Do It Best Corp recognizes Pro X

The locally owned Pro X Home Center was one of seven businesses recognized in Do It Best Corp.’s annual report. The 2016 report, which was released at the end of October, drew attention to Pro X because of the overwhelming success of its newest location at 510374 Hwy. 95 in Bonners Ferry.

Do It Best Corp. is a hardware, lumber and building materials distributor based in the United States. The co-operative is worth approximately $3 billion and has thousands of members across the United States and 52 other countries.

Jeff and Yolanda Brubaker started Pro X in 2004 as a home-based business specializing in building carports. As they brought in more and more supplies to build the carports, contractors began asking the Brubakers to stock additional supplies. Those requests from contractors expanded until, eventually, the couple was stocking hardware and making deliveries to job sites.

In order to continue growing their business. the Brubakers partnered with Do It Best Corp. and bought the retail space on Highway 95 that is now Pro X Home Center. According to the owners, they relied on advice from the co-operative’s retail performance and design experts in order to create “the best-merchandised and most easily shoppable store”.

Apparently the co-op’s advice worked. In the time since the Home Center’s grand opening on April 1 of this year, the number of tickets processed per day has grown from around 350 to over 500. That increase in business has allowed the owners to expand upon their product lines and, more importantly, it has solidified the Home Center’s place within the community as the go-to local store for home improvement products.

“The customer response has been overwhelming,” Jeff Brubaker says, referring to how the local community has embraced the all-new Pro X Home Center.

“Our company has come a long way since its humble beginnings, and now we’re able to offer so much more than we ever could have imagined.”

In an unrelated act of recognition on the part of Do It Best Corp., the co-op awarded a $6,250 scholarship to Andrew Brubaker, Jeff Brubaker’s son and the store manager of Pro X, in order to attend the North American Retail Hardware Association’s Retail Management Certification Program.

The program, which focuses on leadership development, is designed to give future retail leaders the skills necessary to advance their careers within the home improvement industry. As part of the course, students receive individual coaching in order to initiate major improvements within their businesses.

“Attending this course means a lot to me and my dad,” says Brubaker.

“I also think this class will help me get out of my comfort zone, and I am grateful that our co-op awarded me a scholarship to attend.”