etitive ence

Second generation builds on success

Bv Carla Waldemar

A TTENTfON. all geezers wheezla.ine about the end of the world as we kno-w it (at least. the world of lumber) because kids these days would rather eat nails than sell them, much less take over the family business.

Meet young (very young) Dan Gilbreath, who not only jumped at the chance to fill his dad's work boots, but has outgrown them several times over as he's steadily driven the business he bought into in 1999.

Don was nine when his father purchased Tuttle Lumber, deep in the heart of San Matteo, Texas. Early on, the kid swept the floor, manned the forklift, drove the delivery truck "and a lot of other things that might not be strictly legal," he recalls with the bravado that's the birthright of folks from these parts.

Lest you think that even for a Texas lad the kid's too sood to be true, let's get Dan to 'fess up that the path to the president's office wasn't always a sure trail. When contractors asked the boy if he planned to take over someday, Don looked them straight in the eye. "I didn't say 'no,"' he recollects. "I told them. 'Hell. no!' I was gonna get just as far away as I could." So he headed off to business school.

But you can't forget about family. Don chose to go to college right there in San Matteo so he could be close to his beloved father.

"Dad and I had an incredible relationship. I loved to work in the yard, the labor-intensity of it, the people." Still, he held back after graduation, working first as a paramedic and then as a realtor before yielding to his father's gentle blandishments.

"I finally figured that the opportunity only comes around once. You could attempt it and make a mistakeor you could decide not to attempt it and make a worse one. So I told my father, 'Man! Let's see how it goes."'

Like wildfire, that's how. Cut no slack as the boss' son (hey, they'd known him since he was a snot-nosed kid), he started in on the ground floor-sweeping that floor, cleaning, restocking-until a medical emergency put the yard manager out of commission and Dan. at 23. was tapped for the post.

"My role was suddenly defined"the best thing that could have happened to me," he says. "It was a wild summer! Then, when the original manager was able to return to work, I joined my dad inside on sales and purchasing functions."

When two generations suddenly are asked to share visions and management styles, oftener than not, sparks fly as a patriarch who's grown the company resists changes that the younger generation has in mind. That could have been the story we're about to tell at Tuttle, for Gilbreath senior, born in 1917, was of the old guard, according to his son: "very controlling-very little he'd let go. He'd never delegated before."

Yet the man was blessed with the wisdom to ease up, to maybe listen a little to the kid fresh from business school. "He backed off," Dan reports. "He was the most incredible dad-my best friend, my partner, my mentor.... He taught me strategy, integrity, morality and ethics."

Today Dan credits those core values for Tuttle's success. He's driven would like to see Tuttle go out of business, but that won't happen! They study what we've been doing, but they don't have our passion." revenues to $5 million in this town of 26,000 by putting his 22 employees first. "People are everything," he preaches the gospel according to Gilbreath:"There's very little turnover, which means a wealth of knowledge and experience as well as F loyalty. I set an example, and, like it's supposed to, that legacy trickles down, making the environment so positive. I so productive-and customers feed off that."

"We're making working at Tuttle i as much fun as shopping at Tuttle," he i continues. "That's how we're evolving from 'good' to 'great.' At our meetings, I reference us as an athletic team. I'm the coach and everyone has his position. Every day's a game day, and we're out to beat the competition."

Yes, there's plenty, starting with a nearby Lowe's and outposts of Home Depot. "We also compete locally with McCoy's, which has its [multi-branch] headquarters here," Dan adds.

And just how do you do better than all that competition, a reporter asks. "Service, man!" he spells it out for those of us who may be slow in learning-the service that only an independent can provide: "We sit on a major highway between Austin and San Antonio, but people prefer us, the hometown lumber company. Being an independent, we can change with agility-have the ability to react quickly, not call out of state or refer to a procedures manual. We have complete and instant control over our pricing, HR, finances, the receivables. I'll be the one to make those calls."

Tuttle offers all those ditzy services a one-size-fits-all outfit must provide, such as lock rekeying, glass cutting, saw sharpening and tool repair. But, harking to the needs of its 857o pro customers, Dan has added new equipment, including trucks and cranes with a drywall boom, and all-weather curbside storage trailers; blueprint interpretations: small engine repair: a showroom area; and a new tool-rental division, driven by pro demand.

He's joined buying groups-True Value for hardware and Allied (ABS) for commodities, which, he finds, ease the road for independents such as Tuttle.

He's also instituted contractor breakfasts. Why? "For feedback, man!" This way, "We've learned things that need to be corrected, like modernizing our fleet and facility." (He's built a 20,000-sq. ft. warehouse addition, added products, such as roofing, and upgraded the computer system.) "We're now able to do a tremendous amount of special orders," which, he testifies, prove lucrative.

He's also taken the plunge and hired Tuttle's first-ever outside salesman. "He's awesome," Dan shoots off his favorite adjective. "He's very wellloved in the community, and all fired up. He's got the competition licking their wounds. They'd like to see Tuttle go out of business, but that won't happen! They study what we've been doing, but they don't have our passion.

"We're dedicated to exceeding expectations," Dan underscores. Pin him down beyond the revival-tent exhortations, and he ticks off just a few: "We'll open up after hours if someone needs us; we'll package something in a particular way to suit themt we'll stay on the phone as long as it takes to answer their questions. And, we keep on top of market pricing, adjusting our commodity pricing weekly and passing any savings on to the contractors. I'll even extend our credit terms if someone falls on bad times.

"I've recruited people, grown with our people, and diversified our market, especially our pro business. It now includes custom builders, remodelers, government and commercial accounts. By diversifying, we've grown sales."

