May 27, 2025 • 36 mins
Chris Miller of Nation's Best shares how the company has grown from zero to 64 stores across 18 states by immediately investing in store renovations that transform mom-and-pop hardware stores into professional retail environments. Their strategy centers on honoring retail legacies while modernizing operations through strategic investments, technology integration, and talent development.
• Started Nation's Best in 2019 to solve succession planning challenges for hardware retailers
• Grown to 64 locations across 18 states with more acquisitions planned
• Invests heavily in store renovations to create professional shopping environments that attract high-end customers
• Previous owners typically stay with the business post-acquisition to maintain community relationships
• Focuses on attracting younger talent through career pathing, training platforms, and technology integration
• Implementing AI for targeted marketing, electronic pricing, and blueprint takeoffs
• Acquisition sweet spot is hardware stores doing $3M in sales and lumberyards/home centers doing $10-20M
• Created unique customer experiences like the "new customer goodie bag" at Halls Hardware
Our growth is boundless because there will always be thousands of locations facing succession challenges, and we can continue honoring these legacies for a long, long time.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stefanie Couch (00:00):
That mom-and-pop look.
It doesn't show people thatyou're in the game, that you're
really a serious competitor Withhigher-end buyers.
They want to come into a placeto shop where they feel
comfortable.
They can bring their clients in.
Chris Miller (00:12):
You know there's a lot of angst and anxiety as you
do a store remodel.
Once it's all done and everyoneyou know finally can take a
breath after it's done and thecustomers start coming in, wow,
this is amazing.
Just showing the community,showing the employees that we
are in it for the long term.
It means everything to a smallcommunity.
Stefanie Couch (00:31):
You've told a story that I'm compelled by, and
that is really what thisbusiness should be thinking of.
It's how do we tell stories andbuild brands that people are
compelled and magnetized to.
It does not have to be fancy,but it just has to be something
with heart.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast, the show for bold
(00:52):
builders, brand leaders andlegacy makers in the
construction and buildingindustry.
I'm your host, stephanie Couch,and I've been in this industry
my entire life.
Whether we're breaking downwhat's working in sales and
marketing, new advances in AIand automation, or interviewing
(01:12):
top industry leaders, you'regoing to get real-world
strategies to grow your business, build your brand and lead your
team.
Let's get to work.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast with Stephanie Couch.
I'm your host, and I'm heretoday with Chris Miller from
Nation's Best.
Welcome to the podcast.
Chris Miller (01:32):
Chris, thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Stefanie Couch (01:34):
It is an early morning here in beautiful
Orlando, florida, the third dayof the Do it Best market, and we
are actually recording righthere near the show floor.
Has it been a good market sofar?
Chris Miller (01:46):
recording right here near the show floor.
Has it been a good market sofar?
It's been a phenomenal market.
It's the energy now that Do itBest, and True Value have
partnered and teamed up togetherthe energy, the new faces, the
vendor energy.
It's been a really, really goodmarket.
Stefanie Couch (02:04):
Yeah, and I heard that over 10,000 people
were here with badges, withvendors, members, and that's by
far the biggest market they'veever had.
So there has been a lot ofactivity.
It's been a really fun show.
I'm tired, though, so I'm ready.
I'm ready to call it a weekendand get ready for the indie
market.
Chris Miller (02:20):
I am too the parks .
Last night till midnight atUniversal.
It was a blast, but I'm goingto be ready for a nap tomorrow.
Stefanie Couch (02:30):
Yeah, I agree with you so much.
So you are in this amazingindustry.
I love hardware stores andlumber yards.
I grew up there and we actuallymet about two years ago, but we
haven't had a chance to reallysit down and talk.
So I'm excited about today.
And we actually met about twoyears ago, but we haven't had a
chance to really sit down andtalk.
So I'm excited about today.
You're doing something that isa little different than the rest
of the industry.
That's acquiring businesses,and Nation's Best has been on an
(02:52):
amazing ride in the last fiveyears.
But you have a background inthe industry.
So I want you to tell me alittle bit about your approach
and your background, whathappened before Nation's Best in
your career, and just tell us alittle bit about what you guys
are doing.
Chris Miller (03:07):
Yeah, so we've just a little bit of background.
I started in this space when Iwas 24 years old and learned the
business from a great mentor,scott Parker, at Parker's
Building Supply down in Texasback in 2006, I believe, and you
know we had bought 10 locationsat that point, which was his
(03:30):
family's business fromgenerational business really and
so we hired on and grew thatbusiness from 10 stores to
approximately 30 stores in threedifferent states and two states
at that point at that time andsold that business in 2015.
And I stayed on with USLVM andkind of their middle management
(03:52):
leadership roles.
And in 2019, dan at Do it Bestand I got together and said, you
know, dan's got a, he's got aproblem.
I've.
You know, I wanted to dosomething a little bit different
in my life and the, you know,the do it best problem was
really succession planning fortheir members.
(04:13):
And we sat down and we, youknow, talked through it and we
had no idea it was going to gofrom, you know, a few stores,
one store, a few stores late2019 to what it is today.
So COVID was a very helpfulthing for us.
Obviously it was a boom timefor the industry and so, you
(04:35):
know, with that happening rightat the beginning of Nation's
Best, it really propelled ourgrowth to where we are today.
And you know we're big enough.
Now we kind of stand on our ownand keep finding.
You know, the strategy is justfinding great operators in
smaller, you know, secondary,tertiary markets.
Try to stay away from the bigboxes as much as possible.
(04:59):
At the same time, I'm notscared to go up against them a
little bit.
Yeah, because we do have adifferent strategy.
We're more flexible, we're morenimble, we're more attentive
than what they can be really.
Stefanie Couch (05:11):
I love that story.
You're really a trailblazer andI think it's cool how you and
Dan from Do it Best did justhave an idea.
And it's a cool thing to thinkin today's world because we're
so advanced from what the youknow, the first starts of
hardware stores and lumber yardswere years and years ago.
We have all this tech and allthese things, but really a lot
(05:31):
of the best ideas do start at adinner or a lunch and just have
two or three people that havesomething they want to do, a
problem they want to solve whichI think is the most important
thing and they go out and theyjust try something.
There's a lot of risk involvedin that and some people don't
have tolerance for that, but theones that do.
I still think there's so muchopportunity in our business for
(05:51):
people that want to do somethingthat's different.
They want to go out and trysomething that maybe no one else
is doing and you're reallydoing that where you're.
You have a long-term strategy.
At nation's best, you buy andhold.
You don't take every person outof the market and do a lot of
the things that otheracquisitions companies are doing
.
So tell me a little bit moreabout your long-term strategy of
(06:13):
that buy and hold and how youwork with people in their local
markets.
Chris Miller (06:17):
Yeah.
So you know, from a capitalperspective, we don't have
private equity money behind us,which makes it the mentality of
what success looks like.
It changes that, and so it doesallow us to have a longer term
vision and not a three to fiveyear exit.
(06:38):
And so with that I've alwaysmade decisions looking at if I
have this location for the next50 years, what should I be doing
today, and not necessarily notinvesting back into that
business.
So all of our locations that webuy, we do have some retail 101
(07:00):
things that we know.
We do have a playbook for eachone of those locations.
At the same time, we do knowwhat works in retail from a,
from a store, you know, look,feel, um.
And so for each one of theacquisitions you know we do, you
know it may not be the next day, but very quickly go in, spend
(07:21):
the money, yeah, um to tomodernize the store, and that's
everything from the old tilefloors that are all that are
half of them are missing to thelighting, to the paint center,
the color bar, the do it bestoffers, the signage, some things
(07:41):
like that, to really make thestore look like they are
professional.
They're big players because themore professional they look.
People's perception is theyhave to be competitive on price.
Stefanie Couch (07:52):
Absolutely.
Chris Miller (07:53):
Instead of the old mom and pop feel that you know
they're probably expensive, butyou know it's down the street.
Yeah, we still love ourconvenience factor because
that's, you know, what sets usapart, that in our service.
But we do want to look likewe're in the business and so we
spend a lot of money, capex, onthose stores which some other
(08:17):
consolidators private equity.
