IBSA focuses on adding members - Independent Builders Supply Association - Brief Article

Home Channel News, July 3, 2000

Dealer recruitment and co-op investment are targets for co-op's new executive vp, Ray Price

SMITHFIELD, N.C. -- During his first full year at the helm of Independent Builders Supply Association, Ray Price vowed to add 10 new dealers to the building materials co-op.

Instead, he bagged 32.

IBSA has expanded into West Virginia, Georgia, Kentucky and western Tennessee since April 1999, when Price, a 21-year company vet, took over as executive vp. The co-op, which now has 102 members in seven states, expects sales to rise to $135 million in the fiscal year that ends July 31. Sales through April were up 38 percent over last year; profits increased by 48 percent.

"We had to reinvent IBSA," said Price, who oversaw an office remodel and a complete upgrade of the co-op's computer system. This summer, IBSA plans to unveil its Web site, which will include weekly specials, vendor hot links and a secure method for placing orders.

Price's No. 1 priority, though, has been recruiting new members. Price credited his success to a more "personable" approach. "We're more attuned to the independent dealers' needs than some of the big boys," he explained. IBSA charge dealers a 1 percent adder, and dealer-members can call anytime to find out what they've earned in quarterly rebates. "We keep everything above board," Price said.

One of the more recent recruits to IBSA is Potter's Shopping Center, a 12-location dealer based in Jamestown, Tenn. Others include Citizens Building Supply and Home Center in Bluefield, W.Va.; and Haywood Builders Supply in Waynesville, N.C.

Like most new recruits, Haywood Builders is already affiliated with another co-op. (In this case, Lumbermen's Merchandising.) Its president, Philip Dooly, said he was looking for a buying group that was "local and regional" to hedge his bets. Consolidation among pro dealers -- and the centralized purchasing power it brings -- has him concerned.

"Being a member of more than one co-op is tremendously important to single, independent dealers," Dooly opined. He also felt a kinship, of sorts, with the IBSA's size. "It seemed to be small enough to fit us well," he said.