Spring 2021 Hardlines

CUSTOMER PROFILE

Titus Chupp, owner of Diamond Building Supply, with his wife Christina, who helps out at the store, and their four children (from left), Kristalyn, Kaleb, Kristopher and Kendra.

A New Store and New Start Diamond Building Supply Sees a Strong Partner in Blish-Mize

C lark, Missouri, is a tightknit farming community located between Moberly and Columbia, off of U.S. Highway 63. It’s here that Titus Chupp opened Diamond Building Supply, a general lumberyard and building materials store.

Out With the Old In October 2019, Chupp began the process of acquiring a 16-year-old Amish-owned building supply business, Yoder Lumber, retaining its customers and purchasing the business itself but not its real estate. As part of the purchase agreement, Chupp was allowed to operate his business out of the 900-square-foot former Yoder Lumber location until his new store location could be completed. The agreement also stipulated that Chupp would find a new supplier for the store. On Jan. 1, 2020, Chupp opened Diamond Building Supply in the former

Yoder Lumber location. For him, the location was a soft introduction to retail. It was situated 4 1/2 miles out into the country, off unpaved gravel roads. “Many people didn’t even know it existed,” Chupp says. Its customers were mostly contractors who worked on builds in Columbia, Moberly and Mexico, Missouri, and the surrounding communities. Chupp has come to know them all by name. In With the New That October, Chupp purchased property that would become the home for his new 7,680-square-foot store less

34 Spring 2021 • Hardlines Strategies