For a mere $1.5 million, the building materials wholesaler is getting more than 13 acres of land adjacent Highway 26 at Glencoe Road, the only remaining undeveloped interchange with access from both sides; 105,000 sf of buildings, half of which are less than two years old; and the rolling stock and multi-million equipment necessary for the new Jewett-Cameron Seed Co.

The land by itself is worth the purchase price, if not three times as much given its likely eventual use as retail, and the seed business was generating $10 million in sales annually before AgriBioTech purchased the full-meal deal in January of 1998 for $6 million in cash and debt (plus 460,000 shares of its now worthless stock) and ten proceeded to double the plant's capacity.

Jewett-Cameron's head honcho Donald Boone tells GlobeSt.com that he's happy to continue to run a seed processing, storage and brokerage business on the property (31345 N.W. Beach Road) for now. Boone does, however, see a time when it "should have to be a Fred Meyer or Home Depot or something."

A Home Depot would be fitting. Aside from an up-and-coming seed business that Boone expects "to make an important division of the company," Jewett-Cameron's makes its money - $30 million in sales in the past 12 months - being a supplier of value-added residential repair and remodeling materials to major home improvement center chains in the western United States.

Balancing out Boone's obvious pleasure in having finagled such a deal is the displeasure of the guy who unwittingly handed it to Boone on a silver platter. As Boone tells it, he heard about the property on Aug. 2, when an associate mentioned that a previous deal to purchase the property had fallen through due to lack of financing.

Boone, whose Jewett-Cameron headquarters is just across the highway in North Plains, quickly found the buyer who couldn't make it happen. The buyer proceeded to convince Boone of the benefits of the deal, in hopes of entering into a partnership.

When Boone returned and said Jewett would have to own 80 percent of the partnership, the potential partner said no deal. Boone submitted an all-cash bid to the federal court the next day. "We haven't talked since," said Boone.