Never a day goes by that Dan doesn't bless his dad, who passed away in February. "Yet, I want to achieve more balance in life than my father, who was 987o business, 2%o family. I have a wife and two little boys. Still," he's quick to note the obvious, "I love to come to work. I really do!

"The growth down here is explosive. lt's been an amazing journey. and we've made it happen. It's up to us to be competitive, but not on price"-Coach Dan knows what a losing game that is-"but on service. It's awesome," he says. "Incredible.

"We're rural. small-town-minded here, in the Texas good-old-boy style: You either fit in or you don't. And we're a good fit."

- A former award-winning LBM trade magaTine editor, Carla Waldemar writes frequently on the lumber and building material industry. Contact her at cwaldemar@mn,rr.com.

Rrrlrrrs

84 Lumber Co. simultaneouslv opened 20 new locations May |i, including stores in Grand Junction, Co., and Tucson, Az., and a component plant in sacramento, ca.

Shur-Way Building Centers is looking for sites in the Vancouver, Wa./Portland, Or., area to build its third store

Kolpack Outdoor Supply Yard, Sonora, Ca., will phase out most of its construction-supply business and rent a portion of its property to Tuolumne County Transit, which must vacate its old yard to make way for anew Lowe's

Re Building Center, Portland, Or., has added two new warehouses totalling over 28,500 sq. ft. ...

Lowe's Cos. opened a new store June l5 in Twin Falls, Id.; proposed demolishing a former WaIMart in Sonora, Ca., to build a 111,196-sq. ft. store, and has approached the city council in Santa Cruz, Ca., about moving into a 160,000-sq. ft. building vacant since 2003 ...

Lowe's expects to open 116,000sq. ft. stores with 31,000-sq. ft. garden centers in 4th quarter 2005 in North Colorado Springs, Co.; in lst quarter 2006 in Sunnyvale, Ca.; in 2nd quarter 2006 in Salt Lake City, Ut., and by 2nd quarter 2008 in Iwilei, Hi. ...

Lowe's has filed a petition with Salt Lake City, Ut., to allow the closure of portions of two streets so a new store can be built; received a zoning map amendment of 14.41acres that allows the chain to go forward with plans to build in Tooele, Ut.; plans to move from its leased 132,000-sq. ft. store in Sandy, Ut.. to a new- commercial development 3 miles away

Home Depot opened a new store April 28 in Oak Harbor, Wa.; is building a new store in Placerville,

Ca.; has leased a new 650,000-sq. ft. DC in Industry, Co., for its Home Depot Supply division, and received approval to build a 103,000-sq. ft. store in Phoenix, Or., and a 124,000-sq. ft. store in Barstow, Ca. ...

Home Depot has begun construction of a 140,000-sq. ft. store in Tulare, Ca.; will build a 125,000-sq. ft. store with 29,000sq. ft. garden center and 30,000-sq. ft. outdoor lumberyard in Thatcher, Az.,for an early 2006 opening, and is evaluating possible store sites in Bellevue. Id.. includins the current home of Sun Valley Girden Center

Home Depot submitted plans to build its first store in Long Beach, Ca., on an inactive petroleum storage-tank facility and hopes to build a 104,000-sq. ft. store in La Mirada, Ca., one mile away from a site it recently abandoned due to neighborhood opposition ... the chain will close 15 of its 54 Expo Design Centers and convert five others to its traditional warehouse format ...

Grainger relocated its Long Beach, Ca., branch May9 to a larger facility with a 2,500-sq. ft. showroom (Anthony Caraveo, branch mgr.) ...

Wror:slrrrs/tllutrcunrns

American Moulding & Millwork Co., Stockton, Ca., is closing July 15 after 95 years, laying off 64 employees; 52 positions were cut inJanuary...

FAX us your news!

Have a notice of your recent expansion, promotions or other company changes published in the next issue of The Merchant Magazine.

Just Fax your news to 949-852-0231 or email to kdebats@ building-products.com. h lree service)

AFA Forest Products, Bolton, Ont., is leasing a 56,000-sq. ft. facility with 2.5 acre yard in Tualatin. Or.. for its first U.S. distribution center

For s b erg Inte rnational Lo gistic s Consulting, Ridgefield, Wa., has been launched by R. Lynn Forsberg, formerly of Fremont Forest Group Corp. ..,

Tata Enterprises, Inc., Berkeley, Ca., has moved to new offices in Alameda, Ca. ...

Vaagen Brothers Lumber is installing a new planer line in its Colville, Wa., mill, to be operational by July

BlueTarp, Inc., has changed its name to BlueTarp Financial, Inc. to better reflect the range of financial services it offers to the building materials industry

Georgia-Pacffic was offered $4 million by the Califurnia Coastal Conservancy for 35 coastal acres of its shuttered 430-acre mill complex in Fort Bragg, Ca.

Atessco, Inc., Santa Rosa, Ca., is now stockin g Ti g erw o o d hardwood decking...

Atlas Lumber Co., Chino, Ca., is the exclusive distributor for SmartStile engineered hardwood door stiles

Screw Products Inc., Gig Harbor, Wa., is now distributing DeckLok brackets from Morse Technologies...

Anniversaries: Foster Lumber Yard, Yallejo, Ca., 85th ... ButlerJohnson Corp., San Jose, Ca., 45th Alpine Lumber, Sandpoint, Id., 20th ... Rupert Lumber & Paint, Burley, Id., lst

Housing starts in April (latest available figures) rebounded llTo to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (Please turn to page 48)