ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 25, 1995 TAG: 9512260056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-7 EDITION: HOLIDAY
DATELINE: STAFFORD
SOURCE: Associated Press
Roadside firewood salesmen say they're struggling this season because too many peddlers have gotten into the business.
``Everybody and their brother is doing it right now,'' said Ander Garvey, whose wood sales are his main source of income this time of year.
Many people try to sell wood at roadside stands or in the back of pickup trucks during the winter. Several peddlers in Stafford County said the early outlook isn't heartening, because there are too many sellers and not enough wood.
``There's a big demand for firewood here, but you can't find it. So many people are into it now,'' said seller Donnie Arrington.
Arrington said he gets most of his wood when sites are cleared for construction projects, sometimes at no cost. Even though Stafford is growing rapidly and the county has recently cleared some major development projects, he said there hasn't been as much actual building this year as in the past. The wood he's selling now, which he splits and delivers himself, was cleared from a construction project in Manassas.
Garvey buys wood presplit for his roadside business, which cuts his profits. He may turn a 50 percent profit on the 4-by-8-foot stacks he sells for $85, or double his money on the one-fire stacks he sells for $10.
Suppliers have been scarce, he said, probably holding out for better prices.
Ronnie Embrey of King George just entered the wood-selling business after being laid off from his construction job.
``We have one day we're real busy, then two or three we're slow,'' he said. Like many other sellers, he has taken out a classified ad in a newspaper. His price of $100 per cord for seasoned hardwood, delivered and split, is consistent with the competition.
Garvey and Arrington said the increased number of people in the market has spawned some bad practices. Arrington displays in his windshield a $25 peddler's license for his mobile operation, but he said many of his peers skip that step.
Worse, said Arrington, many people have taken to selling pine and poplar. The sap of pine is bad for chimneys, he said, and poplar provides a third of the burning time that hardwoods such as oak do. Garvey said some sellers will mix those woods into their hardwood stacks.
``Like everything else,'' Garvey said of the firewood business, ``too many cutthroats in it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB