Wolf

Decking and the Pro Dealer

Tom Wolf published this article on October 4, 2011 in Build your Business. No comments. | Comment

This is not an easy time to be a professional residential builder or remodeler, nor is it a great time to be selling to professional builders and remodelers. Housing starts are mired in a sub-par funk and remodeling isn’t doing much better. Still, there is ample evidence to suggest that the pro-dealer is well positioned to take advantage of future growth in the building products industry. This is nowhere clearer than in the decking segment of that industry.

A recent report by Principia Partners makes two interesting points in this regard. First, the report suggests that over the next five years demand for decking and railing products should be strong. Second, it notes that a very big chunk of this business will run through the pro dealer channel.

The Principia Partners piece notes that demand for decking and railing products was slightly higher in 2010 than in 2009, and the report’s authors believe American consumers will continue to want these products in the future. “Demographic and consumer trends favor growth in outdoor living products,” which leads them to predict that the “gradual rebound in residential new construction and demand from R&R of existing residential housing will increase decking and railing demand over the next few years.” They further suggest that a big portion of this demand will be directed to synthetic deck and railing products made of PVC and composite wood materials.

As this increased demand for synthetic decking and railing products plays out, it should produce real benefits for pro dealers and the distributors supplying those pro dealers. This is because so much of the decking and railing supply chain runs through the distribution and pro-dealer channel. The Principia report shows that 89% of the composite decking and railing products sold in the United States was handled by master distributors in 2010. And most of that product (75%) was in turn sold to – and through – pro dealers (lumberyards).

Thus, if 2010 is any guide, decking and railing products should continue to be popular items in the coming years and the pro dealer should be able to cash in on this popularity. Consumers will clearly want to add these outdoor enhancements to their homes.  When they do, they will want to make sure they are of the right quality and that they are installed properly.

For both of these reasons these consumers will rely on the professional installer. And if the past is any guide, that professional installer will continue to rely on the pro dealer to supply him or her with the appropriate products at the right prices. So decking and railing products should be popular items in the coming years, and that should be good news for the pro dealers as well as the professional customers they serve.