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Two pro dealers along the Eastern Coast of Maine are planning to combine operations and form a 10-unit LBM chain.

Viking Lumber, a five-location dealer based in Belfast, Maine, will combine with Rhoades Building Products, which also operates five locations in East-Central Maine, effective Jan. 1. The Rhoades units will be rebranded as Viking Lumber, but the company will be jointly owned by the Flanagan family, who own Viking Lumber, and Chris Rhoades, CEO of Rhoades Lumber.

The merger allows the new company, which will employ 200 workers, to expand its building materials products to customers in Hancock, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Waldo and Washington counties.

Founded in 1944, Viking Lumber has five lumberyards in Belfast, Hancock, Lincolnville, Vinalhaven and Warren, as well as a stone division called Viking Hardscapes. Rhoades Building Products has expanded through acquisitions in 2004 and 2007, in addition to opening a window and door showroom in 2006. It now has locations in Blue Hill, Ellsworth, Holden, Machias and Milbridge.