After 71 years in business at the same location on 27 Avenue just off So. Dixie Highway, Shell Lumber Co. is a Miami institution.

In fact, about 1,000 people come into the store each day, shopping for everything from plywood and timber in the lumberyard to three-cent screws and home-care products on the Ace Hardware side of the operation, generating annual sales of $10-million.

"Shell Lumber, thankfully, has two very strong niches," explained general manager Andy Haase. "The first is offering the high-end, top-quality product and the second niche is providing quality customer service. We're a high-volume lumber yard with a great location and we give great service to our customers."

Haase notes that Shell Lumber, 2733 SW 27 Avenue, has built its reputation over the years by successfully serving these two niches, which translates into its strong daily business traffic.

"In Miami, in every kind of store, there are just so many people and everybody is waiting on line," he said. "Our goal is to get everybody in and out as fast as possible."

Haase notes that Shell Lumber is an old-fashioned company that has survived by adhering to its business principles.

"The Shell family started the company shortly after the Flagler Railroad people laid the tracks," Haase said. "The Shells helped build Miami, along with Lindsay Lumber. Lindsay grew huge and then disappeared. Shell stayed with this one location and that's probably why we're still around."

The Shell family no longer has anything to do with the company, hasn't been involved for quite some time. Paul Maron has owned the company for 20 years, is the third owner since the Shells founded the business and is on the property every day "in uniform and helping customers."

"It was Maron who brought Ace Hardware into the mix," said Haase. "Ace Hardware is a cooperative, so Shell Lumber is a dealer-owned co-op. Ace members have the buying power of the big Ace Hardware warehouses throughout the country, but everybody owns their own individual store."

Haase says being a part of Ace Hardware allows a small company like Shell Lumber to compete with the Home Depot stores, which he calls 'the big boxes.'

"What's happening in our industry is the big boxes come in and stomp out all the little guys," said Haase. "In just the last two years, Dade Lumber ­ which used to be across the street on US One ­ closed down and Just Rite Lumber down near the Falls also closed. Now there are only a few independent lumberyards left."