ABOUT US

Who We Are

Serving more than 700 industrial manufacturing clients for over 50 years, Industrial Wholesale & Lumber supplies wooden shipping crates, wooden boxes, wholesale lumber, pallets, international shipping containers and hardware. IWL is located in Schiller Park, Illinois, just east of O’Hare International Airport. This convenient location affords easy access to the I-90, I-290, I-294 corridor for our fleet of delivery trucks. Our drivers can be anywhere in the Chicagoland area within an hour. For clients with their own trucks near O’Hare, material pickup is easily accomplished.

Industrial & Wholesale Lumber is a privately owned and operated lumberyard, with roots dating back to the mid-nineteenth century, when it was called Reitz Lumber Company. Former owner, John Augustus Reitz was nicknamed “The Lumber Baron” after milling more board footage of hardwood lumber than any other mill in the country. Mr. Reitz sold the struggling business to a 28-year old employee, John A. Kathrein, in 1958, who moved the company to its current location and gave it the name “Industrial & Wholesale Lumber.” Over the next 40 years, John A. Kathrein transformed the company from a hardwood mill to the world-class industrial and commercial wholesale lumber supply company it is today.

Following John A. Kathrein’s passing in 1999, his son, John R. Kathrein, became President and CEO. John R. credits IWL’s outstanding longevity and growth to the impressive services offered, product availability, competitive pricing, reliable on-time deliveries and overall flexibility.

Our Retail/Commercial Division

IWL has three unique divisions, retail, commercial and industrial. Our retail/commercial division, Totem Lumber & Supply, is one of the most active commercial lumber and building supply yards in the area; serving commercial contractor accounts of all sizes. As an affiliate of ACE Hardware, IWL has the ability to source any product. Many of our industrial accounts use us as a “one stop shop” for all their lumber, maintenance and janitorial needs.