Nation's Best Holdings

What Nation's Best Holdings does

Nation's Best Holdings LLC is a privately held holding company founded in January 2019 by Chris Miller and headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The company acquires and operates a network of 64 locally-branded hardware stores, home centers, and lumber yards across 18 U.S. states, retaining each acquired business's brand identity, leadership team, and community presence. Its portfolio spans over 30 distinct local brands including Lambert Lumber, Groom & Sons', Hometown Building Centers, Simms Lumber, Hall's Hardware, Connolly's Do it Best, and Burns Do it Center, collectively serving DIY homeowners, professional contractors and builders, and farm/ranch operators with lumber, hardware, building materials, plumbing, electrical, paint, tools, and related hardlines products.

The company's go-to-market is a hybrid acquisition-and-operate model: it targets successful, profitable independent dealers facing succession issues, provides growth capital, centralized back-office resources, and purchasing power, while preserving local autonomy. A core strategic partnership with Do it Best Corp., a wholesale co-op, gives member stores access to national vendor relationships and bulk pricing to compete against Home Depot and Lowe's. Underlying technology is conventional retail IT: ERP systems and the proprietary Tracula inventory-tracking platform support multi-location data consolidation and acquisition integration. Revenue is generated almost entirely through point-of-sale transactions at physical retail locations, with no disclosed enterprise contracts, subscription revenue, or e-commerce platform of scale.

Since founding, Nation's Best has executed over 40 acquisitions, growing from 1 location to 64 in roughly five years and from 500 employees (October 2021) to over 1,200 associates by 2024. The company emphasizes a long-term hold strategy without a predetermined exit timeline, and management has expanded with C-suite additions including a CFO/M&A officer, CIO, CHRO, VP of Retail Strategy, and VP of Purchasing to support continued portfolio growth.

Name

Nation's Best Holdings

Legal name

Nation's Best Holdings LLC

Website

https://nationsbest.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Nation's Best Holdings is a Dallas-based holding company that acquires and operates 64 locally-branded hardware stores, home centers, and lumber yards across 18 U.S. states, serving DIY homeowners, professional contractors, and farm/ranch operators while preserving each store's local brand identity.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Home Improvement Retail

NAICS

Building Material and Garden Equipment and Supplies Dealers (444), Home Centers (444110), Hardware Retailers (44414), Lumber, Plywood, Millwork, and Wood Panel Merchant Wholesalers (42331)

SIC

Retail-Lumber & Other Building Materials Dealers (5211), Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200), Wholesale-Lumber & Other Construction Materials (5030)

akta.pro primary industry

General Home Improvement & Hardware Stores (CRAIADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Lumber & Timber Retail (Dimensional Lumber, Plywood, OSB) (CRAIAEAA), Building Materials & Lumber Distribution (CRAOAFAD)

Keywords

• Hardware store operations
• Building materials retail
• Lumber yard services
• Home improvement retail
• Acquisition holding company

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Hardware and Building Materials Sales: Nation's Best generates revenue through the operation of locally branded hardware stores, home centers, and lumber yards. The company sells a comprehensive suite of products including lumber, hardware, building materials, plumbing, electrical, paint, tools, and farm/ranch supplies to both DIY homeowners and professional contractors. Revenue is generated through one-time point-of-sale transactions at physical retail locations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Nation's Best Holdings LLC acquires and operates a network of locally-branded hardware stores, home centers, and lumber yards across 18 U.S. states, selling lumber, building materials, hardware, plumbing, electrical, paint, tools, and farm/ranch supplies. The company provides capital, purchasing power, technology, and best practices to acquired independent retailers while preserving their local brand identity, leadership, and community relationships.

Product overview

Nation's Best Holdings operates as a holding company that owns and operates a network of 64 independent hardware stores, home centers, and lumber yards across 18 U.S. states under various local brand names. The company's portfolio includes acquired brands such as Groom & Sons', Lambert Lumber, Simms Lumber, Hall's Hardware, BTU Do It Center, Caron Building Center, Sparr Building & Farm Supply, Advanced Window Systems, and 55+ other local home improvement businesses. Each acquired store maintains its existing brand identity while benefiting from Nation's Best's capital investments, purchasing power, technology implementations (such as Tracula inventory tracking), and operational best practices. The company focuses on operational excellence, local leadership, and long-term growth in the hardlines retail and distribution sector.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Retail Hardware, Lumber, and Building Materials Operates 64 locally-branded hardware stores, home centers, and lumber yards across 18 U.S. states selling lumber, building materials, hardware, plumbing, electrical, paint, tools, and farm/ranch supplies to DIY homeowners, contractors, and farm/ranch customers.
• Contractor Sales and Delivery Services Dedicated contractor sales desks at retail locations and full-service delivery fleets (e.g., Reece's Building Supply) serving professional builders, contractors, and remodelers requiring lumber, building materials, and hardlines for construction projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• Growth from 1 to 64 locations in approximately 5 years (2019-2024)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.

