INDIANAPOLIS — A record-setting fiscal year closed in June, Do it Best President and CEO Dan Starr told a packed ballroom at the Indiana Convention Center at Sunday’s Shareholder Meeting, part of the co-op’s annual Fall Market.
Records were set in every category of sales, Starr said. Warehouse sales were up 3% following an already record previous year. Direct sales were up 11%, lumber was up 5%. In total, sales increased 7% to close the year at just over $5.5 billion.
As a result, Starr said, rebates distributed to member-owners Sunday totaled $129 million — the second highest total ever.
It had been a full year since Do it Best member-owners had gathered for an in person dealer market, drawing 20% more people than the previous online market. “Nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, can take the place of getting together in-person,” Starr said.
Trends for the coming year are looking “very favorable,” Starr said. Looking forward also means investing in the future, something Do it Best is doing with warehouse management systems (WMS), which is already in place in the Dixon and Waco warehouses. Two more warehouses will be online this calendar year, and the remaining should be deployed by next fall.
“That’s an aggressive schedule. And it’s a significant investment. But all of that is absolutely necessary in order to meet that continued increasing demand that we have for product through distribution.”
The company is also working on a new order management system, he said, describing it as a member-facing system that will allow greater flexibility on orders. In addition to the WMS and order management upgrades, Do it Best is also implementing a new financial system, “that will run the entire financial backbone of the organization,” which should be deployed by next fall.
“These are generational types of investments. You don’t do these every couple of years. But these are critical to support the step change we’re seeing in sales growth. Your company and your board are making those kinds of strategic investments to position us to support your growth, as well as all the new business we’re experiencing today and projecting for the future.”
Another investment related to increased demand and future growth, Starr said, is the expansion of Do it Best’s Woodburn warehouse. The project has been accelerated to support demand and beginning this fall, total cube space will be increased by 50%.
“We’ll have more to share on that as construction progresses. And we’ll continue to evaluate warehouse capacity in other locations,” he said.
While Starr said that the industry as a whole saw an increase in sales due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he pointed out that even without COVID, the co-op’s trajectory is “very, very strong and sustained.”
Member growth has been another strong trend for Do it Best, and as such, the co-op has invested to accommodate, and plan for more, growth.
“As a matter of fact, this last year, we had our strongest year on record for new members. We had over 300 new store signings just last year alone. That includes new members joining Do it Best, existing members opening new locations, and existing members acquiring additional locations. Even as we invested like never before on the inventory side, we leveraged our extremely strong financial position to keep the gas pedal down on funding these member growth initiatives,” Starr said.
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Do it Best presents record sales numbers and investments in future growth - LBM Journal
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