They may put a pause on thatbecause it just doesn't pencil
for them the same way.
Stefanie Couch (08:26):
Yeah, they're thinking about, like you said,
three to five years, and that'sover the span of that short of a
time horizon.
It doesn't probably come out onthe return a lot of times.
I think it's really cool to saythe stats on what you guys have
done.
So you started five years ago,2019, right, 18 states, 64
stores.
Is that still correct?
Chris Miller (08:47):
That is still correct.
We've got a couple on thehorizon that we have a letter of
intents on that here.
Over the next three months, weshould be closing on four to six
more stores.
Wow, it's.
You know the speed of growth.
You know from 2020 to 23, itwas just phenomenal.
(09:09):
And now you know we are nowkind of saying, ok, let's look
ourselves in the mirror, let'smaybe slow down that growth on
the acquisition side.
At the same time, let's reallyfocus on the business.
Yeah.
And how are we making thesebusinesses better.
And so that's really been a bigpush for ours of ours the last
four to six months.
Stefanie Couch (09:29):
Yeah, that's amazing.
You guys are doing thatbranding up front.
And I want to just hit on thatbecause it's something I feel
like is I think about my dad'sstore.
You know he didn't actually ownthe property so we're a little
limited to what we could do.
But there are a lot of thingsnow that I am kind of a
marketing and branding personand I see these things so
clearly and I do thinkperception is reality for people
(09:50):
, like you said, that mom andpop look, it doesn't show people
that you're in the game, thatyou're really a serious
competitor.
Also, if you think aboutaesthetically, with higher end
buyers, so some of these veryhigh end interior design type
people, they want to come into aplace to shop that is made
where they feel comfortable,they can bring their clients in.
(10:12):
And I have a lot of people inmy current clientele that are
doing three to $10 million homesand there's a certain type of
feel that you want your store tohave to be able to make those
people feel like they shouldcome there.
Yes, and that is reallyimportant.
So I love that you guys seethat vision immediately.
You're taking that on.
And you mentioned the old tiles.
Like I can see that in my mind.
(10:33):
When you walk in that store,there's dust everywhere, the
aisles are cluttered and I likeI think about some of the other
I won't name the retail chains,but some of the other lower end
stores where there's stuff allin the aisles and you can't walk
through and it's not a goodshopping experience.
That customer experience is notgreat.
So I love that you're reallythinking about from day one.
How do we optimize that?
(10:55):
And I can't imagine what you'reseeing on the buyer experience
side, the feedback that you guysget after you do that in a
store.
Can you talk to me a little bitabout that?
The feedback that you guys getafter you do that in the store.
Can you talk to me a little bitabout that?
Like you buy this thing, you doall this work.
What do the customers say?
And what do the employees saytoo?
Because it's a betterenvironment for them.
Chris Miller (11:09):
Yeah, it's.
It's really about the employees, that where it all stems from,
because if the employees arebought in they're happy at the
end of it.
That will exude to theircustomer relationships and their
service.
So you know there's a lot ofangst and anxiety as you do a
store remodel and you're movingthings around, you're using the
gondola train to move, you knowmove aisles and customers are
(11:33):
coming in looking.
They always took a right to gofind that, that widget and now
it's over here on the left andso it is disruptive.
But we try to do it in a veryexpedited timeframe.
You know, between two to fourweeks and we're in and out and
done.
So it's a lot of pre-planningIf there's construction, if
we're tearing out an office, ifwe're, you know, doing a million
(11:54):
different things but a lot ofproject management on the front
end to make sure that that runssmoothly.
But it's all about the buy-inright.
So it's not like corporate andwe don't even call ourselves out
.
We call ourselves the supportcenter, but it's not the support
center coming in and doing astore remodel for you it is.
You are either the manager ofthe store or the previous owner
(12:16):
who is still with us, because inmost cases the previous owners
still work with us and gettingthem really bought in.
They're already excited becausethey're seeing immediately that
the person that they sold theirbusiness to is immediately
putting money into it.
Yeah, and so it's kind ofputting money where our mouth is
, because we talk about it a lotand so that right there in
(12:38):
itself is a big kind of featherin our cap, I guess to start
with is a big kind of feather inour cap, I guess to start with.
So once it's all done andeveryone you know finally can
take a breath after it's doneand the customers start coming
in, wow, this is amazing.
Like that's when it all reallystarts to make sense.
I mean, and again, it's not athree-year return on investment.
(13:00):
Now, in some cases we have doneremodels where it kind of is a
two-year ROI.
But just showing the community,showing the employees, that we
are in it for the long term, itmeans everything to a small
community.
Stefanie Couch (13:16):
What is one of the stores that you love to go
in?
Give me an example, because Iknow you have some farm and
ranch stores, you have somehardware stores, some lumber
stuff.
What's one of your favoritestores to go in?
Chris Miller (13:28):
I love them all, but you know just a couple that
really stand out.
Calaveras Lumber out inCalifornia.
That is a very fun store to gointo.
The people are just so friendly.
It's a bigger store with a biggarden center.
It's a beautiful store.
I mean, if I could have a boxto replicate that'd probably be
(13:52):
it.
Milton Florida has HallsHardware, which was one of our
first acquisitions back in 2020.
That is just a fun store.
It's almost a tourist trap.
Stefanie Couch (14:04):
Yeah, it's near the beach, it's near the beach.
Chris Miller (14:06):
But you know people find it as a destination
and you get to go in.
You put your pin on the map ofwhere you're from.
The map's gigantic.
You know we're under our thirdor fourth map now because
there's so many pins in it youcan't you can't fit yours in
there.
But you walk in as a newcustomer.
They give you a new customergoodie bag and it's amazing that
those employees know if you'rea new customer.
Stefanie Couch (14:26):
That's really cool.
Chris Miller (14:26):
So you get your little blue Halls bag with a mug
and the loyalty rewardsapplication and some things
about the store and what's coolabout that and that's one of the
things we, you know.
Well, I'll get to that.
But as they walk through thestore, their bag, every employee
knows oh, they've got one ofthose blue bags.
That must be a new customer.
It's time to really wow them.
Stefanie Couch (14:49):
Yeah, that's such a great customer experience
too, because it's small and itprobably costs you guys some
money, but it's not a huge,probably a huge investment.
But how many times do you walkin somewhere and you get
something like that?
I mean, I can't think of thelast time that I went to a store
and I bought something andthey're like here's this thing,
(15:10):
because you came in and you're anew customer and we want to
basically show you, you know,how much we care about you.
And everyone pretty much hassome sort of sign up for a
newsletter or coupons, or sothat's part of it.
Chris Miller (15:21):
But to really dote on people like that, they
remember that I I was justthinking about the only time
I've ever like I walk into the,the mall to buy, you know,
cologne or something.
You go into one of theseshopping center, you know, and
they, they spray you with yourcologne and that's I'm.
You actually think I just won?
I?
got a free, yeah, spray yeah,but to actually to actually get
(15:44):
a bag with a you know four orfive different promo items that
they can take home and usearound their house.
It's much more impactful.
Stefanie Couch (15:51):
Yeah, and people should be thinking outside of
the box like that.
I think as a generation, wethink about all this tech savvy,
emails, social media, all that,and it's important.
I mean, I think you have to doall of it, but there's something
about giving something in yourhand, even direct mail, or
sending someone a handwrittennote, something special about
that, because, number one, youtook time and not everyone else
(16:14):
is doing it, so you've kind offound some magic there.
I love that story.
If I'm ever in Milton, floridaor in California, I'm going to
go check out these storesBecause, see, now you've told a
story that I'm compelled by andthat is really what this
business should be thinking of.
It's how do we tell stories andbuild brands that people are
compelled and magnetized to.
And it's not, it does not haveto be fancy, but it just has to
(16:38):
be something with heart and, Ithink, going back to your
allowing and asking the ownersthat were there a lot of times
to stay.
When I see these businessescome in and they are on a three
to five year trajectory, it'sinflux of capital in certain
areas only, and what people arecompelled by is that heart and
(16:58):
soul of the business and thosepeople that have been there for
50 years or 30 years are thatpulse of the business a lot of
times.
