity in downtown Lima.
Marvin Schwartz closed on the sale of the property on Friday.
“ It’s not so much just the property, it’s the people that are here. It’s got a lot of strong history, strong employees and I want to be a part of something bigger and being part of this group is much bigger than myself. Seeing that this property has had a lumber yard since 1897 a lot better foundation to start with,” said Schwartz.
Schwartz owns 501 Metals in Hume and plans to rename Crouse Lumber 501 Metals and Lumber.
“ Adding a lot of metal roofing and siding because we manufacture those things. So being manufactured direct you get that service, you can buy it here, see it made and enjoy the process and put it on your own home,” said Schwartz.
And he’s excited about working with longtime employees like John Briggs.
“When Marvin came aboard and told what his ideas were and what he was going to do with the place...very excited. All of the employees has a buzz going on, something that’s not been around for a while. Now it’s like starting over ,” said Briggs.
Other than a name change, what other changes might we see?
“Well we’re hoping to improve any kind of service that we have currently. I know that the people here do a great job, so I don’t know there’s a lot to change that way, so I’m pretty excited to be a part of this group, be a part of downtown Lima and locally owned here and locally operated and with the same great people have been here before. They are going to continue on,” added Schwartz.
