Despite the tight margins, Barr has been riding a two-year crest of awesome business along with their truss and construction supplier peers. “February was our largest single shipping month in terms of square footage,” says Shirley. “And 2005 was the best first quarter of business in terms of volume and profitability that we’ve ever had.”
Byers agrees, but sounds out a cautionary note: “The last two years in Southern California has been great business for all. There’s no one around here saying they’ve been struggling,” he says. “Everyone in pro sales would like to stand around and beat their chest—even we never envisioned this company to be as big as we are now—but we’ll all find out what we are again when the market is not phenomenal.”
Regardless of how the San Bernardino market turns, Barr’s focus on underserved custom builders and its investment in personnel development puts it in an enviable position. If and when production builders scale back their operations, it’s expected that major truss suppliers will come looking for the custom home work they have thus far eschewed. According to Shirley, the company expects a decrease in overall production volume if the home building market softens, but long-term market share in trusses—especially on the custom side—should remain steady.
“People aren’t laughing at us any-more,” says Byers. “We are in the business now, and they let us get in there because as we started the market was good and we didn’t make a big deal out of ourselves and existed in our groove. Now the only thing holding us back from $350,000 is personnel [development] and office space, and we are working on that.”
Not a bad prognosis for a bunch of guys who didn’t know anything about component manufacturing, and an inspiration to other middle-market independents with their eye on developing truss and panel operations. With minimal investment, good customer focus, and engendered team spirit, Barr Lumber shows that dedication within a decent market, as much as anything else, can still power pro dealer success.
Vital Statistics Company: Barr Lumber
Year founded: 1903
Headquarters: San Bernardino, Calif.
Number of locations: 6
Number of employees: 290