Tell me a little bit about howyour people, because I know
you've done a lot of work onemployees and you have a young
team of talent and you're reallygoing out and you're trying to
(17:20):
get top talent, especiallythat's younger.
How do you do that?
Because it's hard to getamazing young people to want to
come to our business and you'redoing very well with it.
Chris Miller (17:31):
How do you do that ?
So you know it really startswith our leadership team.
I believe we've got one of thestrongest leadership or
executive teams you know outthere in the industry and I've
worked very, very harddeveloping out that team there
in the industry and I've workedvery, very hard developing out
that team.
And it really starts withculture.
(17:53):
They all get it.
We're all very professional andat the same time we're having a
lot of fun and I think it shows,and if you can show that you're
having a good time, thatyounger generation wants to be a
part of that, and if you canprove that you are reinvesting
back in, nobody wants to go intoan old hardware store and work
yeah, they want a clean, niceenvironment now, yeah.
(18:13):
So if you can show you knowwhether it's store-level
employees and hiring thoseyounger kids that want to work
in that store and all the way tothe support center, those
younger kids that want to workin that store and all the way to
the support center.
(18:37):
You know we've made a very, orI've made a very big push to to
teach young people that this,this is a you can make a hell of
a career in lumber buildingmaterials and hardware retailing
.
A lot of you know that's andthat's a lot of showing them and
teaching them, because nobody'scoming out of college thinking.
That's what I want to do?
Yeah, only people like me thatwere born into it, that are
crazy enough to think what elsecould I ever do.
But you know with all the newtechnology out there where we're
(18:57):
kind of going with thattechnology it attracts a lot of
people.
Technology it attracts a lot ofpeople and whether you know
they're in the hardware industryor some other retail industry,
you know they get to use thatnew generational thinking with
that technology.
And you know they soon find out, man, I love retail.
It's fun.
Stefanie Couch (19:17):
It is a business that also you know hardware
lumber.
Even if the economy's down,it's an essential business.
Even during the pandemic it'san essential business.
Even during the pandemic it wasan essential business.
And I think that there's a lotgoing on in the world where tech
jobs are not as sexy as theyonce were.
People are getting laid off anda lot of these more high-end,
(19:37):
illustrious jobs out of college.
They're not so shiny anymoreand our industry is here and
there are a lot of jobs that youcould do.
Tech in the construction orbuilding industry you could do
you know marketing and have allthese super savvy things that we
see and we think of in ourindustry and, like you said,
make a really amazing career,have a great financial gain to
(20:00):
be made or own a business Likethere's so many business
opportunities with, with a lotof boomers retiring.
There are a lot of people outthere.
They're selling home servicesbusiness, building industry
businesses that want to continuethat legacy and they're just
looking for a person like you tocome and buy it and sometimes
even allow, you know, crazyseller financing type options.
(20:21):
There's people like you thatare out there helping people
continue their legacies and Ilove that.
What would you say is one ofthe biggest things as far as
training?
Because you guys do have a lot.
I see you doing programs forwomen, programs for your
executive team.
I see that all over LinkedIn.
You guys are obviously boughtin there.
How important is training tothe next generation?
Chris Miller (20:41):
It's critical Again, without that training and
I'm talking from the storelevel, yeah, you know we've got
a training platform developednow that it's whatever you're
doing in our store.
It's specific, you know,specified training for your role
, sure, and it also shows youwhat the career path looks like.
(21:05):
It's not just okay, you came inas a cashier, this is what you
do.
It's you're a cashier, this iswhat you do, in order for you to
get to the next level in yourcareer.
And that may be 60 days to sixyears, and it's really dependent
on the person, and we want tosee that person reach for those,
(21:25):
those goals, because if it'staken them six years to reach
for that goal, that may not yeah, this may not be their career
for them.
Yeah.
But we have so many young peoplethat want to get in there and
as soon as it's laid out,they're like wow, I can become
assistant manager and a yearfrom now, if I really show them
what I can do.
And this is how we lay it out,this is how you show us what you
(21:46):
can do.
Stefanie Couch (21:47):
Yeah, all the data shows that.
Gen Z specifically, but evenmillennials, they don't only
want career pathing like you'retalking about, where it is kind
of a clear picture in thetraining.
It's more important to themthan the upfront salary is and
(22:08):
that's because they know if theycan drive towards something
that long term will besuccessful, it will be more
advantageous for them than maybea little five to 10 percent
bump in salary up front.
These companies that aren'tbuying into that and aren't
having a very strategic plan forpeople.
Where there's no vision, thepeople will perish.
My dad always used to tell methat and you have to step that
out for people.
Where there's no vision, thepeople will perish.
My dad always used to tell methat and you have to step that
out.
For people, and especially whenit's already an unknown
(22:30):
industry to them, it's alreadykind of phantom like what does
this mean and what would thislook like in 20 years if I stay
here?
If you envision that for themon paper, they see it and they
get it.
And I meet so many people.
I've met a lot of young peoplein the market floor this week at
Do it Best.
It's really inspiring to me andreally amazing to see what's
coming, and I actually got thechance last week to at the
(22:53):
National Harbor Show honor oneof your amazing leaders, kim and
Pefley, and she's a regionalvice president for you guys.
You're bringing in a lot ofwomen, a lot of top talent in
women.
Chris Miller (23:04):
Talk a little bit about that and yeah, just to
talk about Kim for a second.
She, we, we, we brought her onboard last year.
She's got a just a slew of ofof tenured experience in
hardware on the store floor inhardware retailing.
(23:25):
Managed quite a few stores.
But just her, just her charisma, her, her sense of when you're
around her, just her smile.
Stefanie Couch (23:36):
She is a bright ray of sunshine.
Chris Miller (23:38):
She is so professional, at the same time
so playful.
Stefanie Couch (23:41):
Yeah.
Chris Miller (23:41):
It's just you just want to be around her.
I agree, and I think that youknow when she's in our locations
, the stores see that.
They know that she's not fullof it because you know she's
been around the block.
Yeah, she's not full of itbecause she's been around the
block.
At the same time, she's got somany amazing ideas and tips and
tricks and tools.
I've learned a ton from heralready.
(24:02):
That's awesome.
But, yeah, when it comes towomen in the industry, we do
host our annual women'sconference where the vendor
community gets involved.
All of our top and aspiringwomen in our business come and
it's not a marketing ploy,because they really get a lot
(24:24):
out of that.
At the same time, people seethat and see the investment in
trying to acquire that toptalent and women are top talent
at the end of the day.
At the same time, we want morewomen in our stores.
Yeah, period.
The share of wallet is fargreater with them than men.
I agree.
(24:44):
And so you know how do we tapinto knowing what that
demographic wants, and that's tohire the same demographic
honestly.
Stefanie Couch (24:52):
Yeah, and I think it's really just about
seeing the perspective ofsomething that is a little
different than maybe what alwayshas been as a competitive
advantage.
And I also would say to womenin the industry and Kim's a
great example of this is thatbeing a woman in this industry
is actually a competitiveadvantage for women, because
there is so much opportunity foryou to come in and do things a
(25:14):
little differently, and it issomething that people are
looking for, and not everysingle company maybe feels that
way, but a lot of them do, andthere's also just so many
supportive men like you thathave helped me over my career
I'm sure she would say the samething and so it's about
reframing how we look at things,as this is not a oh, there's
only 10% women in theconstruction industry.
(25:35):
It's a oh, there's only 10%women in the construction
industry.
How can I make this somethingthat I can go and just thrive in
?
So I love that you're doingthat, and I think that talent of
next generation is.
The thing that keeps most ownersup at night is how do I fill my
store with amazing people?
How do I build this businesswhen those people retire?
Because it's coming there's ahuge wave coming in the next
(25:56):
five years and I believe it'sgoing to be probably the biggest
retirement of people runningthe businesses.
So it's an opportunity for alot of us to really capitalize
on, and I love that you're doingthat.
I want to shift a little bit totech, so technology is
something I love to talk about.
I've spoken here about AI a lotof great questions.
People are super curious, butit's not just AI.
