History
The idea of American Wood Source has come through a culmination of experiences while working in the woodworking industry on many levels for the past 20 years. The story begins when Dave Thompson, our owner, began his work as a journeyman finishing superintendent at Woodbourne Cabinetry is downtown St. Louis, while Mary Kay ran a small finishing distribution company. Through that priceless experience, we gained understanding on how to run an efficient cabinetry business and the needs of individual craftsman in terms of the importance of producing a quality product and timely delivery. These were key business concepts for us.
Dave moved easily into our own cabinetmaking business, Fine Wood Interiors in 1991, that is still running today. By engaging in the purchasing end of lumber products, he experienced first hand a huge gap in the industry today: the unique needs of the small to midsize cabinet shop that sometimes go unmet. While our suppliers were putting great efforts toward the larger, more profitable companies, small companies like ours were often neglected, at times to the point of alienation in the marketplace in terms of pricing, service and a basic attitude of respect.
Dave moved into lumber sales for a Cincinnati company with those gaps in mind. As a result, he was incredible successful working with the large and small businesses. During those years, Dave began to sketch a business plan in his mind of a company providing high quality custom mouldings, plywood and hardwood lumber for the large purchasers and small shops. Other ideas that have come into being are a cut to size program for large uniform parts production, and our custom laid up plywood assembly.
American Wood Source was launched October 11, 2007. We have trained our employees, from the operations manager to our driver, that our customers are our greatest commodity. We visit large and small businesses to tour their facilities and show interest in their projects. We love to see where are products are landing! We take time to listen to their needs, even the guy working out of his garage.
As expected, our acceptance into the marketplace has been stellar. We are obtaining new customers every week and striving daily to be the best in the business. Our motto “You are the Craftsman, We are your Wood Source” is evolving into a reality and we are constantly looking into the future for new ideas on how to better serve our customers.
