Starting a lumberyard amid a housing downturn isn't easy, but Barnett has prevailed. More
Rich and Randy Mahaffey, who led Ply Mart both when it became ProSales' Dealer of... More
A reckless man inspired this month's cover story. On a lumberyard visit a few years back, senior editor Andy Carlo saw a yard employee standing on the tines of a forklift high in the air, holding down a pallet of 2x4s as the machine rolled across the yard. With the man's back to the forklift's path, one false move could have resulted in doom. Luckily, he didn't get hurt, but his act prompted Carlo to investigate the state of safety at LBM operations nationwide. More
A famished housing market and a wave of debt proved too large to overcome for PlyMart, once one of the industry's brightest stars and a titan in the metro Atlanta market. Ply Mart senior vice president Bill Hofius told ProSales today, May 20, that the company is liquidating nearly all of its assets after not finding a buyer for its LBM division and will close its doors in the coming weeks. More
Lumber and building materials dealers are employing a range of strategies, from yard management policies to the latest high-tech gadgetry, to put a lid on inventory losses. Their efforts are especially important today; while the problem of theft is as old as time, dishonest employees, sleazy customers, and hardened criminals are more aggressive than ever. More
If you ever doubted that necessity is the mother of invention, take a look at the programs being created by the pro dealers that serve the largest builders and contractors. ORCO Construction Supply, the Livermore, Calif.-based distributor of hardware and tools, this year is rolling out a program to its top 200 contractor-customers that should help those customers assess the productivity of their jobsite management. Meanwhile, Dallas-based Builders FirstSource is increasing its capacity to produce trusses, panels, and millwork; New York's Riverhead Building Supply has expanded its Web services; and Ply Mart of Georgia says its salespeople are on sites so often they've become the "right hands" of construction foremen. More
Our company has been recognized as PROSALES' Dealer of the Year for 2006. That is... More
Ever since their days in college basketball, people have looked up to the Mahaffey family. In the succeeding 40 years, they've fostered a culture at Ply Mart that values innovation and growth. The success of that company and that culture have earned the Norcross, Ga., company the 2006 ProSales Dealer of the Year award. More
Rich and Randy Mahaffey normally are pretty astute fellows, but they gave me a befuddled look during my interview with them for this month's profile of their company, Ply Mart, recipient of the 2006 ProSales Dealer of the Year award. They were confused because I had asked them what they thought of a few dealer execs who told me they weren't much interested in growth. That was an overstatement, actually; what those other dealers really meant was that they weren't interested in the kind of rapid expansion that produces giants like Pro-Build or Stock Building Supply. But the story did succeed in prompting a discussion about growth, and it yielded a surprising answer. More
When Ply Mart entered into an inventory pilot program earlier this year with... More
