Contractor Smarts Drive Fast Growth
Before Riverside Building Materials opened its doors to the public, David Reyna gave the business a test run.
For several months in early 2023, the new Rio Grande City, Texas, operation supplied Reyna’s own construction company. Having spent nearly three decades in construction building 50 to 70 homes a year, Reyna knew the frustrations contractors encounter when materials are unavailable, deliveries arrive late or a supplier forces them to make multiple stops.
So he used those first months to work out the glitches.
“We knew the materials they needed,” Reyna says. “We knew what to tackle, the deliveries and the systems to implement to eliminate the issues lumber companies typically have.”
Riverside officially opened in April 2023. Less than three years later, it has grown into a $15 million–plus operation serving four South Texas counties, with more than $1.5 million in inventory and eight flatbed delivery trucks.
That combination of rapid growth and contractor-focused execution earned Riverside Building Materials the 2026 Beacon Award for Best New Store.
A Third Try Becomes the Right Time
The idea had been years in the making.
Reyna entered construction in his 20s while working for a nonprofit that coordinated home renovations for low-income families. He soon started his own renovation company with his wife from their kitchen table, eventually growing Reyna Homes into a major custom and spec homebuilder in the area.
About 15 years ago, he purchased a 5.5-acre property—along the U.S. 83 corridor just north of the Mexican border—with warehouses and an idea that someday it could become a building materials business.
He tried twice to make it happen. Funding and other obstacles got in the way.
His third attempt came together in 2022, when he worked with banks and Orgill to secure financing and prepare the business for launch.
The competitive landscape was already crowded. Riverside entered a market with several established lumber dealers, some with more than 30 years of history. Reyna knew matching their longevity wasn’t an option.
Service was.
“We were the underdogs,” he says. “How do we beat them? The main thing is servicing the contractors better.”
That meant treating mistakes as opportunities to improve the operation. When Riverside falls short for a customer, the team examines what happened and changes the process to keep it from happening again.
“Whenever we make a mistake or fail a customer, I don’t care if it’s small or medium, we gather the team and make sure we learn from it,” Reyna says.
This approach helped Riverside gain contractors through referrals and repeat business. Reyna also met with local builders individually, drawing on relationships and credibility established through his construction career.
Logistics That Match Growth
Riverside’s one-stop-shop strategy begins with understanding what builders actually use.
The assortment stretches across lumber, rebar, sheetrock, insulation, roofing, plumbing, electrical, paint, windows and stucco products. Reyna pays particular attention to items contractors might otherwise have to hunt down elsewhere, including specialized stucco panels, fasteners, mesh and finishing tools.
“I know exactly what a builder needs,” he says. “We need to have everything from the doorknob to certain types of screws.”
Contractor requests also influence what gets added. Employees bring customer feedback into regular meetings, enabling Riverside to identify repeatedly requested products and expand inventory accordingly.
As sales accelerated, however, Reyna discovered that having the right materials was only half the equation. Riverside had to move it just as quickly.
The company went from one delivery truck its first year to eight by its third year. Its yard now handles about 25 to 30 deliveries each day, more than 500 a month.
“When you have great salespeople, they require great yard support,” Reyna says. “The yard needed to keep up with the growth.”
Riverside now has a dedicated yard manager coordinating deliveries, trucks and forklifts. The 5.5-acre site includes a 5,000-square-foot retail store and three 4,000-square-foot warehouses, with a fourth warehouse planned. The retail store itself is also targeted for expansion.
Orgill helped Reyna create the original retail operation, developing the floor plan and product placement, connecting Riverside with its gondola supplier and sending a crew to assemble shelving. Orgill also helped establish assortments and recommended Epicor for point-of-sale and inventory management. Today, twice-weekly Orgill deliveries help Riverside replenish plumbing, electrical, paint and other categories quickly.
Reyna says that support has been especially meaningful because Orgill remained engaged through his earlier unsuccessful attempts to launch the business.
“I couldn’t see this happening without Orgill,” he says.
Riverside is already looking beyond its original market. The company serves Starr, Zapata, Hidalgo and Cameron counties, and Reyna says about half its sales now come from Hidalgo County, where he hopes to open a second location within the next two years.
Accepting the Beacon Award, he reflected on how close his store came to remaining an unrealized idea.
“Three years ago, Riverside was just a mission,” he told the audience. “And I must say that mission almost never became a reality.”
For him, the recognition belongs as much to the community and his team as it does to the company itself. He sees Riverside’s success as evidence that a locally owned business from rural South Texas can compete well beyond its home market.
His next goal is straightforward.
“We’re very excited, very happy and motivated to go back home and continue serving our community better than anyone else.”
