Ziegler Lumber Co., of Spokane, says it is selling three of its Ziggys building-supply stores in southern Idaho and southeastern Oregon and plans to use the proceeds to build additional outlets in Eastern Washington and North Idaho.


Neil Ziegler, the companys vice president of finance, says the sale of the three stores to Anderson Lumber Co., of Ogden, Utah, is pending, and he expects the transaction to be completed by the end of the month. The stores that are to be sold are located in Boise and Caldwell, Idaho, and Ontario, Ore., which is about 60 miles northwest of Boise and just west of the Oregon-Idaho border. Those stores employ a total of about 50 people, Ziegler says. He adds that Anderson Lumber has said it plans to rehire essentially the whole crew.


Ziegler declines to disclose the terms of the transaction, but says that Anderson Lumber made us an offer we couldnt refuse.


The sale will give Ziegler Lumber a strong cash position, which would allow the Spokane company to weather a potential downturn in the Inland Northwest economy and to acquire commercial property upon which it could build additional stores, Ziegler says.


Once the sale has been completed, Ziegler Lumber plans to look for building sites in areas within Eastern Washington and North Idaho where it doesnt already operate stores, Ziegler says. The company prefers to buy eight- to 20-acre parcels and build about 50,000-square-foot stores on the properties, he says. The company built new stores in Post Falls in 1997 and in Lewiston this year.


In addition to the stores in Boise, Caldwell, and Ontario, Ziegler Lumber operates three Spokane stores and one store each in Post Falls, Hayden Lake, and Lewiston, Idaho. The company currently has no plans to sell its outlets in the Spokane area or North Idaho, Ziegler says.