Specialty lumber company sells outdoor living experiences

Despite the chill in the air, the Overland Park showroom of Kansas City Deck Supply gets you ready for warm weather and outdoor living.

The 4,000-square-foot showroom features several full-size display decks made from a wide variety of materials.

Tom Smith owns Kansas City Deck Supply. While the company’s showroom is in Overland Park, its lumberyard is in Kansas City.

Q: What is the focus of Kansas City Deck Supply?

“We are a specialty lumberyard that caters to the contractor and homebuilder for outdoor decking material,” Smith said. “We also sell to the general public because there are a lot of do-it-yourselfers who don’t have access to cutting edge technology and product.”

The showroom is full of materials for decking. There are 10 different displays of products and materials, ranging from treated lumber to exotic hardwoods as well as composites and PVC.

“We have anything they want from drainage systems, railings — anything for their outdoor environment,” Smith said.

However, the company does not actually build decks.

“All we have to sell is product and service,” Smith said.

Contractors make up 70 percent of Kansas City Deck Supply’s business; the remaining 30 percent comes from individual customers, Smith said.

“We deliver and even serve the Lake of the Ozarks,” Smith said. “Johnson County is always our number one target area and where most of our deliveries go.”

Q: How did you get into the deck business?

Smith started Kansas City Deck Supply in 2003 with a partner, Steven Alexander.

“My background was in logistics and transportation, and Steve’s background was in sales,” Smith said. Both were working in the lumber industry for different companies.

“My expertise was getting things delivered and he could sell, so it was a match made in heaven,” Smith said.

Three years ago, Alexander died, leaving Smith with the business. But Smith was prepared.

“When we started we had a succession plan in place,” Smith said. “You have to plan. That good initial plan allowed us to function as normally as we could.”

Q: How do you market to your customer base?

“In the beginning, we started with Yellow Pages (ads) and driving through the neighborhoods,” Smith said.

Today, most of the company’s business comes through word of mouth. Kansas City Deck Supply has four outside sales staffers who work with contractors. The company also does some radio promotion.

Q: How do you compete with the other lumber suppliers in the area?

Smith said his company’s focus on decks has its advantages.

“They (lumberyards and box stores) sell a lot of this type of product but they would not have access to some of the products we carry,” Smith said. “We can get customers anything they are looking for and provide them with expertise.”

Product variety and quality give KC Deck Supply a competitive edge as well as having a huge inventory year-round.

“Doing delivery also gives us a leg up,” he said. “Right now we are running six trucks to deliver.”

Q: What is the greatest challenge you face in business?

For Smith, it is balancing his work with Kansas City Deck Supply along with three other businesses he owns: Tomken Transportation, a local flatbed transit firm; Reload Central, Inc., which brings in rail cars of lumber and delivers to other lumberyards; and TBS Brokerage, which provides hauling services for the trucking industry all over the country.

“Ever since Steve died, I have had to focus all of my attention on KC Deck Supply,” said Smith, whose son Jordan manages the Overland Park showroom. Smith’s other two sons are also involved in business.

Smith credits his employees for helping him keep all the business efforts going.

“They’re great, great people,” he said. “We have a lot of employees that have been with us a long time….”

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 9:31 AM with the headline "Specialty lumber company sells outdoor living experiences."