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PROSALES Issues 2009 Edition of Top 100 List of Americas LeadingConstruction...



America'ss biggest construction supply companies laid off thousands of workers and closed hundreds of locations in response to a 14.8% drop in sales in 2008 from the year before, the 2009 PROSALES 100 (http://www.prosalesmagazine.com/industry-news.aspsectionID=431's38;articleID=957265) reveals.





The annual report, produced by Hanley Wood'ss PROSALES magazine each May and released today, found that PROSALES 100 companies sold a total of $28.5 billion worth of goods last year. Only 15 of the 100 companies posted an increase in total sales, and 21 had declines exceeding 25%.



Ask a dealer on this year'ss PROSALES 100 to list his company'ss greatest achievement in 2008, and more often than not you'sre likely to get a two-word answer: 'sWe survived,'s said Andy Carlo, PROSALES's senior editor, who wrote the report.



Thanks to our research, we now have the clearest picture yet of just how devastating the housing slump has been, PROSALES editor Craig Webb said. PROSALES 100 dealers shut 372 facilities--10.6% of their operations. The 50 biggest companies on this year'ss list that also took part in last year'ss survey cut their payrolls by 23% or close to 20,700 workers, and seven of the 50 cut their payrolls by at least 40%.



The PROSALES 100 is the premier report on construction supply companies that garner more than half their revenues from professional builders. Large operations that cater primarily to retail customers, such as The Home Depot, Lowe'ss and Menards, are excluded, thus making it possible to examine more accurately the pro-oriented side of the lumber and building material industry. Collectively, the 2009 PROSALES 100 companies run 3,142 sales and production outlets across the country and employ roughly 75,500 workers.



For the third straight year, Denver-based ProBuild tops the list, despite experiencing a 12% decrease in total sales to $4.4 billion. Eighty-seven percent of ProBuild'ss sales are to construction professionals. Stock Building Supply, Raleigh, N.C., held on to second with $3.2 billion in overall sales (93% to pros) down 23.5%. ABC Supply of Beloit, Wis., passed 84 Lumber Co. of Eighty Four, Pa., for third place, while Beacon Roofing Supply, Peabody, Mass., moved ahead of Building Materials Holding Corp. (BMHC), Boise, Idaho, into fifth.



Rounding out the top 10 were Bradco Supply Corp., Avenel, N.J.; Builders FirstSource (BFS), Dallas; Carter Lumber co., Kent, Ohio; and McCoy'ss Building Supply, San Marcos, Texas. The top 10 dealers account for 69% of the entire PROSALES 100'ss total sales, number of facilities, and number of employees. They also accounted for 367 of the closures; the bottom 90 companies shut just five locations.



The PROSALES 100 survey provided solid general evidence of several trends we have been tracking, Webb said. The first was the scramble by dealers to respond to the steep drop in housing starts from a 2.2 million annual rate early in 2006 to roughly 500,000 today. In the survey for 2006, PROSALES 100 dealers said production builders accounted for 26% of their revenues. In the latest survey, production builders figured in only 11% of total sales. The dealers are relying increasingly instead on small-builder, regional builder, commercial, and retail groups for their sales. Those who had organized their businesses to rely heaviest on production builders were among those falling the most: BMHC'ss sales sank 40.9% last year, the most of any PROSALES 100 dealer, while BFS sales shrank 33.7%.



The survey also shows that the type of product sold also played a big role in how a construction supply dealer did in 2008, Webb added. The 15 dealers that reported sales increases included ABC Supply, up 9.7%; Beacon Roofing Supply, up 8.4%; and Erie Materials of Syracuse, N.Y., up 7.5%. All focus on the sale of roofing materials rather than wood products.



Roughly 70% of the PROSALES 100 members install products as well as sell them, most often windows, entry doors, and cabinetry. As well, 70% of the companies manufacture components. Prehung doors are the most popular component manufactured.



Last year, 71% of the PROSALES 100 respondents said they intended to spend less than 0.5% of their revenues on information technology, added Mark Taussig, PROSALES's publisher. This year, it'ss 86%. That'ss another sign of how the recession is affecting business. But most dealers still plan to implement such improvements as customer account access, online order tracking and purchase orders, online payment and invoicing, and electronic data interchange.



PROSALES magazine provides residential construction companies with information, insights and advice on improving sales and service. Data for the 2009 PROSALES 100 was collected by a mailing to approximately 230 companies. For more information on the magazine or PROSALES 100, visit www.prosalesonline.com.



About Hanley Wood


Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media and information company serving housing and construction. Through four operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America'ss leading publisher of home plans. Hanley Wood Business Media (Washington, D.C.) publishes 30 award-winning residential and commercial construction titles, including BUILDER, REMODELING, CUSTOM HOME, CONCRETE CONSTRUCTION and residential architect. Hanley Wood Business Media also offers the construction industry'ss foremost collection of Web sites, including BUILDER, REMODELING, and ebuild, the comprehensive online guide to building products, as well as the largest collection of house plans online through ePlans.com and Dream Home Source.



Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is one of the ten largest B-to-B media companies in the United States. Hanley Wood is owned by affiliates of JPMorgan Partners, which uses CCMP Capital Advisors to manage this investment.






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