By Craig Webb A former executive at LBM Advantage and Lumbermens Merchandising Corp. has launched a new member-owned alliance for lumberyards, truss plants, and door shops operating in the Southern U.S. Conroe, TX-based Southland Lumber Co. "was created in response to mounting challenges facing independent operators, including industry consolidation, loss of regional market knowledge, workforce shortages, limited cooperative options, and declining transparency," Southland

Megadeals produce highest number of locations acquired, but overall M&A location dropped significantly, Webb Analytics’ Deals Report shows   The biggest, deepest report on acquisitions, new-store openings, and closures in construction supply makes clear 2025 simultaneously was both the busiest and slowest year for M&A in this decade. Viewed by the number of facilities acquired, 2025 saw 56% more locations acquired than in 2024 and more than in 2021 through 2023 combined. But

HBSDealer's Ken Clark, Kodiak Building Partners' Chad Finnigan, and US LBM's Jonathan Green listen to Gayatri Narayan of Builders FirstSource during the tech session of the LBM CEO Summit Jan. 27-28 in New York. By Craig Webb Some of the nation’s biggest and most successful construction supply operations gathered in New York Jan. 27-28 for the second annual LBM CEO Summit, sponsored by HBSDealer and The Misura Group . Here are key snippets of what was said. LBM Tech Leaders F

The explosive growth in web searches powered by artificial intelligence mandate that construction supply companies need to satisfy AI robots’ expectation or risk getting shut out of customer searches.

This list reveals the scores of people who have changed jobs in dozens of construction supply facilities, just since mid-December 2025

Builders FirstSource's Jan. 2 purchase of truss maker Premium Building Components has helped kick off a busy start to M&A in construction supply in 2026. There have been 5 deals for 10 years and plans to open 46 new facilities.

By Craig Webb, President, Webb Analytics Doing a takeoff has always been more than just quoting prices. It was your opportunity to discuss prices, find drawing and structural errors, spot code violations, recommend improvements, and above all strengthen your ties to the customer. The good news is that tech advances and artificial intelligence will make the actual process of doing takeoffs far quicker and easier. The problem is that these advances sometimes could cost you busi

By Craig Webb, President, Webb Analytics Construction supply is a team sport, and building that team remains frustratingly hard. What are your hiring prospects in 2026, and how do you need to adjust your ways if you hope to bring in the best people? To answer these questions, we reached out to four leading executive recruiting firms: SnapDragon Associates, The Misura Group, GRN Hudson, and LBM Executive Recruiting (LBM ER) . Here are excerpts of what they said. The Search Pr

DEALERS 84 Lumber -- Christopher Gould -- Multi-Family Components Ace Hardware Corp. -- Mark Blickenstaff -- Field Sales Manager Allram Lumber -- Rick Buckwheat -- Construction Consultant/OSR Allram Lumber -- Ike Glaze -- Sales Rep Arnold Lumber -- Valerie Mello -- Sales and Inventory Specialist Builders FirstSource -- Daniel Braun -- Sales Trainee Builders FirstSource -- Donald Crumpler -- VP Supply Chain Operations Builders FirstSource -- Jason Kindle -- Truss Designer, Mul

LBM facilities acquired (blue pins), newly opened (green) or closed (red) YTD 2025. Source: Webb Analytics The 2025 M&A market is ending quietly, with only about two-thirds as many deals as last year and only three-quarters as many buyers. But the deals that did take place often were enormous, involving 1.5 times as many facilities as were acquired last year and four times more than in 2023. As of Dec. 10, the Webb Analytics Deals Database shows a total of 1,797 facilities ha

From left: Reps. Janelle Bynum (D-OR) and Mike Flood (R-NE) discuss housing initiatives with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Mike Flood during the Nov. 6 "Building for Growth Summit" in Washiington By Craig Webb, President, Webb Analytics Fifty-year mortgages? If you really want to build more homes, how about zoning changes, better building codes, and quicker permitting instead? Affordability's emergence as a key topic in the mid-term elections, combined with President Trump's

DEALERS 84 Lumber -- Todd Beaman -- OSR 84 Lumber -- Casey Lemoi -- Installed Sales Trim Manager ABC Supply -- Jim O'Donnell -- Sales Rep, Pottstown, PA Builders FirstSource -- Donald Crumpler -- VP Supply Chain Operations Builders FirstSource -- Donald Milburn -- Emerald Coast Area Operations Manager Builders FirstSource -- Keith Trevillian -- Market Manager, Sioux Falls, SD Cain Hardware & Lumber -- Buddy Stewart -- Store Manager DEALERS Capps Home Building Center -- Tyler

The map below would lead you to think this has been a robust year for dealmaking in construction supply. But that's if you only care about the number of locations acquired--and indeed, the 1,762 facilities that changed hands this year dwarfs anything since at least 2018. But viewed in two other ways, the picture changes dramatically. The table at right shows that the actual number of deals recorded by Webb Analytics year to date is as little as half what we've seen in any of

By Craig Webb, President, Webb Analytics The Home Improvement Research Institute’s (HIRI) annual Insights Summit is a numbers geek’s delight—and a must-attend for people who want insights into what’s happening with the economy and likely will happen over the next few years. Given our crazy times, the forecasts given Oct. 22-23 were fuzzier than usual, but they still represented far more expert outlooks than you can find at most events. Here are highlights. What Bugs Remodeler

Veterans in construction supply have begun teaming with software experts to create programs specifically designed for LBM. FairBuild AI analyzes component manufacturers' contracts with builders to spot risky provisions and suggest alternative language. The program reduces or eliminates the need to keep a legal expert on staff or on retainer. Programs like Chat GPT can do some of this work, but they haven't been trained by attorneys and industry experts to look for the most c

Brian Potter and the cover of his book, "The Origins of Efficiency" (Webb Analytics photo) By Craig Webb, President, Webb Analytics Brian Potter used to believe that factory-built homes were the key to solving America's home building and home affordability woes. Now he knows better, because he's taken a phenomenally deep dive into how to build anything better, faster, and cheaper. What Potter learned results in a just-published book, The Origins of Efficiency . In it, he anal

LBM facilities in the continental U.S. acquired (blue pins), that had or will have greenfield openings (green), or closed (red) YTD 2025. Source: Webb Analytics In a four-week period when Lowe's closed the acquisition of Foundation Building Materials that was announced in August, the answer to the question "What's New in M&A?" centered on 11 far smaller purchases. In those deals: Gypsum Management & Supply , which earlier this year became a division of The Home Depot's SRS

DEALERS ABC Supply -- Dan Gaddini -- VP, National Accounts ABC Supply -- Lloyd Hamilton -- VP, Southeast Region ABC Supply -- Scott Toumbleston -- VP, Mid-South Region American Builders Supply -- Dennis Sparks -- VP-Truss Division Busy Beaver Building Centers -- Adam Gunnett -- VP of Business Intelligence and Strategy DEALERS Gulfeagle Supply -- Andrew Eckhard -- Director of Fleet and Safety West Gulfeagle Supply -- Chris Kaminski -- Real Estate Manager Gulfeagle Supply -- Br

Depending on the software they use, contractors could be right next door and never call out to you. By Craig Webb, President, Webb...

LBM dealer locations acquired (blue dots), had greenfield openings (green), or were closed (red) YTD 2025. Source: Webb Analytics Webb...