Hilltop Lumber named Minnesota dealer of year

Hilltop Lumber Company, which has four locations in the area, was named the Minnesota Lumber and Building Material Dealer of the Year at the 2013 Northwestern Building Products Expo held in St. Cloud.

Owners Paul and Brian Klimek, father and son, accepted the award and thanked their family and vendors for the support they have had over the years.

Paul Klimek grew up following his father into construction business. In 1987 they were ready to expand into something new. They learned that the lumber yard in Glenwood, which had been closed for a year, was for sale and decided to reopen it in 1988.

In 1994 he built a yard in Alexandria, and then bought two closed yards; one in Parkers Prairie in 2000 and the other in Brandon in 2004. By that time, the walls were not big enough to hold all that the Klimeks wanted to offer at the Alexandria store so they did a major addition in 2005.

The Klimeks said it made business sense to expand their radius around Alexandria, which had become their hub of operation. It is also home to Hilltop’s “Idea House,” where customers can see actual products installed in a house-like setting.

“People need to see, touch and feel the product to decide what they like,” said Brian Klimek. “This is especially helpful for the women who come to make their selections.”

The other reason they opened these yards was to help those towns have a store convenient for them and so the towns would have active businesses employing local people.

Hilltop Lumber has been an active supporter of community events, non-profits groups and sports teams, such as the Beetles baseball team and Blizzard hockey team.

Paul gives Brian all the credit for keeping their team strong with continual training, opening communication between all the departments and staying on top of giving them the best tools they can for them to do their jobs. That includes computerized estimating and design software, boom trucks, piggybacks, and computers. Brian is also instrumental in developing their online presence.

Northwestern Lumber Association is a trade organization headquartered in Minneapolis that represents 725 independent lumber and building material retailers and their suppliers in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.

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