(26:18):
There's a lot of automationsand even something like an ERP
system that a lot of ourcompanies in this industry don't
still have.
Tell me a little bit about howNation's Best is leveraging
technology and growing yourbusiness with technology.
Chris Miller (26:33):
Yeah, I'm a firm believer that if you're not
utilizing all the technology outthere that's available, you're
behind.
So, when it comes to the ERPsystem, we quickly, after an
acquisition, do the work, do thegrind and get them converted
onto our Epicor platform thatwe're on.
(26:53):
So currently all 64 locationsare on the same server and,
honestly, if you're not doingthat, or trying to do that as
fast as possible, it's very,very hard to run the business
proactively instead ofreactively, and so that's kind
of first and foremost.
After that, you know we areutilizing technology in just a
(27:14):
million different ways.
But you know, ai is a term thatyou know is obviously very
trendy, maybe a little overhyped, but still relevant, and we are
utilizing AI in various aspectsof the business, whether it's
from our marketing, reallyidentifying and then through our
rewards data.
You know that customer's buyingthis today, next month they'll
(27:38):
most likely need this for thatproject.
Or an AI is scouring, you know,the web and identifying that
when someone buys this, mostlikely this is their next point
of purchase, and so we're usingthat for target marketing and
other things like that we havenot implemented, you know, ai
pricing, yet that's kind of thenext wave that I see coming.
(28:00):
You need to have electronic binlabels for that, but at the
same time it's out thereidentifying that your quantity
on hand just went from 10 to 2.
It's looking out in the marketof what other quantity you know
you can actually charge 10 morecents for this right now, sure
or less.
Conversely so, blueprinttakeoffs.
(28:21):
I just actually did a demoyesterday of, you know we're
going to be revamping our entireweb presence and our online
presence where you know the nextgen builder does not
necessarily want, like you know,our mom and dad, you know, used
to come in the lumberyard.
Yep, hey, come on in at seveno'clock.
(28:43):
Come have coffee with me andwe'll get your order, you know,
written up and taken care of.
Stefanie Couch (28:48):
With a little, the ruler with the quarter
inches and my dad had plans allover his desk.
Correct, it's like a chaoticmess of plans, yeah.
Chris Miller (28:55):
So so I mean, I'm actually looking at things right
now where you know, someonesends in a material list, emails
a material list with you know,and a lot of times it's chicken
scratch, as you know, the AIautomatically reads that, spits
that into our quoting system, inour ERP system, so they're tied
together, automatically createsa quote and automatically knows
who that customer is, whetherthey're on a custom pricing plan
(29:17):
or not, and really makes it towhere that customer interaction.
As much as this is still arelationship business, because
it is.
That's what the next gen islooking for and we've got to
meet them there.
Stefanie Couch (29:31):
It's speed too.
We think about what isimportant in business, and I say
this a lot and I think aboutthis a lot Speed to lead is
important, follow up andnurturing is important, and
those tools thinking about whatis your builder hate the most.
What do they have that plaguesthem in the morning when they
wake up?
Well, takeoffs has got to betop tier of that list of things
(29:54):
that really drive them crazy.
And so then that customer onthe homeowner side might call
and say you know, chris, I knowyou price this already four
different ways, but could youpossibly price this window and
door package a 17th way?
And so that right there allowsyou to, with a click of a button
, kind of change some things andit's not such a big deal.
(30:17):
And then they feel like you'regoing out of your way for them
to do this thing, which you are.
But you're not going that farout of your way because you have
tech to help you instead of itbeing such a manual process, and
cuts down on errors, whichmaybe in framing lumber it's
still a pain.
You know, you pull a load andyou pull a two by tens, and it
should have been two by twelves.
(30:37):
Well, you gotta.
You gotta re-pull it.
You gotta take a truck outthere, pick up the old stuff,
put the new stuff, and you losetime.
Those little small errors thatmay seem like not a big deal are
a big deal, and so you guyshave opportunities now.
I mean the tech that's comingout.
It just it's just.
Every day there's something newthat comes out, and I'm like,
(30:59):
wow, that is going to change,something that people have been
I've been hearing them complainabout for 30 years.
I think of my dad's voice whenI hear the word takeoffs his
least favorite thing in ourlumber yard, and it also was
only something that one or twopeople could do.
Now you can take a 20 year oldout of college, teach them how
to use this software, and theydon't have to know how to frame
(31:21):
stick, frame a roof.
That's crazy complicated.
That software helps them do it.
So it's it's amazing thatyou're already that far into
this, using and thinking aboutthat.
How do you evaluate, though,because there are so many
softwares, there's so manythings coming out.
How do you know what is just acool thing that maybe one day
you'll think of, versus what youneed to do today in your
(31:43):
business?
Chris Miller (31:44):
Yeah, so I've definitely seen with some of the
bigger.
You know they'll adopt everypiece of software, use about a
quarter of it, pay a fortune forthe rest of it, and you know
that's what we're trying to notdo.
There are so many things outthere, like you're saying,
whether it's yeah, I meanthere's just a lot.
(32:04):
So it's just being intentionaland making sure and then also
finding the companies that canpackage it all together.
You know, can they not only doour web presence online, quoting
blueprint, you know AI readingtakeoffs to where you know it's
learning that, okay, the lasttime I did this takeoff in this
(32:26):
region I put spruce instead ofyellow pine and the salesman had
to go in there and fix it.
It knows next time in thatregion that that's most likely
the species of lump.
But if you can find a companythat actually puts it all
together, that's really wherethe magic happens, because then
it all starts talking to eachother and then all of a sudden
it's tied into your trucking GPSsystem and so you know, and
(32:51):
I've got a very strong IT teamand kind of business analytics
analytics guy that helpsidentify hey, that's really cool
bell and whistle, but it'strash.
Yeah, so it's not me justmaking all those decisions.
Stefanie Couch (33:04):
Yeah, and that's the thing is having those
specialists that do read all thenews that's coming out and
understand everything and, likeyou said, something can look
really shiny from the front end.
And then you, if it doesn'ttalk to your ERP or it won't API
into something, it almostdoesn't matter how cool it is on
the front end, because if youhave to do it manually to talk
to each other, it doesn't matter.
(33:25):
Yeah Well, you've got so manyamazing things on the horizon.
What is most exciting to you?
I want to just close out withthat question what gets you up
in the morning?
You're like man, this is reallyawesome.
I cannot wait to go do thesethings.
Chris Miller (33:38):
So I think Nation's Best has kind of
settled into a niche on where wefit in the industry.
We're not going after,currently, the $500 million
businesses out there where someof our you know competition,
that is their sweet spot becausethey're trying to get as big as
(33:58):
fast as possible.
Sure, we are.
You know we have limitedcompetition really in the
marketplace for the stores we'relooking at which are, you know,
a well-run, whether you knowit's a hardware store doing $3
million and that's, or it's alumber yard.
You know it's a hardware storedoing $3 million and that's, or
it's a lumber yard.
You know home center doing 10to 20 million.
That's kind of our sweet spot,sure.
(34:19):
And so that's what gets meexcited Just seeing how deep,
how fragmented the industry iswith those particular set of
stores that I'm talking about,and how you know there's not too
many people trying toconsolidate those up and that's
not what we are.
I mean, I don't look at us asjust a big consolidator, even
(34:42):
though that's kind of what we'redoing.
I look at us as we're growing abusiness, we are maintaining
legacies.
I always say we're honoring thepast, energized for the future,
and I think it's just a greatindustry, I think it's wonderful
people in it.
Once you're in this industryyou're kind of stuck and you
(35:03):
know everybody and it's a bigfamily around the country.
It is.
So that's what keeps meenergized just to know that our
growth is really boundless atthis point, like I mean this
could I could continue to dothis for the rest of my life.
And there's still you know,there's still going to be
thousands of locations that aregoing to have succession crisis
(35:27):
issues in the in the future, andso I could see, you know,
nation's best being continuingto do what we do for a long,
long time.
Stefanie Couch (35:34):
It's really exciting.
Congratulations on all yoursuccess and I know you're going
to be very successful in thefuture and I can't wait to keep
watching.
