Nearly 20 years after the Tibbetts family sold Cox Lumber to Home Depot, a crowd of onlookers gathered to celebrate the groundbreaking of Tibbetts Lumber’s soon-to-be largest truss plant, which will be located in Zephyrhills, Florida. This event demonstrated the on-going confidence of Tibbetts’ ownership in gaining ground against a raft of Florida competitors. Their continuing success, and their comeback since the Cox sale, owes a great deal to the vision of their founder, Linton Tibbetts, who passed away in 2012 at the age of 88. [For photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
In the early 2000s, Mr. Tibbetts watched as the four top wholesale providers of building materials acquired most of his peers. To his great credit, in 2005, he was pursued by an arm of the largest retail supplier of building materials, Home Depot. At that time, he likely also shared the concern of those who sold their lumberyards, that the record 17-year homebuilding expansion was near its end. Indeed, when his sale to Home Depot closed in May 2006, Florida housing starts were already down by 25%, and three years later they were 90% below their peak. Yet, the skillful way Tibbetts exited the business gave his family many options.
At the May 13, 2025 groundbreaking, Tibbetts’ grandson and executive chairman, Kyle Hooker, recalled the aftermath of the sale of Cox. In 2008, he met with his grandfather and handed him a copy of a detailed plan to reenter the building supply business. Mr. Tibbetts remarked, “I don’t need to read anything…How much money do you need?” That characteristic reply launched Tibbetts Lumber Co. LLC in April 2009, ironically when the recession bottomed out. At that time, Kyle updated the company’s mission statement, which he reiterated at this ceremony, “to glorify God and honor the legacy of Linton and Polly Tibbetts while growing knowledgeable, dedicated employees while serving our customers with excellence and integrity.” But Tibbetts Lumber had its work cut out for it.
In the interim between the Cox sale and Tibbetts incorporation, their competition continued to intensify. ProBuild had purchased the former Cox locations from Home Depot and also Granger Lumber’s locations, giving them a total of 13 truss plants in Florida. It was clear that they, along with Builders FirstSource, Stock, and US LBM, were still determined to carve up the Florida market among themselves, even if they had to take losses. ProBuild also claimed that they would dominate their peers by cutting lumber costs with proprietary engineering, and by reducing labor with robotic manufacturing.
Yet Tibbetts Lumber navigated their way through the cut-throat competition and the depressed market conditions, harkening back to the way Mr. Tibbetts grew Cox Lumber from a single 1000 sq ft showroom to becoming the largest lumberyard in Florida. “I’ve seen recessions come and go and always found them the best time to expand,” said Tibbetts upon reentering the business. And Jeff Brandes, another one of Mr. Tibbetts’ grandsons remarked, “We’ve got the cash, the talent, and the real estate…never bet against my grandfather.”
Key to Tibbetts Lumber’s restart was the rapid rehiring of some 70 former Cox executives and associates. This reconstituted team used their incredibly detailed knowledge of the Florida marketplace to guide their rapid expansion to four locations across Florida in just two years. In 2014, in an ironic twist of fate, Tibbetts reacquired the newest of the former Cox plants in Ocala, while discarding the remnants of ProBuild’s failed attempt at robotic assembly there. By then, ProBuild and Stock Building Supply had shuttered most of their Florida locations, and the Florida market was in recovery.
Another factor in their early success was their constant improvement in truss manufacturing technology. Initially, in the interest of time, they took advantage of legacy equipment. However, after reestablishing their market position, they continually upgraded their plants to the latest technology and followed that course as they expanded in the Tampa and panhandle markets.
So last month, as these Tibbetts Lumber rebuilders took up shovels full of dirt, their founder was there, too, in spirit. He would be proud that his fine team navigated a path beyond the takeover trend he saw coming in 2006, and that they have succeeding in giving new life to the great organization he founded.