Open Letter to the Cox Dealer Family

In strategy role playing, both military and business, a “black swan” is a commonly used term for an event once thought impossible that actually happens. For example, have you ever thought through a scenario of a meteor hitting your place of business? What would you do? Why have you not worried about it? Well, a four year housing recession is not necessarily a “black swan,” but……

A four year recession!! Had there been a survey of lumber dealers in 2005 asking how they planned to prepare for the impending recession, what kind of responses would we have heard? I imagine we all would have responded somewhat similarly. While we might be facing a downturn in light of this incredible run we have all enjoyed, I would not be so pessimistic as to think we are on the verge of a global recession the likes of which only a handful of people in business today were around to witness. Had any of us forecasted the incredible speed of change we were facing, we would be sitting next to Nouriel Roubini on MSNBC as we speak.

Well, it has happened; we are knee deep in one of the most destructive economic events of our lifetime and, in fact, in the history of our United States of America. How will our nation recover? While I do not believe the answer is billions of dollars in reckless spending, I do believe the best action we can take as partners is to remain united.

As this recession encroached on our nation, it also crept into our businesses and our homes. This event changed the way we thought and required us to make difficult decisions, sometimes even hasty decisions. Our entire industry, in fact all industry, is witnessing bad business decisions daily and the impact of bad decisions gone by. As our sales reps and marketing teams continue to report deteriorating market conditions I write this open letter to express my sincere thanks, to our business partners, for valuing our relationship and friendship over the desperate tactics of floundering businesses.

Let me close by saying, Cox remains financially strong. Our shareholders remain a source of patient capital with a long-term perspective on our investment. Our stakeholders are working as hard as ever to satisfy needs and continue to provide the quality products and exceptional service that our customers have come to expect. We remain excited about the future of our business and our business relationships.

Sincerely,
Michael Johnson
CEO, Cox Industries

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