Thank you for taking some timeto sit down with me on the Grit
Blueprint and I hope you have agreat rest of the market.
Chris Miller (35:46):
Well, thanks for having me.
Stefanie Couch (35:48):
That's it for this episode of the Grit
Blueprint podcast.
For that's it for this episodeof the Grit Blueprint podcast.
For more tools, training andindustry content, make sure to
subscribe here and follow me onLinkedIn and other social media
platforms To find out more abouthow Grit Blueprint can help you
grow your business.
Check us out at our websitegritblueprintcom.
That mom-and-pop look.
It doesn't show people thatyou're in the game, that you're
really a serious competitor Withhigher-end buyers.
They want to come into a placeto shop where they feel
comfortable.
They can bring their clients in.
Chris Miller (00:12):
You know there's a lot of angst and anxiety as you
do a store remodel.
Once it's all done and everyoneyou know finally can take a
breath after it's done and thecustomers start coming in, wow,
this is amazing.
Just showing the community,showing the employees that we
are in it for the long term.
It means everything to a smallcommunity.
Stefanie Couch (00:31):
You've told a story that I'm compelled by, and
that is really what thisbusiness should be thinking of.
It's how do we tell stories andbuild brands that people are
compelled and magnetized to.
It does not have to be fancy,but it just has to be something
with heart.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast, the show for bold
(00:52):
builders, brand leaders andlegacy makers in the
construction and buildingindustry.
I'm your host, stephanie Couch,and I've been in this industry
my entire life.
Whether we're breaking downwhat's working in sales and
marketing, new advances in AIand automation, or interviewing
(01:12):
top industry leaders, you'regoing to get real-world
strategies to grow your business, build your brand and lead your
team.
Let's get to work.
Welcome to the Grit BlueprintPodcast with Stephanie Couch.
I'm your host, and I'm heretoday with Chris Miller from
Nation's Best.
Welcome to the podcast.
Chris Miller (01:32):
Chris, thanks for having me.
I appreciate it.
Stefanie Couch (01:34):
It is an early morning here in beautiful
Orlando, florida, the third dayof the Do it Best market, and we
are actually recording righthere near the show floor.
Has it been a good market sofar?
Chris Miller (01:46):
recording right here near the show floor.
Has it been a good market sofar?
It's been a phenomenal market.
It's the energy now that Do itBest, and True Value have
partnered and teamed up togetherthe energy, the new faces, the
vendor energy.
It's been a really, really goodmarket.
Stefanie Couch (02:04):
Yeah, and I heard that over 10,000 people
were here with badges, withvendors, members, and that's by
far the biggest market they'veever had.
So there has been a lot ofactivity.
It's been a really fun show.
I'm tired, though, so I'm ready.
I'm ready to call it a weekendand get ready for the indie
market.
Chris Miller (02:20):
I am too the parks .
Last night till midnight atUniversal.
It was a blast, but I'm goingto be ready for a nap tomorrow.
Stefanie Couch (02:30):
Yeah, I agree with you so much.
So you are in this amazingindustry.
I love hardware stores andlumber yards.
I grew up there and we actuallymet about two years ago, but we
haven't had a chance to reallysit down and talk.
So I'm excited about today.
And we actually met about twoyears ago, but we haven't had a
chance to really sit down andtalk.
So I'm excited about today.
You're doing something that isa little different than the rest
of the industry.
That's acquiring businesses,and Nation's Best has been on an
(02:52):
amazing ride in the last fiveyears.
But you have a background inthe industry.
So I want you to tell me alittle bit about your approach
and your background, whathappened before Nation's Best in
your career, and just tell us alittle bit about what you guys
are doing.
Chris Miller (03:07):
Yeah, so we've just a little bit of background.
I started in this space when Iwas 24 years old and learned the
business from a great mentor,scott Parker, at Parker's
Building Supply down in Texasback in 2006, I believe, and you
know we had bought 10 locationsat that point, which was his
(03:30):
family's business fromgenerational business really and
so we hired on and grew thatbusiness from 10 stores to
approximately 30 stores in threedifferent states and two states
at that point at that time andsold that business in 2015.
And I stayed on with USLVM andkind of their middle management
(03:52):
leadership roles.
And in 2019, dan at Do it Bestand I got together and said, you
know, dan's got a, he's got aproblem.
I've.
You know, I wanted to dosomething a little bit different
in my life and the, you know,the do it best problem was
really succession planning fortheir members.
(04:13):
And we sat down and we, youknow, talked through it and we
had no idea it was going to gofrom, you know, a few stores,
one store, a few stores late2019 to what it is today.
So COVID was a very helpfulthing for us.
Obviously it was a boom timefor the industry and so, you
(04:35):
know, with that happening rightat the beginning of Nation's
Best, it really propelled ourgrowth to where we are today.
And you know we're big enough.
Now we kind of stand on our ownand keep finding.
You know, the strategy is justfinding great operators in
smaller, you know, secondary,tertiary markets.
Try to stay away from the bigboxes as much as possible.
(04:59):
At the same time, I'm notscared to go up against them a
little bit.
Yeah, because we do have adifferent strategy.
We're more flexible, we're morenimble, we're more attentive
than what they can be really.
Stefanie Couch (05:11):
I love that story.
You're really a trailblazer andI think it's cool how you and
Dan from Do it Best did justhave an idea.
And it's a cool thing to thinkin today's world because we're
so advanced from what the youknow, the first starts of
hardware stores and lumber yardswere years and years ago.
We have all this tech and allthese things, but really a lot
(05:31):
of the best ideas do start at adinner or a lunch and just have
two or three people that havesomething they want to do, a
problem they want to solve whichI think is the most important
thing and they go out and theyjust try something.
There's a lot of risk involvedin that and some people don't
have tolerance for that, but theones that do.
I still think there's so muchopportunity in our business for
(05:51):
people that want to do somethingthat's different.
They want to go out and trysomething that maybe no one else
is doing and you're reallydoing that where you're.
You have a long-term strategy.
At nation's best, you buy andhold.
You don't take every person outof the market and do a lot of
the things that otheracquisitions companies are doing
.
So tell me a little bit moreabout your long-term strategy of
(06:13):
that buy and hold and how youwork with people in their local
markets.
Chris Miller (06:17):
Yeah.
So you know, from a capitalperspective, we don't have
private equity money behind us,which makes it the mentality of
what success looks like.
It changes that, and so it doesallow us to have a longer term
vision and not a three to fiveyear exit.
(06:38):
And so with that I've alwaysmade decisions looking at if I
have this location for the next50 years, what should I be doing
today, and not necessarily notinvesting back into that
business.
So all of our locations that webuy, we do have some retail 101
(07:00):
things that we know.
We do have a playbook for eachone of those locations.
At the same time, we do knowwhat works in retail from a,
from a store, you know, look,feel, um.
And so for each one of theacquisitions you know we do, you
know it may not be the next day, but very quickly go in, spend
(07:21):
the money, yeah, um to tomodernize the store, and that's
everything from the old tilefloors that are all that are
half of them are missing to thelighting, to the paint center,
the color bar, the do it bestoffers, the signage, some things
(07:41):
like that, to really make thestore look like they are
professional.
They're big players because themore professional they look.
People's perception is theyhave to be competitive on price.
Stefanie Couch (07:52):
Absolutely.
Chris Miller (07:53):
Instead of the old mom and pop feel that you know
they're probably expensive, butyou know it's down the street.
Yeah, we still love ourconvenience factor because
that's, you know, what sets usapart, that in our service.
But we do want to look likewe're in the business and so we
spend a lot of money, capex, onthose stores which some other
(08:17):
consolidators private equity.
They may put a pause on thatbecause it just doesn't pencil
for them the same way.
Stefanie Couch (08:26):
Yeah, they're thinking about, like you said,
three to five years, and that'sover the span of that short of a
time horizon.
It doesn't probably come out onthe return a lot of times.
I think it's really cool to saythe stats on what you guys have
done.
So you started five years ago,2019, right, 18 states, 64
stores.
Is that still correct?
Chris Miller (08:47):
That is still correct.
We've got a couple on thehorizon that we have a letter of
intents on that here.
