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Building supplies in state lower priced than you might imagine with no major shortages.

Article Excerpt
For building supply stores in Mississippi, sales are like nothing ever seen before. But finding enough good people to ring up all the sales at cash registers, help customers find what they need and keep the shelves restocked with goods is a major challenge.

Signs of the times are large numbers of "help wanted" roadside signs strung near the major Coast building supply retailers such as The Home Depot and Lowe's Home Improvement. Hiring fairs are being conducted on a regular basis, and other efforts are being made to beef up the labor force.

The labor crunch may get even worse with the start of hurricane season. Once there is a storm in the Gulf, building supply stores have to be staffed up to be flooded by customers picking up supplies such as generators and plywood to cover windows.

"Many of our folks are on holiday at this time, myself included," said Don Harrison, public relations manager for the southern division of The Home Depot. "It is necessary to...