Cook's Lumber in Mt. Pleasant closes due to poor economy, competition

A business icon in the Mt. Pleasant community recently closed -- mainly due to the poor economy and competition in the business.

Build-It Cook's Way closed earlier this month.

Go inside Cook's Lumber, and all is quiet. A large photograph hangs in the dark above a display of paper towels near a cash register.

The shot was taken in 1910 and captured the late J.H. Cook posing proudly in front of the Mt. Pleasant lumber yard that was located near Main Street.

The facility was part of a company Cook founded in Yukon a year prior.

Since that time, Cook and his family also owned and operated lumber yards in Jeannette, Greensburg and Yukon.

The Mt. Pleasant branch of the business has been operated and owned by Jim Cook since 1977.

The Mt. Pleasant store was shuttered because of the dragging economy and the tough competition it faced from chain stores built over time along nearby Route 119, Cook said.

"We've been going downhill gradually for some time now," he said. "There comes a time when you have to move on."

The Cooks bought the business from Cook's father, Dan W. Cook.

The business, which rented equipment and sold toy trains, hardware supplies and lumber, was first opened by J.H. Cook at a different site along East Main Street in 1934.

Dan Cook bought Mt. Pleasant Lumber Company at the business' current four-acre location in 1941 and relocated there.

After Jim Cook took over, he renovated the building in the 1990s. He also purchased a produce warehouse across Shupe's Run to expand the business.

Business was booming about 20 years ago when there were 22 employees at the lumber company, Cook said.

That number eventually was reduced to six, including Bridgeport's Ken Lazar.

"It's a shock, but it is what it is," said Lazar, who had worked at the store for more than three decades. "The big stores are pushing out the little ones."

He said he did "a little bit of everything" at the store over the years.

"I wouldn't have worked there 33 years if I thought it was a bad place."

Lazar, who is in his 50s, said he wished he could have retired from Cook's. He said he plans to move on by applying for jobs at other businesses.

"You've got your future to look forward to," he said.

Employee and borough resident Allyssa Yanniello, the store's youngest worker at 17, had worked there for about a year.

She said she got emotional when the Cooks broke the news to her because she enjoyed working for the family.

"Jim told me that it was over and that they were shutting down, and I cried," she said.

Yanniello, who worked as a cashier, said she appreciated the opportunity to work at the store, her first job.

"It was interesting to meet all those people, people I wouldn't normally meet," she said.

Jim Cook, 70, and his wife Jill, also 70, plan to retire but remain involved in the community.

Jim Cook is president of the Mt. Pleasant Public Library's board of directors.

He also plans to further indulge in such hobbies as taking abstract photography and playing the trombone.

Jill Cook is treasurer of the library board and a member of the Women's Saturday Afternoon Club of Scottdale and Mt. Pleasant.

The couple said they also plan to play tennis and travel.

Borough manager Jeff Landy said the closure of the business will be a loss.

"It's never good for a community to have a business close, especially a business like Cook's Lumber that's been around for a long time," he said. "I wish the Cooks well."

The Cooks plan to hold a rental equipment auction at the site from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 9.

The rest of the store's inventory and fixtures will be auctioned off Oct. 23, he said. All items can be seen beforehand at the auctioneer's website .