Over the next three months, weshould be closing on four to six
more stores.
Wow, it's.
You know the speed of growth.
You know from 2020 to 23, itwas just phenomenal.
(09:09):
And now you know we are nowkind of saying, ok, let's look
ourselves in the mirror, let'smaybe slow down that growth on
the acquisition side.
At the same time, let's reallyfocus on the business.
Yeah.
And how are we making thesebusinesses better.
And so that's really been a bigpush for ours of ours the last
four to six months.
Stefanie Couch (09:29):
Yeah, that's amazing.
You guys are doing thatbranding up front.
And I want to just hit on thatbecause it's something I feel
like is I think about my dad'sstore.
You know he didn't actually ownthe property so we're a little
limited to what we could do.
But there are a lot of thingsnow that I am kind of a
marketing and branding personand I see these things so
clearly and I do thinkperception is reality for people
(09:50):
, like you said, that mom andpop look, it doesn't show people
that you're in the game, thatyou're really a serious
competitor.
Also, if you think aboutaesthetically, with higher end
buyers, so some of these veryhigh end interior design type
people, they want to come into aplace to shop that is made
where they feel comfortable,they can bring their clients in.
(10:12):
And I have a lot of people inmy current clientele that are
doing three to $10 million homesand there's a certain type of
feel that you want your store tohave to be able to make those
people feel like they shouldcome there.
Yes, and that is reallyimportant.
So I love that you guys seethat vision immediately.
You're taking that on.
And you mentioned the old tiles.
Like I can see that in my mind.
(10:33):
When you walk in that store,there's dust everywhere, the
aisles are cluttered and I likeI think about some of the other
I won't name the retail chains,but some of the other lower end
stores where there's stuff allin the aisles and you can't walk
through and it's not a goodshopping experience.
That customer experience is notgreat.
So I love that you're reallythinking about from day one.
How do we optimize that?
(10:55):
And I can't imagine what you'reseeing on the buyer experience
side, the feedback that you guysget after you do that in a
store.
Can you talk to me a little bitabout that?
The feedback that you guys getafter you do that in the store.
Can you talk to me a little bitabout that?
Like you buy this thing, you doall this work.
What do the customers say?
And what do the employees saytoo?
Because it's a betterenvironment for them.
Chris Miller (11:09):
Yeah, it's.
It's really about the employees, that where it all stems from,
because if the employees arebought in they're happy at the
end of it.
That will exude to theircustomer relationships and their
service.
So you know there's a lot ofangst and anxiety as you do a
store remodel and you're movingthings around, you're using the
gondola train to move, you knowmove aisles and customers are
(11:33):
coming in looking.
They always took a right to gofind that, that widget and now
it's over here on the left andso it is disruptive.
But we try to do it in a veryexpedited timeframe.
You know, between two to fourweeks and we're in and out and
done.
So it's a lot of pre-planningIf there's construction, if
we're tearing out an office, ifwe're, you know, doing a million
(11:54):
different things but a lot ofproject management on the front
end to make sure that that runssmoothly.
But it's all about the buy-inright.
So it's not like corporate andwe don't even call ourselves out
.
We call ourselves the supportcenter, but it's not the support
center coming in and doing astore remodel for you it is.
You are either the manager ofthe store or the previous owner
(12:16):
who is still with us, because inmost cases the previous owners
still work with us and gettingthem really bought in.
They're already excited becausethey're seeing immediately that
the person that they sold theirbusiness to is immediately
putting money into it.
Yeah, and so it's kind ofputting money where our mouth is
, because we talk about it a lotand so that right there in
(12:38):
itself is a big kind of featherin our cap, I guess to start
with is a big kind of feather inour cap, I guess to start with.
So once it's all done andeveryone you know finally can
take a breath after it's doneand the customers start coming
in, wow, this is amazing.
Like that's when it all reallystarts to make sense.
I mean, and again, it's not athree-year return on investment.
(13:00):
Now, in some cases we have doneremodels where it kind of is a
two-year ROI.
But just showing the community,showing the employees, that we
are in it for the long term, itmeans everything to a small
community.
Stefanie Couch (13:16):
What is one of the stores that you love to go
in?
Give me an example, because Iknow you have some farm and
ranch stores, you have somehardware stores, some lumber
stuff.
What's one of your favoritestores to go in?
Chris Miller (13:28):
I love them all, but you know just a couple that
really stand out.
Calaveras Lumber out inCalifornia.
That is a very fun store to gointo.
The people are just so friendly.
It's a bigger store with a biggarden center.
It's a beautiful store.
I mean, if I could have a boxto replicate that'd probably be
(13:52):
it.
Milton Florida has HallsHardware, which was one of our
first acquisitions back in 2020.
That is just a fun store.
It's almost a tourist trap.
Stefanie Couch (14:04):
Yeah, it's near the beach, it's near the beach.
Chris Miller (14:06):
But you know people find it as a destination
and you get to go in.
You put your pin on the map ofwhere you're from.
The map's gigantic.
You know we're under our thirdor fourth map now because
there's so many pins in it youcan't you can't fit yours in
there.
But you walk in as a newcustomer.
They give you a new customergoodie bag and it's amazing that
those employees know if you'rea new customer.
Stefanie Couch (14:26):
That's really cool.
Chris Miller (14:26):
So you get your little blue Halls bag with a mug
and the loyalty rewardsapplication and some things
about the store and what's coolabout that and that's one of the
things we, you know.
Well, I'll get to that.
But as they walk through thestore, their bag, every employee
knows oh, they've got one ofthose blue bags.
That must be a new customer.
It's time to really wow them.
Stefanie Couch (14:49):
Yeah, that's such a great customer experience
too, because it's small and itprobably costs you guys some
money, but it's not a huge,probably a huge investment.
But how many times do you walkin somewhere and you get
something like that?
I mean, I can't think of thelast time that I went to a store
and I bought something andthey're like here's this thing,
(15:10):
because you came in and you're anew customer and we want to
basically show you, you know,how much we care about you.
And everyone pretty much hassome sort of sign up for a
newsletter or coupons, or sothat's part of it.
Chris Miller (15:21):
But to really dote on people like that, they
remember that I I was justthinking about the only time
I've ever like I walk into the,the mall to buy, you know,
cologne or something.
You go into one of theseshopping center, you know, and
they, they spray you with yourcologne and that's I'm.
You actually think I just won?
I?
got a free, yeah, spray yeah,but to actually to actually get
(15:44):
a bag with a you know four orfive different promo items that
they can take home and usearound their house.
It's much more impactful.
Stefanie Couch (15:51):
Yeah, and people should be thinking outside of
the box like that.
I think as a generation, wethink about all this tech savvy,
emails, social media, all that,and it's important.
I mean, I think you have to doall of it, but there's something
about giving something in yourhand, even direct mail, or
sending someone a handwrittennote, something special about
that, because, number one, youtook time and not everyone else
(16:14):
is doing it, so you've kind offound some magic there.
I love that story.
If I'm ever in Milton, floridaor in California, I'm going to
go check out these storesBecause, see, now you've told a
story that I'm compelled by andthat is really what this
business should be thinking of.
It's how do we tell stories andbuild brands that people are
compelled and magnetized to.
And it's not, it does not haveto be fancy, but it just has to
(16:38):
be something with heart and, Ithink, going back to your
allowing and asking the ownersthat were there a lot of times
to stay.
When I see these businessescome in and they are on a three
to five year trajectory, it'sinflux of capital in certain
areas only, and what people arecompelled by is that heart and
(16:58):
soul of the business and thosepeople that have been there for
50 years or 30 years are thatpulse of the business a lot of
times.
Tell me a little bit about howyour people, because I know
you've done a lot of work onemployees and you have a young
team of talent and you're reallygoing out and you're trying to
(17:20):
get top talent, especiallythat's younger.
How do you do that?
Because it's hard to getamazing young people to want to
come to our business and you'redoing very well with it.
Chris Miller (17:31):
How do you do that ?
So you know it really startswith our leadership team.
I believe we've got one of thestrongest leadership or
executive teams you know outthere in the industry and I've
worked very, very harddeveloping out that team there
in the industry and I've workedvery, very hard developing out
that team.
