After a stretch in which specialty dealers and hardware stores have garnered most of the attention at LBM's M&A market, transactions involving lumberyards are taking the lead this year. So far in 2025, nine lumber facilities and one truss plant have been purchased in seven deals. That's more than half the 12 transactions and nearly half the 19 facilities purchased overall.
Builders FirstSource did the biggest deal, take over the four-unit O.C. Cluss Lumber in western Pennsylvania and adjacent states. Meanwhile, US LBM has bought Beach Window and Door of Calabash, NC; Walker Lumber of Nashville, TN; and Goodrich Bros. of Pewamo, MI.
Nashville figured in the news a second time when Wilson Lumber of Huntsville, AL, bought Nashville Lumber, based in Fairview, TN. Wilson has been working for years to expand in The Music City.
Earlier this year, Curtis Lumber bought JAY-K Independent Lumber Corp. of New Hartford, NY, while 84 Lumber took on Tri-County Truss of Bloomsburg, PA.
Non-lumberyard deals recently saw SRS Distribution buy Rising Star Wholesale, an exteriors specialist based in Des Moines, Iowa.
Aubuchon Ace Hardware emerged as a buyer for the second time this year, acquiring Rand's Hardware of Plymouth, NH. In January, it bought the three-unit Noble Ace Hardware operation in upstate New York and Vermont.
There have been 52 greenfield openings that either have occurred already or are slated to take place this year. For instance, Beacon revealed recent store openings in Frisco, TX; St. Augustine, FL; Lafayette, IN; and La Cross, WI. And Lewisburg (PA) Builders Supply has sprung to life.
Webb Analytics also has word of 14 stores that have or will close, most because the owners are retiring or because the parent company is consolidating facilities.