At Home s18
by Bob Waite
The Doylestown location of Tague Lumber is more than a place where builders and contractors can buy quality lumber, although it is certainly that. General Manager Matt Potter explains that the location has a Plumsteadville address but is equipped to serve all of Bucks County. “We handle lumber, plywood for framing houses, residential and commercial. We also have a custom millshop at our Phoenixville location, and we are well-known for our moulding library which includes over 2,000 profiles. We carry a full line of building products including windows, interior and exterior doors, decking and siding, and hardware. We opened our new kitchen and bath showroom in September of 2017.”
Tague Lumber is a family-owned business that has been successfully operating since 1908. It is a growing enterprise, crediting customer service and quality products as the basis ofits expansion. According to Thomas J. Vanleer, the vice president of sales and marketing, Tague has five lumber yards, a commercial door division, a custom millshop, two showrooms and a pre-hung door shop. The company currently employs 235 people.
Before completion of the Doylestown showroom in the fall of 2017, the only showroom that Tague owned was in Malvern, Pennsylvania. The difference between the two is that the Doylestown showroom is also connected to a full-service lumber yard. The combination kitchen and bath showroom with window and door displays plus a lumber yard is unique to the Doylestown location. Tague calls it a hybrid facility.
Not only does Doylestown have a kitchen and bath showroom, but it also has professionally certified designers on staff. Matt says, “People like to see cabinetry, doors, windows, millwork and hardware up close before they make such a large purchase. The showroom is a great resource for homeowners as well as contractors, builders, remodelers, and architects.”
Carolyn Maglio, a kitchen designer with 40 years of experience, smiles as she remembers the start of her career at the age of 14. Her family was remodeling their home and she designed the kitchen and bath. Her father, who was understandably proud of Carolyn, told someone about this and he hired Carolyn at the age of 15 to design kitchens.
Carolyn’s motivation as a designer is pleasing her clients. She says, “I love my clients. I like making them happy. The builder can come in and work with me, or customers are sent in by the builder, but many times homeowners stop by on their own. I get a lot of referrals and I get a lot of repeat customers from previous renovations. I love what I do and I guess it shows.”
Madeline Tague is new to the design department. She is the daughter of Vincent Tague Jr., the president of Tague Lumber. She is grateful to get into the family business. She explains, “I graduated from school a few years ago and got a job in a completely different industry. I moved back to the Philadelphia area, and what better opportunity is there than to get involved in the family business? I was hesitant at first. You grow up with something and you see your family do it, so is it just what I do or do I really want to do it? I realized it was an amazing opportunity.
I joined in October and am so glad I am here where we have a wealth of designers with 40 plus years of experience. For me, it’s been great learning from them.”
Like Carolyn, Madeline loves her clients. She is a quick study and a natural at design. But she also loves the legacy that she carries. “My motivation is to continue the family business alongside my dad and my grandfather. Also seeing how my brother and I can grow the business in the future.”
Thomas Vanleer says, “As a company, we are team focused. Our sales people must be knowledgeable about our products and services, so they receive constant training. They work in teams. We have three teams at this location.”
Designer Wanda Pierce especially loves working with remodeling contractors. She says, “When I began over 40 years ago, I was in sales at the time. I didn’t know anything about kitchens and baths except what they’re used for, then I started designing. Now, even with four decades of design experience I still love it.”
Explaining her design process, Wanda says, “I usually get ideas from the customer first. I will often ask them to stop by and look around our show room. That way I get an idea of what they like—what’s their focus. Then usually I go out and check the measurements. It doesn’t always work that way. It really depends on the contractor and on the homeowner.”
Wanda not only loves dealing with customers, she enjoys the entire design process. “I do something different every day. I like the creative aspect of it. It’s not boring. I love dealing with people. And it’s nice to see the end result — happy and satisfied customers.”
The general manager, Matt Potter, has worked for the company since he was 15 years old. He says, I’ve worked for the Tagues for 35 years. I like the aspects of the business and that it is a family business. I enjoy watching our company grow. I’m proud of it.”
Being a family business makes Tague Lumber different than other businesses. They have been in the business for 108 years and there are still Tagues at the helm. Right now Vince Sr. is the CEO and his son, Vince Jr. is the president. Vince III, Madeline’s brother (a year older), is now changing the company’s computer system.
Katie Connor, Tague’s director of advertising, is in awe of the accomplishments of the Tague family. She recalls, “We hosted the Bucks/Mont NARI members at the Showroom in November and their guest speaker presented on the topic of family owned companies and their longevity. An interesting fact that I took away from that was that only about 30% of all family-owned businesses survive into the second generation; 12% will still be viable into the third generation, with only 3% of all family businesses operating at the fourth-generation level and beyond. So for us to have the opportunity to work for a company owned and operated by five generations of the same family is really quite amazing.”
Tague designers are sensitive to the all the current fashions in kitchen and bath design. The trend in both kitchens and baths is still minimalistic but colors are changing slightly. Wanda says, “Some white is still there, but I’m seeing a trend back to the lighter wood tones, or gray. Gray is very popular right now.” Carolyn adds, “Now the trends are leaning to white and gray, not yet to creams, but now there are more whites. There are five different whites now and I would say that grays and whites are probably 75 percent of my current sales.”
Colors according to Carolyn tend to get bolder as the economy gets better and when resale is not as major a feature in selecting a kitchen design. A conservative approach is to stay with the whites and grays but add color decoratively and with accessories.
Tague Lumber is a growing company that believes in treating their employees fairly and investing in their growth through training and education. Katie Connor, who comes from a background in magazine editing, advertising and marketing and works with Thomas Vanleer has been at the company for eight years. She says, “We’ve doubled in size since I’ve come. I find that the company is well run because it is a family business. The family takes an active interest in all aspects of the company and are easily approachable. They have a unique understanding of what marketing brings to the table and how it can help a business succeed. That makes my job not only interesting but fun.”
Fun seems to be part of the whole Tague experience, for designers, sales teams, and especially the clients. Matt Potter says, “We offer the things that people live with for a long time. We want our customers to feel confident with their choices and we want them to be happy with their experience at Tague Lumber. Those aspects of the job are really rewarding.”
Tague Lumber & Tague Design Showroom is located at 6100 Easton Road, Plumsteadville, PA. For more information, call 215-348-9408 or email Tvanleer@taguelumber.com.
Bob Waite is the editor of Bucks County Magazine.