Talk to most businesspeople who have been around for more than six years, and they will often discuss their operations in terms of pre-COVID and post-COVID.
That’s true for builders in the shed industry.
“(Pre-COVID) business was stable, but the pandemic brought a surge in demand,” says Orlando Penner, founder and president of South Country Sheds in Southwest Florida.
According to Mike Garber, whose various roles with Premier Barns in Missouri include marketing, sales, and overseeing production, “Pre-COVID, we did very little advertising because it is a long-established business. We didn’t need it.”
Both companies are examples of shed manufacturers who successfully navigated numerous obstacles since 2020. COVID was the primary challenge, but rising steel and lumber costs, tariffs, supply-chain disruptions, and social distancing also created difficulties for the shed industry, worldwide supply chains, the global economy, and more.
Shed Business Journal spoke with several shed manufacturers to discover how their businesses survived the pandemic and are thriving six years later. Some credit strong family ties to the business for their dogged dedication to weathering the COVID storm, while others pay homage to an increased focus on marketing to keep customers coming back.
BUILDING ON A FOUNDATION OF FAMILY
What began as a dairy farm in the 1960s has since evolved into a construction company for outdoor products, says Jenn Livingston Bergeron, head of business development, web, and marketing for Livingston Farm in Vermont.
“It was an actual dairy farm started by my grandpa,” she says. In 1998, the company began building sheds. It has since morphed into the construction of all manner of outdoor structures, from sheds to homes.
Bergeron explains that her family’s company, which includes her father and two brothers, has enjoyed steady growth since its establishment.
“Our focus was less on marketing (in the past) than we do today. It was more word-of-mouth,” she says.
It worked in the company’s favor that it is in Vermont, says Bergeron.
“We were in a unique situation. Being in Vermont, social distancing is how we generally live. We were able to deliver sheds without (face-to-face contact).”
An uptick in business was caused by an increased desire of Vermonters to add additional spaces at home for offices or living quarters, she says.
Despite dating back to 1996, Premier Barns decided to ramp up its marketing game in 2021. Although the business was “swamped” during COVID, Garber says the company launched a website in 2021. It did so “to bring leads from clients further away.”
Like many shed manufacturers, Premier Barns is a family affair. Garber works alongside his father and three brothers.
“This is my family’s livelihood,” he explains. That’s why there was never a thought of shuttering the company due to COVID and its related challenges, he says.
“(Closing)was just not an option for us. (The business) supports a few families, and we love the industry,” he says.
CHALLENGES
Even if a shed builder was fortunate enough not to experience too many COVID-related difficulties firsthand, most dealt with vendors that did. That ripple effect resulted in obstacles not only within a shed-building entity, but also from external sources.
According to Anthony Mitchell, owner and founder of Georgia-based Outdoor Options, COVID presented pressures both in and outside the company.
“We had half the stuff and twice the units (to build during COVID),” says Mitchell. “The price of wood went up, metal went up. But the bigger challenge was getting (supplies).”
In 2020, Outdoor Options had half the crew it needed to build all the sheds customers ordered.
“Times were good,” he remembers.
2021 was a different story entirely.
“We filled orders basically at cost,” says Mitchell.
In 2022, pricing for needed construction materials, such as steel, began to stabilize. When that happened, “I felt confident these were the prices and people were still buying,” Mitchell explains.
Early in the pandemic, South Country Sheds learned quickly how challenging sourcing materials would be.
“We had to figure out where to get materials and supplies to build inventory. We had a few weeks where sales ground to a halt, but then they took off,” says Dallas Penner, the owner’s son and the company’s general manager.
Sales were so significant that customers had to endure a four-month wait for a new shed from South Country Sheds.
“It was hard to keep inventory in stock. We could not build them fast enough,” says Dallas.
Staffing was a huge challenge faced by Outdoor Options during the pandemic. According to Mitchell, three of his salespeople wanted to work remotely but were unable to because internet service was not available in their areas. Two employees remained at the shop with him and his wife.
The historic surge in steel prices in 2021 also dogged Mitchell’s business. As prices increased, the number of units (the company built) decreased to 100 buildings a month, down from approximately 150.
“(In 2024), we started to see an easing in steel pricing, but it was inconsistent. That impacted our bottom line,” he says.
According to Bergeron, the biggest challenge her family’s company faced during COVID was how to serve customers while staying safe.
“We were nervous because we didn’t know what was going on,” she says.
Soon, though, their fears were allayed. Not only because Vermont is the second least populated state in the country, but also because it was soon realized how their company was already structured for customer service based on social distancing, even prior to the pandemic.
For example, a Livingston Farm driver loaded a delivery truck with mulch alone, then delivered it to a customer’s location, all without human interaction. The same reality applied to the Adirondack chairs that Livingston Farm built, sold, and delivered.
“People were looking for something to do, improve their homes, and more. We even built an outdoor classroom for a school,” says Bergeron.
For Oregon-based Countryside Sheds, the nation’s disrupted supply chain had the most impact on the company during the pandemic. According to David Riley, sales manager and customer support head, it was the business’s foresight for such disorder that allowed it to weather the storm of COVID.
“From a manufacturer’s perspective, supply chain is one aspect of a project that impacts so many other factors of the manufacturing chain,” says Riley. Whether it is a lack of truck drivers needed to transport necessary lumber and other building supplies or inexperienced construction personnel, a breach in the supply chain impacts production.
Fortunately for Countryside Sheds, it had diversified its roster of vendors and suppliers prior to COVID. Having those established relationships when the pandemic hit really helped the company. Only two vendors notified the company that their prices would increase due to tariffs.
Countryside Sheds has also implemented a fuel surcharge for deliveries outside its area.
“Customers understood,” says Riley.
LESSONS LEARNED
One business lesson Bergeron learned because of Livingston Farm surviving COVID is, “People value space differently than they did before. Before COVID, people saw sheds as ‘storage.’ Now, it’s more about adding useful space for living, working, creating, and more. We learned we were not just selling sheds but helping people create space to support their jobs (and their lives, in general).”
But that was not the only insight the experience afforded.
“We also saw how local relationships and local businesses are so valuable,” she adds. “The trust of customers became invaluable. That strengthened our commitment to customize services and connect with our community.”
In retrospect, Dallas Penner says he is regretful his company did not spend enough time hiring to help it fill the demand for sheds. He notes, however, that it was challenging to find enough people to help the company meet its construction commitments.
His father Orlando, agreed.
“In our industry, we were thankfully busy. Our problem was not sales. It was getting enough people to build sheds.”
For Garber, the word describing his company’s survival of COVID is “improvisation.”
“Flexibility is key,” he shares.
Because it seems to Garber that his business faces more competitors today than it has in the past, “We have to continuously prove our professionalism and maintain a high quality of service.”
Mitchell says he learned something different.
“When no system is in place, chaos ensues,” he shares. “We have a process and procedure for just about everything we do, so if a person does not know how to do something, they know where to look for the answer.
“The efficiency with which we operate today would not have occurred had we not been faced with the challenges of meeting demand, creating demand, making sales, and everything else.”
