ProSales' May 1992 cover, featuring our first ProSales 100
ProSales' May 1992 cover, featuring our first ProSales 100

LBM was different a quarter-century ago, but not so different as to be unrecognizable. You can tell this by scanning the names and fates of the companies that filled our first ProSales 100 list in 1992.

Home centers still were a big thing in those final days before big boxes like The Home Depot and Lowe's started popping up everywhere. Only 40 of the 100 companies got 90% or more of their revenues from pros; this year, 64 do.

So, what happened to these companies? Based on what you told us and what we had in our records, 41 companies are still here, usually under their original name but sometimes with an updated logo or specialty. Another 38 companies were bought--sometimes several times--over the past 25 years. We don't know how many of the original firms' branches survive. And of the final 21 companies, 19 are completely out of business and two others were broken up so severely that they also are basically gone.

ProSales thanks all the readers who helped us track down what happened to these companies. If you disagree with what we've reported or have extra details to report, tell us. Write to me at [email protected].

The 1992 ProSales 100
Rank* Company ’91 Total Sales ($mlns) Fate / Current Owner
1 84 Lumber $848 Still Here
2 Wickes Lumber 750 Sold to Various Firms
3 Erb Lumber 353 Mostly R.I.P.
4 Carolina Builders 194 BMC
5 Harcros Lumber & Bldg Supplies (Roanoke, VA) 350 R.I.P.
6 BMC West 208 BMC
7 Wolohan Lumber 304 BFS
8 Carter-Jones Lumber 285 Still Here
9 Leeds Bldg Centers (Marietta, GA) 145 BFS
10 Edward Hines Lumber 175 US LBM
11 Meek’s Bldg Centers 173 Still Here
12 Fagon’s (Wexford, PA) 120 Busy Beaver
13 Terry Cos. (Tarzana, CA) 115 BMC
14 Miron Bldg Products (Kingston, NY) 150 R.I.P.
15 Foxworth-Galbraith 135 Still Here
16 Strober Organization 100 BFS
17 Copeland Lumber Yards (Portland, OR) 152 Mostly R.I.P.
18 Anderson Lumber (Ogden, UT) 110 BMC
19 Gerrity Bldg Centers (Newton Falls, MA) 110 R.I.P.
20 Dixieline Lumber 125 BFS
21 West Bldg Materials (Atlanta, GA) 157 Sold to Various Firms
22 A.C. Houston Lumber (Wichita, KS) 81 Still Here in ID, CA
23 Scherer Bros. Lumber 80 Still Here
24 Stock Lumber (Green Bay, WI) 75 US LBM
25 Alexander Lumber 100 Still Here
26 Wolf Organization 92 Distro only
27 Seigle’s Home & Bldg Centers 105 Revived
28 National Lumber (Warren, MI) 63 R.I.P.
29 Builderway (Greenville, SC) 72 BFS
30 Pelican Bldg Centers 82 BFS
31 Thompson Bldg Materials (Orange, CA) 71 Still Here
32 Lyman Lumber 58 US LBM
33 Bison Bldg Materials 56 BMC
34 Barr Lumber 63 Ganahl
35 Latham Lumber Sales (Roseville, CA) 55 R.I.P.
36 Brown-Graves 56 Still Here
37 Cox Lumber 59 Revived as Tibbetts
38 Honsador 49 Still Here
39 Haddonfield Lumber 48 BFS
40 National Home Center 70 BMC
41 Western Lumber (National City, CA) 60 R.I.P.
42 Ganahl Lumber 48 Still Here
43 Blackstone Co. (East Brunswick, NJ) 51 BFS
44 Feldman Lumber 45 US LBM
45 Holmes Lumber (Jacksonville, FL) 41 BFS
46 Builders Supply (Omaha, NE) 41 Still Here
47 Ply-Marts 38 Revived as PMC
48 Great Plains Supply (St. Paul, MN) 52 1 Millwork Firm Left
49 General Bldg Products (Medford, NY) 45 R.I.P.
50 HPM Bldg Supply 45 Still Here
51 Midpac Lumber (Honolulu, HI) 38 R.I.P.
52 Western Home Center (Cincinnati, OH) 38 BFS
53 Mayfield Bldg Supply (Arlington, TX) 36 BFS
54 San Lorenzo Lumber 53 BFS
55 Ridout Lumber 48 US LBM
56 Star Lumber 62 Still Here
57 Lezzer Cash & Carry 48 Still Here
58 Standard Cos. 41 US LBM
59 E.C. Barton & Co. 54 Still Here
60 Golden State Lumber 35 Still Here
61 Daniels-McCray Lumber 33 Still Here
62 Grove Lumber (Ontario, CA) 32 Still Here
63 Lampert Yards 47 US LBM
64 Causeway Lumber 33 Still Here
65 Pine Tree Lumber (Escondido, CA) 33 Still Here
66 MG Bldg Materials 40 Still Here
67 Bellevue Builders Supply 48 US LBM
68 Hancock Lumber 45 Still Here
69 Stripling Blake Lumber (Austin, TX) 39 BMC
70 Choo-Choo Supply 32 BMC
71 Davidson Industries (Southport, IN) 27 R.I.P.
72 F.E. Wheaton Lumber 27 R.I.P.
73 Curtis Lumber 50 Still Here
74 Builders General Supply (Little Silver, NJ) 31 Still Here
75 Hope Lumber 26 BFS
76 Raymond Building Supply 26 US LBM
77 Maryland Lumber (Baltimore) 25 R.I.P.
78 Roper Bros. Lumber 25 R.I.P.
79 William M. Young 25 R.I.P.
80 R.P. Lumber 34 Still Here
81 Yaeger & Kirk (Santa Rosa, CA) 30 R.I.P.
82 J.C. Snavely & Sons 27 Still Here
83 Hayward Lumber 39 Still Here
84 Fingerle Lumber 30 Still Here
85 Millard Lumber 30 Still Here
86 Nassau Suffolk Lumber 30 Riverhead Bldg Supply
87 Richardson Industries (Sheboygan Falls, WI) 31 Truss maker
88 Dolan Lumber & Truss (Sacramento, CA) 22 R.I.P.
89 Babbitt Brothers (Phoenix, AZ) 26 BFS
90 Walter & Jackson (Christiana, PA) 23 Still Here
91 Cedarburg (Wis.) Lumber 24 R.I.P.
92 Hammond Lumber 29 Still Here
93 Masten Home Centers (Milford, DE) 30 R.I.P.
94 Sinclair Lumber (Laurinburg, NC) 22 R.I.P.
95 Lee Lumber 21 Still Here
96 Lummus Supply 20 Still Here
97 Boland Maloney Lumber 19 US LBM
98 J.T. Home & Builders Centers (Newport, RI) 18 Still Here
99 Riemeier Lumber (Cincinnati, OH) 18 R.I.P.
100 Hoida Inc. (Green Bay, WI) 17 BFS
*--Rankings are based on sales to pros only.