For 125 years, the North American Wholesale Lumber Association (NAWLA) has provided lumber wholesalers with services, camaraderie and a shared voice, one that resonates as strongly today as at any time in its history. Certainly, the road has not always been a smooth one. But the need for an organization like NAWLA has been unmistakable. Through the 1880s, most state lumber dealers associations were comprised of both wholesalers and retailers, who saw their roles as wholly distinct. Mills would manufacture the product, sell it to regional wholesalers, who would place it with local retailers, who would re-sell it to the final end-users. But by 1890, the economy began to falter, and some retailers—desperate to cut their costs—started going around the wholesalers and approached mills to buy direct. At the same time, some wholesalers started going around retailers by selling direct to end-users. Once fraternal groups suddenly turned acrimonious, and both retailers and wholesalers began abandoning the associations en masse.