Cherry is ripe for picking

There’s not much demand for cherry (prunus serotina) at the wholesale level, since those that buy in bulk are specifying other species, according to suppliers interviewed by Woodshop News. That leaves more for the retailers.

“Every time we get cherry in, it moves. It’s just not moving with the truckload and half truckload orders,” says Chad Muterspaw of C.R. Muterspaw Lumber in Xenia, Ohio. “The big kitchen manufacturers aren’t using it. But on the retail side and on the hobby end, guys still love cherry.

“We’re not seeing as much of the figured stock like we used to. So that’s been a little bit challenging. Since sales have been down, some [mills] haven’t dried any cherry in maybe six months because they’ve got stock.”

“Cherry, on the wholesale market, is down significantly, but there still seems to be consumer demand for it,” says Lou Irion of Irion Lumber in Wellsboro, Pa., “and the more specialized material you have, rather than just run of the mill, the better chance you’re going to have people interested.

“We’ve been doing quite well with cherry. We really push it. The price is down so the logs are really good. We’re cutting beautiful wide sets. We can’t find any other log that has that kind of yield. Because we’re in cherry country and because we have access to such good logs, we’ve really focused on it. We have a lot of interest in our matched sets, wide lumber, and the figured cherry.”

“On the veneer side, we’re not seeing a whole lot with cherry,” says Matt Gilland of Superior Veneer in East Aurora, N.Y. “We get the occasional request, but still oak and walnut are the two biggies. We’ve seen a little bit here and there for plain sliced cherry, but it’s been pretty limited.

“It’s a beautiful wood. I’d love to see more of it being utilized. Hopefully these trends change, and people start picking it up again.”

Originally published in the January 2025 issue of Woodshop News.