National Builders Supply includes a 10,000 square-foot main shop building with a 5,000 square-foot warehouse in the back. Photo contributed

A local business is winding down as it prepares to permanently close after more than 40 years of service.

National Builders Supply (NBS) in Farmersville is closing after serving the South Valley as a premier local door and hardware supplier for 44 years.

Founded in August 1978 by Dennis Smith, NBS co-owner William “Noel” Anderson bought into the company a year later. National Builders Supply has built a solid reputation with their customers in the building industry.

The pair become friends their senior year of high school. After working at a furniture store together in Visalia, they later joined forces in business.

“We’ve had very good clients over the years. They’ve been dedicated to us, and we’ve been dedicated to them,” Anderson said. “We had ups and downs with the economy, but it’s been a good run.”

 

 

NBS’s building at 819 W. Visalia Rd. covers 10,000 square feet in the main shop building with a 5,000 square-foot warehouse in the back.

Anderson said he and Smith had been mulling the idea of closing shop and retiring since last year, but the Covid-19 pandemic and business requirements also influenced the decision.

Though NBS has stayed busy during the pandemic, there was a dramatic increase in prices because of the supply chain issues. Even with the pandemic, the construction industry was still at work, and Anderson said they made $2 million in sales in 2021.

“We were more or less ready to move on to the next chapter,” Anderson said. “Supply chain issues didn’t help, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) walking in last year didn’t help either.”

Anderson said that the company never had any claims against it, but an inspection from OSHA cited NBS for violations including not having racks bolted to the floor, not having a written Covid plan, and “stuff that shouldn’t be an issue, but it was when they walked in.”

OSHA fined the company, but because Anderson and Smith were already planning on retiring anyway, they finally decided to close.

“It was time for us to do something else,” Anderson said.

Along with the unique distinction of being in business for over 40 years, NBS can also be called a family company. There are a total of six employees.

Smith had two daughters employed there, with one working there as office manager, bookkeeper and order taker. At one point all of Anderson’s three daughters worked at the store.

“They didn’t have a choice, we made them work,” Anderson said jokingly.

Smith and Anderson will still own the property after NBS closes, and they will hand the keys off to the property’s new tenants this week. Race Communications, a telecommunications and internet service provider headquartered in San Francisco, will be leasing the space.

They are both planning to spend their retirement with their grandchildren and travel. Anderson says he plans to fix things around the house that he hasn’t been able to get to in 43 years, and Smith has an 18-acre farm that will keep him occupied.