Consequently, Woodson Lumber was not affected by the economic downturn as greatly as other businesses. “We did not dip very much during the recession,” Blum says. “We might have had a small downturn, but we never had a falloff. As a result, we’re still continuing to slowly increase.”
But it’s not just the product diversification that has allowed the company to thrive; Blum says it’s also Woodson Lumber’s different approach to expansion that has allowed the company to mature.
“We started at the other end,” Blum explains. “We work from more of a rural setting. We start out focusing on our smaller rural locations and work to gain a majority of the business in those communities. We use similar models for the larger towns and adjust where we see fit.”
And because a majority of the customer base in the rural locations are not just homebuilder contractors—but specialty customers, such as fence builders— Blum says that their loyalty keeps business booming.
“If we can sell to those specialty customers if and when they need building materials for their own home, ranch or farm, we’re going to get the first shot at their business,” Blum adds.
One key practice that Woodson Lumber has always been cautious of has been to not expand too fast, too soon. It’s a recipe for disaster, Chapman agrees. Before the company adds additional locations, it first analyzes areas of growth in existing stores.
“For our business, we plugged in numbers of what we felt was the market share in all of the towns that we operate in, and how many dollars we could generate,” Blum explains. “We have exceeded in some areas, and sometimes
it’s just expanding product, rather than purchasing a new store—adding a new product in inventory or a person makes more sense for our model.”
As demonstration of its commitment to existing stores, the company says it plans on rebuilding existing locations, starting with Caldwell.
