Do it Best’s Fall Market runs September 25 through 28 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. If you run a lumber yard and have written off Do it Best LBM’s side of it as a hardware show, you are leaving a lot on the table.
Plenty of dealers write off Market as a hardware event: retail marketing, retail aisles, four days that feel disconnected from a lumber and building materials business. That reading is fair, but it misses the LBM side, which does not announce itself the way the retail floor does.
Why yards write it off
The honest reason is that a hardware store and a lumber yard walk a trade show differently. A retailer shops for things to put on a shelf. A lumber dealer is thinking about programs, pricing, lead times, and whether a supplier can hold up under a bad quarter, none of which is visible from an aisle. So the owner walks past a lot of booths, does not find what they came for, and concludes the event was built for somebody else.
What is actually there for a lumber yard
A couple of days at Market is a real-time investment, and Do it Best LBM makes it worth it by bringing the products, the people, and the programs together in one place for four days.
Market carries 1,200 vendors across the co-op, and a meaningful share sits in categories a dealer sells every day: cabinets, vanities, flooring, tile, doors, windows, moulding, decking, and railing. Mill reps and building materials suppliers are well represented too. The Do it Best LBM Team will be on hand to discuss purchasing opportunities, help you negotiate with vendors, and plan your contracts for the coming year.
There is also a dedicated interior solutions design center built to be walked, not browsed, with full room vignettes and finished product paired the way a customer would see it in a showroom. If you have ever wondered whether a cabinet line is worth floor space, a built-out room answers that faster than a spec sheet.
Market-only buying opportunities and program terms are the other reason to go, the part that does not carry over to a phone call in November. Members attending get access to LBM VIP Deals, exclusive pricing available only during Market. Free educational sessions add to the value. On Friday, September 25, attend the LBM Industry Update at 11:45 am in the 500 Ballroom, where the Do it Best LBM Team covers market trends over a complimentary lunch. On Saturday and Sunday, the LBM Learning Stage runs from 9 am to 2 pm with sessions on launching the new Metal Roofing program with Central States, building your brand, growing your Trex Decking business, competing with big boxes, and shifting to a data-driven lumber market with Price Pulse.
The part that is not on the floor plan
The most useful thing at Market is frequently a conversation with another dealer.
Somebody two states over has already solved the problem that is keeping you up at night. They tried the program you are considering, hired for the role you cannot fill, or made the mistake you are about to make. Nobody writes that down, and it is the hardest thing to get any other way.
Independent dealers do not run into each other often. Market is one of the few places where a few thousand of them stand in the same building for four days.
It is also a chance to put a face to the people you already talk to every day. Your Do it Best LBM Team will be there ready to help, and your mill reps will be on hand to discuss your product needs in person.
How to spend the time
Go in with two or three questions you need answered rather than a plan to see everything. A dealer who wants to sort out a millwork assortment, understand what is changing in a category, and meet the people who cover their region will get more out of four days than somebody walking every aisle in order.
Book time with the Do it Best LBM specialists who cover your categories before you arrive. Their calendars fill up fast, and a scheduled half hour is worth more than three chance encounters.
Talk to the dealers standing next to you in line too. Ask what they’re buying, what they’ve stopped buying, and what they’d do differently.
If you are still deciding
Registration is open at Market Registration. Be ready by downloading the 2026 Fall Market App before you go. If you want help planning the LBM portion of your four days, reach out to your Do it Best LBM rep before you travel.
