Cathy Cohne, Melrose Lumber Co.
About this episode
Cathy Cohne discusses her family's legacy in the lumber business and the challenges of competing with big box stores.
In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Cathy Cohne, fifth generation at Melrose Lumber Co. in Austin, New York. The company was founded in 1922 by Cathy's great-great-grandfather, and when he passed away early, his wife, a Russian immigrant with no English, stepped in and kept the doors open during the Depression. That grit runs through the whole story. The family later operated Manhattan Lumber Company in the city before New York's Urban Renewal program purchased the location, and a fire in the 1960s forced a move from the Melrose section of the Bronx to where they are today. Cathy grew up in the business. If she wasn't in school, she was stocking shelves, helping customers, and making sure everything looked right. She went on to earn a business degree with a minor in marketing and later an MBA, always with the family business in the back of her mind. After COVID, she stepped fully into a leadership role alongside her dad, and the two manage the operation together with her mom handling the books. Melrose Lumber Co. is about 70 percent lumber and the rest hardware, essentially a miniature home center. They carry plywood, dimensional lumber…
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