For over 25 years, Ron Labbe has been the owner and operator of Naples Lumber & Supply, southwest Florida’s premier building materials supplier. It’s safe to say, he knows lumber. And he knows the lumber business. So, when he was ready to build a new second location in Venice, he had a clear idea of what he wanted but needed help refining the vision and bringing it to life.
“Lots of folks could have built a metal building for me – but only one company can literally help build my business,” said Labbe. “I’ve worked with Clint Darnell [CT Darnell Construction and Sunbelt Rack] for years, and when I explained what I was looking for, he was practically finishing my sentences before the end of our phone call.”
Like-Minded Vision
Having enjoyed a long and productive relationship with Ron over the years, Clint agreed. “I knew exactly what he was thinking. We have a long working history with Naples Lumber & Supply and have a very good understanding of their business, products, and market. We didn’t need much time to ramp up and get the ball rolling.”
The give and take between Labbe and Darnell was seamless. “Clint and his team took my vision and rolled with it,” said Labbe, “without much explanation, they understood what I was looking for and made it even better.”
According to Clint, the Venice location would be designed to replicate the best aspects of the main store in Naples–including a similar flow and product storage and handling–but in a much smaller footprint. “We agreed a ‘mini me’ version of the Naples location was the smart play – a consistent layout already familiar to customers. It was up to the CT Darnell design team to leverage the space for maximum capacity and super-efficient flow.”
With only four acres to work with, CT Darnell Construction and Naples Lumber & Supply did just that.
“Building a new location can be daunting,” said Ron, “but I knew after one phone call, I could trust Clint and the CT Darnell team to design and build the type of smart, efficient lumber operation our customers have come to expect from Naples Lumber Supply.”
CT Darnell and Sunbelt Rack have been supporting LBM businesses with innovative storage systems and buildings for over 35 years. We have provided more rack systems and pre-engineered steel buildings in more lumberyards across the nation than any other supplier. Call us at 1-800-353-0892 and find out what we can do to support your business. For more success stories, visit us online at sunbelt-rack.com.
