When Lenny Stahl started off at Dakota Storage Buildings LLC in Milbank, South Dakota, he says inventory and manufacturing control was backwards. “When I came into this company, it was on QuickBooks and pen and paper. It was just…I couldn’t handle it,” he says. “I couldn’t function with that. Oops,[Read More…]
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‘Struggles Make Us Stronger’
At the age of 21, Ryan Keller, owner of Oakland Structures in Waynesboro, Georgia, had a discussion with his father and brother about constructing portable buildings. “We ended up doing a lot of on-site construction, along with sheds, playhouses, and retailing playground equipment,” he says. “After working with them in[Read More…]
Survey Says… Growth!
Consumers are buying more (and bigger) things again. For example, the National Retail Federation’s 2016 economic forecast projects retail industry sales will grow 3.1 percent, higher than the 10-year average of 2.7 percent. While consumers are buying more things, their homes are too cramped to store them. As a result,[Read More…]
Maximizing Your Workspace
Whether building full sheds in the shop, or simply doing the prep work for an onsite build, most shed builders have one common complaint: Not enough room to work. The trouble is, no matter how big your current space is, it’s likely never going to be big enough. However, a[Read More…]
Siding Insights
Siding. It’s an important part of the look, and durability, of sheds. In the past, sheds were made with raw, untreated wood. All parts of the shed would be subject to fading, moisture intrusion, termites, and rot—including the siding. Today, treated wood products make siding more durable and help make[Read More…]
Better Barns
Better Barns in Byars and Noble, Oklahoma, is described by Tyler Mayhan, general manager, as a “small business in south-central Oklahoma.” The company’s history includes a start in a family back yard and slow growth to include a shop and sales at satellite dealers around the state. Better Barns is[Read More…]
2016 Shed Design Forecast
Planning a change to your inventory or offerings for 2016? Then it pays to know what your competitors around the country are offering in the year ahead. While well-known shed styles remain as popular as ever, many manufacturers and dealers are mixing things up with new materials, new options and[Read More…]
Shed Builder 2015 Report
After another long year, the shed-building industry can look back and appreciate its successes and learn from the challenges. But what worked, and what didn’t in 2015. Shed Builder Magazine reached out to shed builders across the country, in every region, to get an industry report for the year. With[Read More…]
Power Problems
Whether it’s for small-scale power tools or major automated equipment, power is a part of the manufacturing process—and occasionally one of the manufacturing headaches. Shed builders face a range of energy challenges, ranging from finding power at remote locations to protecting equipment in the shop from surges, as well as[Read More…]
Set in Cedar
When Bruce Cheng was a child in British Columbia, he spent hours frolicking in his cedar wood tree house. Little did he know he would grow up to focus his professional life on his love and enjoyment of cedar wood. Back then, he couldn’t have foreseen how his childhood[Read More…]
