Thank you HBS DEALER magazine for recognizing Associated Building Supply Inc. in your TOP 300 list.

Considering were contending against LBM Big Boxes like Home Depot making the list at #294 is quite an honor! Again, we only supply and sell luxury windows & doors.

It seems like a long time ago in a business galaxy far, far away when the biggest concern for industry operations was a toss-up between tariffs, consolidation and the labor shortage.

Those considerations — and not the pandemic of 2020 — colored this year’s Top 300 list of hardware and building supply dealers. HBS Dealer editors used a combination of e-mail surveys, internet research, published reports and estimates to determine the data points on the following pages. Those metrics include: Revenue for the most recently completed fiscal year, The number of stores/locations. Once again, it’s a top heavy list. The world’s largest home improvement retailer maintained its grip on the top spot with a record $110 billion in sales. And The Home Depot doesn’t intend to let go anytime soon. Read Full Article

ABSi discusses strategies and results of pandemic with Door and Window Market Magazine

ABSi has pledged to support our employees and delivered on that promise demonstrating reliability while bolstering our reputation. Now is the time to continue to maintain and build on that trust, as the focus shifts from public health in general to the specifics of each organization’s individual recoveries. Clear and inspiring communication is central to making this next unsteady phase a success. In addition to moving decisively on strategic changes, we strive to help rattled workforces believe in the future. For many people, their employer has been a zone of relative stability during a time of chronic uncertainty.

2020- ABSi Recognized “Westcoast Dealers Lean on Financial Strength to Gain Markets”

Publication date: Feb 27, 2020  DWM Magazine

According to year-end housing data, on a regional and year-to-date basis, combined single-family and multifamily housing starts were lower in the Midwest and West regions. While the West was hit the hardest, at -4.7%, data collected by [DWM] shows that some door and window dealers have landed strategies that more than make up for those losses. Top dealers in California, for instance, saw anywhere from $1 to $3 million increases in revenues for 2019—averaging an 8% increase. “Much of our growth in 2019 was attributed to a maturing salesforce choosing to sell more ultra-high-end products, complimented by some unique corporate strategies,” says Scott Thurber, president of Associated Building Supply Inc. (ABSI) in Auburn, Calif.

That strategy led to $3 million worth of growth—a figure that Thurber says his company plans to stretch even further this year, aiming for $50 million in revenue. It’s also a strategy that he says doesn’t come easy.“Selling ultra-high-end products is not for every company,” he says. “Due to the extensive sales cycle and lead times, selling high-end window and door products requires ample cash-flow and reserves.” As a result, many competitors rely heavily on products that present shorter lead times for the sake of snappier payment and cash flow, he says. Those same commodity-oriented products are less complicated also easier to sell with a shorter sales cycle, he suggests. By adapting to higher skill sets, ABSI’s veteran sales consultants have learned to work through what he says are the more technical issues accompanying high-end luxury home projects. Challenges include, “an onslaught of business tasks and working with a multitude of decision influencers and personalities; exchange rates; international shipping and logistics; and metric to imperial conversions,” he says, as well as installation challenges, product application, on-site project management and proactive architectural specification assistance.