And it really starts withculture.
(17:53):
They all get it.
We're all very professional andat the same time we're having a
lot of fun and I think it shows,and if you can show that you're
having a good time, thatyounger generation wants to be a
part of that, and if you canprove that you are reinvesting
back in, nobody wants to go intoan old hardware store and work
yeah, they want a clean, niceenvironment now, yeah.
(18:13):
So if you can show you knowwhether it's store-level
employees and hiring thoseyounger kids that want to work
in that store and all the way tothe support center, those
younger kids that want to workin that store and all the way to
the support center.
(18:37):
You know we've made a very, orI've made a very big push to to
teach young people that this,this is a you can make a hell of
a career in lumber buildingmaterials and hardware retailing
.
A lot of you know that's andthat's a lot of showing them and
teaching them, because nobody'scoming out of college thinking.
That's what I want to do?
Yeah, only people like me thatwere born into it, that are
crazy enough to think what elsecould I ever do.
But you know with all the newtechnology out there where we're
(18:57):
kind of going with thattechnology it attracts a lot of
people.
Technology it attracts a lot ofpeople and whether you know
they're in the hardware industryor some other retail industry,
you know they get to use thatnew generational thinking with
that technology.
And you know they soon find out, man, I love retail.
It's fun.
Stefanie Couch (19:17):
It is a business that also you know hardware
lumber.
Even if the economy's down,it's an essential business.
Even during the pandemic it'san essential business.
Even during the pandemic it wasan essential business.
And I think that there's a lotgoing on in the world where tech
jobs are not as sexy as theyonce were.
People are getting laid off anda lot of these more high-end,
(19:37):
illustrious jobs out of college.
They're not so shiny anymoreand our industry is here and
there are a lot of jobs that youcould do.
Tech in the construction orbuilding industry you could do
you know marketing and have allthese super savvy things that we
see and we think of in ourindustry and, like you said,
make a really amazing career,have a great financial gain to
(20:00):
be made or own a business Likethere's so many business
opportunities with, with a lotof boomers retiring.
There are a lot of people outthere.
They're selling home servicesbusiness, building industry
businesses that want to continuethat legacy and they're just
looking for a person like you tocome and buy it and sometimes
even allow, you know, crazyseller financing type options.
(20:21):
There's people like you thatare out there helping people
continue their legacies and Ilove that.
What would you say is one ofthe biggest things as far as
training?
Because you guys do have a lot.
I see you doing programs forwomen, programs for your
executive team.
I see that all over LinkedIn.
You guys are obviously boughtin there.
How important is training tothe next generation?
Chris Miller (20:41):
It's critical Again, without that training and
I'm talking from the storelevel, yeah, you know we've got
a training platform developednow that it's whatever you're
doing in our store.
It's specific, you know,specified training for your role
, sure, and it also shows youwhat the career path looks like.
(21:05):
It's not just okay, you came inas a cashier, this is what you
do.
It's you're a cashier, this iswhat you do, in order for you to
get to the next level in yourcareer.
And that may be 60 days to sixyears, and it's really dependent
on the person, and we want tosee that person reach for those,
(21:25):
those goals, because if it'staken them six years to reach
for that goal, that may not yeah, this may not be their career
for them.
Yeah.
But we have so many young peoplethat want to get in there and
as soon as it's laid out,they're like wow, I can become
assistant manager and a yearfrom now, if I really show them
what I can do.
And this is how we lay it out,this is how you show us what you
(21:46):
can do.
Stefanie Couch (21:47):
Yeah, all the data shows that.
Gen Z specifically, but evenmillennials, they don't only
want career pathing like you'retalking about, where it is kind
of a clear picture in thetraining.
It's more important to themthan the upfront salary is and
(22:08):
that's because they know if theycan drive towards something
that long term will besuccessful, it will be more
advantageous for them than maybea little five to 10 percent
bump in salary up front.
These companies that aren'tbuying into that and aren't
having a very strategic plan forpeople.
Where there's no vision, thepeople will perish.
My dad always used to tell methat and you have to step that
out for people.
Where there's no vision, thepeople will perish.
My dad always used to tell methat and you have to step that
out.
For people, and especially whenit's already an unknown
(22:30):
industry to them, it's alreadykind of phantom like what does
this mean and what would thislook like in 20 years if I stay
here?
If you envision that for themon paper, they see it and they
get it.
And I meet so many people.
I've met a lot of young peoplein the market floor this week at
Do it Best.
It's really inspiring to me andreally amazing to see what's
coming, and I actually got thechance last week to at the
(22:53):
National Harbor Show honor oneof your amazing leaders, kim and
Pefley, and she's a regionalvice president for you guys.
You're bringing in a lot ofwomen, a lot of top talent in
women.
Chris Miller (23:04):
Talk a little bit about that and yeah, just to
talk about Kim for a second.
She, we, we, we brought her onboard last year.
She's got a just a slew of ofof tenured experience in
hardware on the store floor inhardware retailing.
(23:25):
Managed quite a few stores.
But just her, just her charisma, her, her sense of when you're
around her, just her smile.
Stefanie Couch (23:36):
She is a bright ray of sunshine.
Chris Miller (23:38):
She is so professional, at the same time
so playful.
Stefanie Couch (23:41):
Yeah.
Chris Miller (23:41):
It's just you just want to be around her.
I agree, and I think that youknow when she's in our locations
, the stores see that.
They know that she's not fullof it because you know she's
been around the block.
Yeah, she's not full of itbecause she's been around the
block.
At the same time, she's got somany amazing ideas and tips and
tricks and tools.
I've learned a ton from heralready.
(24:02):
That's awesome.
But, yeah, when it comes towomen in the industry, we do
host our annual women'sconference where the vendor
community gets involved.
All of our top and aspiringwomen in our business come and
it's not a marketing ploy,because they really get a lot
(24:24):
out of that.
At the same time, people seethat and see the investment in
trying to acquire that toptalent and women are top talent
at the end of the day.
At the same time, we want morewomen in our stores.
Yeah, period.
The share of wallet is fargreater with them than men.
I agree.
(24:44):
And so you know how do we tapinto knowing what that
demographic wants, and that's tohire the same demographic
honestly.
Stefanie Couch (24:52):
Yeah, and I think it's really just about
seeing the perspective ofsomething that is a little
different than maybe what alwayshas been as a competitive
advantage.
And I also would say to womenin the industry and Kim's a
great example of this is thatbeing a woman in this industry
is actually a competitiveadvantage for women, because
there is so much opportunity foryou to come in and do things a
(25:14):
little differently, and it issomething that people are
looking for, and not everysingle company maybe feels that
way, but a lot of them do, andthere's also just so many
supportive men like you thathave helped me over my career
I'm sure she would say the samething and so it's about
reframing how we look at things,as this is not a oh, there's
only 10% women in theconstruction industry.
(25:35):
It's a oh, there's only 10%women in the construction
industry.
How can I make this somethingthat I can go and just thrive in
?
So I love that you're doingthat, and I think that talent of
next generation is.
The thing that keeps most ownersup at night is how do I fill my
store with amazing people?
How do I build this businesswhen those people retire?
Because it's coming there's ahuge wave coming in the next
(25:56):
five years and I believe it'sgoing to be probably the biggest
retirement of people runningthe businesses.
So it's an opportunity for alot of us to really capitalize
on, and I love that you're doingthat.
I want to shift a little bit totech, so technology is
something I love to talk about.
I've spoken here about AI a lotof great questions.
People are super curious, butit's not just AI.
(26:18):
There's a lot of automationsand even something like an ERP
system that a lot of ourcompanies in this industry don't
still have.
Tell me a little bit about howNation's Best is leveraging
technology and growing yourbusiness with technology.
Chris Miller (26:33):
Yeah, I'm a firm believer that if you're not
utilizing all the technology outthere that's available, you're
behind.
So, when it comes to the ERPsystem, we quickly, after an
acquisition, do the work, do thegrind and get them converted
onto our Epicor platform thatwe're on.
