By Craig Webb The impact varies, but lumberyards, exterior specialists, and two-step distributors across the country are dealing with a pair of moves that have changed who handles and gets to sell some of the construction world's most popular products. On Aug. 3, James Hardie Building Products designated Boise Cascade's Building Materials Distribution (BMD) division as the sole nationwide distributor of the Hardie portfolio. BMD already was selling Hardie siding and trim, and

Company Segment Sales Change YoY Income Change YoY Adjusted EBITDA/After Charges YoY Builders FirstSource -8.8% -100.2% -34.9% Boise Cascade Distribution +5% -10% -7% Boise Cascade Wood Products +3% +84% +40% UFP Industries Construction -4.5% -28.8% -20.7% UFP Industries Retail +3.9% -10% -0.1% Sherwin-Williams Paint Stores Group +5.1% +4.5% Trex +8% -18% -8.2% JELD-WEN -0.7% -41.3% +8.5% SiteOne Landscape +5% +8% +5% Floor & Decor +3% +51.7% 1.2% Owens Corning Roofing 1% 34%

Data as of Aug. 5, 2026. Source: Webb Analytics By Craig Webb All the talk about a challenging economy and high lending rates hasn't slowed the past few years' hot pace for construction supply-related acquisitions and greenfields. And while QXO remains the biggest force, the number of buyers and types of deals extend far beyond what Brad Jacobs is doing. Through Aug. 5, Webb Analytics' Deals Database has recorded 70 purchases by 52 buyers for 788 construction supply locations

By Craig Webb Attorneys for Ace Hardware Corp., its units, and Epicor have urged a U.S. District Judge to dismiss a proposed class-action lawsuit that claims Ace fixes prices and limits store expansions. Separately, they said disputes concerning the two purchases at Ace stores that underlie the lawsuit are supposed to be settled via arbitration, not in court. The Aug. 3 fillings represent the first major actions in the case since the complaint was filed on May 7. That filing

DEALER 84 Lumber -- Stephen Manning -- Southeast Division Premium Window & Door Manager 84 Lumber -- Justin Reid -- OSR A-1 Global Holdings — Marcus Guy — Director of Operations A-1 Global Holdings — Terri McGailliard — VP & CFO ABC Supply -- Ross Tendler -- Future Manager Ace Retail Group — Tony Houk — SVP, Operations Alpha Lumber & Supply-- Branden Belser -- OSR DEALER Bliffert Lumber & Design -- Chuck Allendorf -- Manager BMR — Catherine Tessier — VP of Merchandising Buck

AI could change what builders and contractors expect from LBM dealers before it changes the lumberyard itself. Get ahead of the challenge by asking yourself four questions. By John Marshall Artificial Intelligence may change the expectations placed on LBM dealers before it changes the lumberyard itself. Builders, remodelers, and contractors are beginning to use AI to prepare estimates, organize project information, draft customer communications, and manage follow-up. Some wil

Grips Intelligence data also reveals online sales By Craig Webb Newly released data on mower sales at The Home Depot and Lowe's indicates Mother Nature isn't the only reason why spring is the big season for lawn and garden products. And related data shows that online remains a powerful purchasing option even after the weather warms. The data illustrates how mower sales at The Home Depot and Lowe's shot up starting the week of March 19 and peaked in the second half of April. T

DEALER 84 Lumber -- Stephen Manning -- SE Division Premium Window & Door Manager 84 Lumber -- Justin Reid -- OSR Bliffert Lumber -- Alyssa Richter -- Commercial Operations Manager Buck Lumber & Building Supply -- Jim McMahon -- Purchasing/Administration Manager Builders FirstSource -- David Boyce -- National Sales Representative-Multifamily Group Builders FirstSource -- Kevin Bruce -- Regional Inventory Manager/Senior Buyer Builders FirstSource -- Tristan Gillis -- OSR Builde

LBM facilities acquired (blue pins), newly opened (green), or closed (red) YTD 2026. Source: Webb Analytics Halfway through 2026, the acquisitions market and greenfield openings count for construction supply companies are remarkably similar. The big difference involves deal size. Through July 15, Webb Analytics' Deals Database has tracked 61 acquisitions involving 773 locations, mainly in the U.S. with a few in Canada. By the same point in 2025, the database had recorded 62 t

Analysis by Craig Webb Potential investors in QXO impressed by the game plan Chairman and CEO Brad Jacobs laid out would do well to note how similar Jacobs' vision is to what the CEOs of QXO's predecessor Beacon Building Products presented four and eight years ago. Powerpoint slides from analyst days in 2018 and 2022 contain much of the same road map that Jacobs put in his latest investor Q&A, in which he projects QXO growing rapidly and more than doubling EBITDA by 2030. On

Benjamin Moore halted its bill-through relationship with the Do it Best Group not long after the co-op entered into a long-term strategic partnership with Sherwin-Williams.

