Lumber Plus Is Building a Community, One Franchise at a Time

A rising force and franchise in the building materials industry is continuing to map out growth plans.

Lumber Plus, based in Miami, continues to add to its ranks while offering home builders, professional remodelers, and homeowners access to high grade materials and accessories.

The company currently has nine locations with six being franchised and three company owned.

In the Northeast, the greater Boston market continues to be fruitful. There you’ll find three franchise locations in Boston, Cape Cod, and Nantucket all owned by a single franchisee.

Additional franchises include Ronkonkoma, New York on Long Island and serving the greater New York City market; West Palm Beach, Florida; and the South Dade location which opened in Miami on Jan. 15.

Looking ahead, multiple franchised stores are in the works for 2025. Depending on how quickly sites can be secured and remodeled, as many as 5 to 10 locations could open this year.

According to Lumber Plus President Guto Fugiwara, operating a Lumber Plus location is not a part-time job or hobby franchise.

“Finding the right franchise partner is the main thing. We need to very selective on who we bring on board,” Fugiwara told Franchise Magazine USA. “We need real operators, the ones who will take care of business.”

For example the ownership group in New England consists of partners who have been in the cabinetry business for more than 20 years. They know the industry, the market, and the players, including regional contractors and architects, along with their needs.

“We want people who know the market and know building materials,” Fugiwara says.

Fugiwara is well versed in the franchise industry, to put it mildly. After overseeing major expansion moves for Subway in Brazil, including the opening of about 600 locations during his tenure, Fugiwara was named as the franchise’s president of Latin America and Caribbean operations. The move saw the executive handling the operations of more than 4,000 locations.

Now at the helm of Lumber Plus, Fugiwara says franchisees benefit from existing material distribution and buying agreements. At the same time, franchisees don’t necessarily have to take a cookie cutter approach to the materials they stock.

Building materials sold in New England might not be a strong fit for the Miami market. This allows franchisees to purchase materials through existing vendor partners while tailoring inventory to meet the exact needs of their market.

The Lumber Plus catalog of products ranges from decking to siding and cladding including hardwoods and composite materials. Thermowood, a high-quality wood product created through a controlled heat treatment process, has proven to be a strong seller along with steady flow of tropical hardwoods.

But you’ll also find that Lumber Plus is selling framing materials and trusses in the Boston market.

“Every location has its own mix,” Fugiwara says.

Regarding the market, Fugiwara says that while residential construction is solid, “the remodeling market continues to be very hot for us.”