• PLM InsurancesupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2025Sponsor of Nation's Best Women's Leadership Retreat, supporting female leadership development in the LBM industry.
• Milwaukee ToolsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2025Sponsor of Nation's Best Women's Leadership Retreat, supporting female leadership development in the LBM industry.
• LocktonsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2025Sponsor of Nation's Best Women's Leadership Retreat, supporting female leadership development in the LBM industry.
• Specialty Building ProductssupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2025Sponsor of Nation's Best Women's Leadership Retreat, supporting female leadership development in the LBM industry.
• CreedensupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2025Sponsor of Nation's Best Women's Leadership Retreat, supporting female leadership development in the LBM industry.
• DW DistributionsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2022Title sponsor of Nation's Best Inaugural Golf Tournament supporting Arrivederci ALD research.
• Quality WholesalesupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2022Title sponsor of Nation's Best Inaugural Golf Tournament supporting Arrivederci ALD research.
• YellaWoodsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2022Title sponsor of Nation's Best Inaugural Golf Tournament supporting Arrivederci ALD research. YellaWood (Great Southern Wood Preserving).
• Azek-TimberTechsupportingGTM or Marketing Partner · 12 October 2022Title sponsor of Nation's Best Inaugural Golf Tournament supporting Arrivederci ALD research.
• Arrivederci ALDcoreOthers · 17 December 2021Charitable partnership with Arrivederci ALD, a non-profit dedicated to finding a cure for Adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD). Nation's Best customers can 'round up' their purchases to the nearest whole dollar to support ALD research by Harvard and Stanford physicians. The partnership includes an annual golf tournament that raised $260,000 in 2022.
• Do it Best Corp.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 6 August 2020Strategic partnership with Do it Best Corp., a major wholesale co-op for hardware and building materials. Through this partnership, Nation's Best member stores access lower prices, national brand relationships, and competitive capabilities to compete with national big-box chains. The partnership enables the company to leverage collective purchasing power while maintaining local brand autonomy.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Kodiak Building Partners: Kodiak Building Partners is a direct peer operating a similar LBM acquisition rollup strategy, acquiring independent building product dealers across the U.S. and maintaining local brand autonomy while providing capital and operating resources. Nation's Best's Greg Smith previously worked at Kodiak, underscoring the direct comparability of their business models.
• U.S. LBM: U.S. LBM is the largest privately held LBM distributor in the U.S., operating a similar rollup of building material suppliers and home centers with retained local brands. Nation's Best's founder Chris Miller was VP of Operations at U.S. LBM, making it the most operationally comparable peer.
• E C Barton & Company: E C Barton & Company is a long-standing independent building products dealer with multiple locations across multiple states, similar in operational profile to Nation's Best's larger portfolio brands. Nation's Best RVP Greg Smith spent nearly 34 years at E C Barton in senior leadership, making it a directly comparable LBM operator.

Broad incumbents

• Foundation Building Materials: Foundation Building Materials is a publicly traded distributor of building products with a similar multi-location, multi-brand strategy across the U.S. It serves a more focused interior building products niche but is comparable in scale and acquisition-led growth model.
• Orgill: Orgill is one of the largest wholesale distributors of hardware and home improvement products in the U.S., serving independent retailers as customers. While a wholesale supplier rather than a multi-store operator, it represents the same independent-dealer ecosystem that Nation's Best consolidates through acquisition.
• Huttig Building Products: Huttig Building Products is a wholesale distributor of millwork, building materials, and wood products serving dealers across the U.S. It is a comparable B2B operator in the LBM value chain serving similar independent dealer customers.
• Ace Hardware: Ace Hardware is a major hardware retailer cooperative with thousands of independently owned and operated stores. It competes for the same DIY and contractor customer base and sources from the same independent-dealer ecosystem, with Nation's Best's leadership (Kim Peffley, Chad Wilson) coming directly from Ace.
• SRS Distribution: SRS Distribution is a national building products distributor specializing in roofing, siding, and related exterior products, with a similar acquisition-driven growth strategy. It represents a larger, more specialized adjacent player in the building products distribution space.
• QXO: QXO is a publicly traded building products distributor (formerly Beacon Roofing Supply) executing a major acquisition-led growth strategy across exterior building products. It represents a much larger but architecturally similar rollup platform operating in adjacent LBM categories.

Emerging players

• Do it Best Corp. Do it Best Corp. is Nation's Best's strategic wholesale co-op partner, providing purchasing power and member services. As a cooperative of thousands of independent hardware retailers, Do it Best represents both a partner and an adjacent model that competes for the same independent dealer relationships Nation's Best targets for acquisition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nations-best-holdings

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries35 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nation's Best Holdings