(26:53):
So currently all 64 locationsare on the same server and,
honestly, if you're not doingthat, or trying to do that as
fast as possible, it's very,very hard to run the business
proactively instead ofreactively, and so that's kind
of first and foremost.
After that, you know we areutilizing technology in just a
(27:14):
million different ways.
But you know, ai is a term thatyou know is obviously very
trendy, maybe a little overhyped, but still relevant, and we are
utilizing AI in various aspectsof the business, whether it's
from our marketing, reallyidentifying and then through our
rewards data.
You know that customer's buyingthis today, next month they'll
(27:38):
most likely need this for thatproject.
Or an AI is scouring, you know,the web and identifying that
when someone buys this, mostlikely this is their next point
of purchase, and so we're usingthat for target marketing and
other things like that we havenot implemented, you know, ai
pricing, yet that's kind of thenext wave that I see coming.
(28:00):
You need to have electronic binlabels for that, but at the
same time it's out thereidentifying that your quantity
on hand just went from 10 to 2.
It's looking out in the marketof what other quantity you know
you can actually charge 10 morecents for this right now, sure
or less.
Conversely so, blueprinttakeoffs.
(28:21):
I just actually did a demoyesterday of, you know we're
going to be revamping our entireweb presence and our online
presence where you know the nextgen builder does not
necessarily want, like you know,our mom and dad, you know, used
to come in the lumberyard.
Yep, hey, come on in at seveno'clock.
(28:43):
Come have coffee with me andwe'll get your order, you know,
written up and taken care of.
Stefanie Couch (28:48):
With a little, the ruler with the quarter
inches and my dad had plans allover his desk.
Correct, it's like a chaoticmess of plans, yeah.
Chris Miller (28:55):
So so I mean, I'm actually looking at things right
now where you know, someonesends in a material list, emails
a material list with you know,and a lot of times it's chicken
scratch, as you know, the AIautomatically reads that, spits
that into our quoting system, inour ERP system, so they're tied
together, automatically createsa quote and automatically knows
who that customer is, whetherthey're on a custom pricing plan
(29:17):
or not, and really makes it towhere that customer interaction.
As much as this is still arelationship business, because
it is.
That's what the next gen islooking for and we've got to
meet them there.
Stefanie Couch (29:31):
It's speed too.
We think about what isimportant in business, and I say
this a lot and I think aboutthis a lot Speed to lead is
important, follow up andnurturing is important, and
those tools thinking about whatis your builder hate the most.
What do they have that plaguesthem in the morning when they
wake up?
Well, takeoffs has got to betop tier of that list of things
(29:54):
that really drive them crazy.
And so then that customer onthe homeowner side might call
and say you know, chris, I knowyou price this already four
different ways, but could youpossibly price this window and
door package a 17th way?
And so that right there allowsyou to, with a click of a button
, kind of change some things andit's not such a big deal.
(30:17):
And then they feel like you'regoing out of your way for them
to do this thing, which you are.
But you're not going that farout of your way because you have
tech to help you instead of itbeing such a manual process, and
cuts down on errors, whichmaybe in framing lumber it's
still a pain.
You know, you pull a load andyou pull a two by tens, and it
should have been two by twelves.
(30:37):
Well, you gotta.
You gotta re-pull it.
You gotta take a truck outthere, pick up the old stuff,
put the new stuff, and you losetime.
Those little small errors thatmay seem like not a big deal are
a big deal, and so you guyshave opportunities now.
I mean the tech that's comingout.
It just it's just.
Every day there's something newthat comes out, and I'm like,
(30:59):
wow, that is going to change,something that people have been
I've been hearing them complainabout for 30 years.
I think of my dad's voice whenI hear the word takeoffs his
least favorite thing in ourlumber yard, and it also was
only something that one or twopeople could do.
Now you can take a 20 year oldout of college, teach them how
to use this software, and theydon't have to know how to frame
(31:21):
stick, frame a roof.
That's crazy complicated.
That software helps them do it.
So it's it's amazing thatyou're already that far into
this, using and thinking aboutthat.
How do you evaluate, though,because there are so many
softwares, there's so manythings coming out.
How do you know what is just acool thing that maybe one day
you'll think of, versus what youneed to do today in your
(31:43):
business?
Chris Miller (31:44):
Yeah, so I've definitely seen with some of the
bigger.
You know they'll adopt everypiece of software, use about a
quarter of it, pay a fortune forthe rest of it, and you know
that's what we're trying to notdo.
There are so many things outthere, like you're saying,
whether it's yeah, I meanthere's just a lot.
(32:04):
So it's just being intentionaland making sure and then also
finding the companies that canpackage it all together.
You know, can they not only doour web presence online, quoting
blueprint, you know AI readingtakeoffs to where you know it's
learning that, okay, the lasttime I did this takeoff in this
(32:26):
region I put spruce instead ofyellow pine and the salesman had
to go in there and fix it.
It knows next time in thatregion that that's most likely
the species of lump.
But if you can find a companythat actually puts it all
together, that's really wherethe magic happens, because then
it all starts talking to eachother and then all of a sudden
it's tied into your trucking GPSsystem and so you know, and
(32:51):
I've got a very strong IT teamand kind of business analytics
analytics guy that helpsidentify hey, that's really cool
bell and whistle, but it'strash.
Yeah, so it's not me justmaking all those decisions.
Stefanie Couch (33:04):
Yeah, and that's the thing is having those
specialists that do read all thenews that's coming out and
understand everything and, likeyou said, something can look
really shiny from the front end.
And then you, if it doesn'ttalk to your ERP or it won't API
into something, it almostdoesn't matter how cool it is on
the front end, because if youhave to do it manually to talk
to each other, it doesn't matter.
(33:25):
Yeah Well, you've got so manyamazing things on the horizon.
What is most exciting to you?
I want to just close out withthat question what gets you up
in the morning?
You're like man, this is reallyawesome.
I cannot wait to go do thesethings.
Chris Miller (33:38):
So I think Nation's Best has kind of
settled into a niche on where wefit in the industry.
We're not going after,currently, the $500 million
businesses out there where someof our you know competition,
that is their sweet spot becausethey're trying to get as big as
(33:58):
fast as possible.
Sure, we are.
You know we have limitedcompetition really in the
marketplace for the stores we'relooking at which are, you know,
a well-run, whether you knowit's a hardware store doing $3
million and that's, or it's alumber yard.
You know it's a hardware storedoing $3 million and that's, or
it's a lumber yard.
You know home center doing 10to 20 million.
That's kind of our sweet spot,sure.
(34:19):
And so that's what gets meexcited Just seeing how deep,
how fragmented the industry iswith those particular set of
stores that I'm talking about,and how you know there's not too
many people trying toconsolidate those up and that's
not what we are.
I mean, I don't look at us asjust a big consolidator, even
(34:42):
though that's kind of what we'redoing.
I look at us as we're growing abusiness, we are maintaining
legacies.
I always say we're honoring thepast, energized for the future,
and I think it's just a greatindustry, I think it's wonderful
people in it.
Once you're in this industryyou're kind of stuck and you
(35:03):
know everybody and it's a bigfamily around the country.
It is.
So that's what keeps meenergized just to know that our
growth is really boundless atthis point, like I mean this
could I could continue to dothis for the rest of my life.
And there's still you know,there's still going to be
thousands of locations that aregoing to have succession crisis
(35:27):
issues in the in the future, andso I could see, you know,
nation's best being continuingto do what we do for a long,
long time.
Stefanie Couch (35:34):
It's really exciting.
Congratulations on all yoursuccess and I know you're going
to be very successful in thefuture and I can't wait to keep
watching.
Thank you for taking some timeto sit down with me on the Grit
Blueprint and I hope you have agreat rest of the market.
Chris Miller (35:46):
Well, thanks for having me.
Stefanie Couch (35:48):
That's it for this episode of the Grit
Blueprint podcast.
For that's it for this episodeof the Grit Blueprint podcast.
For more tools, training andindustry content, make sure to
subscribe here and follow me onLinkedIn and other social media
platforms To find out more abouthow Grit Blueprint can help you
grow your business.
Check us out at our websitegritblueprintcom.
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