QXO Chairman & CEO Brad Jacobs issued July 9 an investor Q&A that projects how its operations will grow rapidly and collectively more than double EBITDA to about $4 billion by 2030 from nearly $2 billion today. QXO believes EBITDA at its legacy Beacon Building Products operation can rise to $2 billion from $800 million, while EBITDA at its Kodiak Building Partners division can reach $400 million from $210 million. As for its newly acquired TopBuild, QXO projects EBITDA will h

A record 1,204 people from 50+ countries traveled to Amsterdam June 17-19 for the biggest international meeting of companies that run home centers, hardware stores, and pro yards. Hardly any Americans attended the Global DIY-Summit, but I did, looking for stealable ideas. Here are nine takeaways that North America’s dealers can use.

Do it Best Group President & CEO Dan Starr (left) speaks with Do it Best Foundation's Curtis Smith on June 17 at the Global DIY-Summit in Amsterdam (Craig Webb photo) By Craig Webb Reviving the True Value brand led Do it Best to adjust its typical ideas about customers and take advantage of social media to reach the next generation, all while retaining Do it Best's core values, the President and CEO of Do it Best Group told an international audience June 17. “Authenticity is

By Craig Webb Attorneys for both sides of a potential class action complaint against Ace Hardware Corp. and its members have been ordered to file a joint initial status report by July 16 and attend a hearing via telephone on July 26. The May 8 order by Judge Sunil R. Harjani of the U.S. District Court in Chicago represents the only advance since the May 7 filing alleging that Ace runs a price-fixing cartel and illegally influences both how existing stores are sold and where n

May 2026 made the industry pivot undeniable — and gave LBM dealers a clearer path through the AI question than they had three months ago. By John Marshall, Co-Founder, AI Growth Partners KEY POINTS May’s three biggest AI moves—OpenAI’s $4 billion Deployment Company, Anthropic’s Claude for Small Business with QuickBooks and Microsoft 365 connectors, and PwC’s 30,000-consultant Claude alliance—all signal one shift: from model-capability competition to workflow application and m

How involved are dealers in social media today? To answer that question, Webb Analytics asked the Google Gemini artificial intelligence service to review Webb Analytics' database of construction supply companies and then search the Internet to learn which social media formats they use. From that analysis, Google Gemini identified 1,432 companies in the Webb Analytics database that sold lumber, roofing, or siding, thus suggesting they are pro dealers. Google found another 846

Construction Supply facilities acquired (blue pins), newly opened (green), and closed (red), YTD 2026. Source: Webb Analytics So far this year, we have seen 53 deals to acquire construction supply facilities, just one fewer than the 54 LBM M&A deals we had at this same point in 2025. But with 764 locations affected, the number of facilities that changed hands is only 58% of the 1,307 that got new owners by mid-June 2025. Perhaps the most interesting deal of the past few weeks

DEALER ABC Supply -- Michael Bixler -- Managing Partner ABC Supply -- Zach Florea -- Managing Partner ABC Supply -- Josh McCarty -- District Manager -- Rocky Mountain District ABC Supply -- Ryan Morgan -- District Manager -- South Central District ABC Supply -- Nicholas Makar -- Manager of Sales Transformation ABC Supply Interiors -- Bryan Ciesiulka -- District Manager -- Midwest Bliffert Lumber & Design -- Josh Brown -- President & CEO Bliffert Lumber & Design -- Jay Bro

By Craig Webb Headlines about a recent potential class action complaint brought against Ace Hardware Corp. and its members have focused on allegations that Ace runs a price-fixing cartel. They've tended to overlook a second claim: Allegations that Ace illegally influences how existing stores are sold and where new ones can be opened. The May 7 filing in a U.S. District Court in Chicago argues that Ace "abandoned its commitment to independence by illegally coordinating members