Our History
Our values stand strong & true.
Our History
1967
Disaster Strikes
On september 20th, 1967 hurricane beulah slams lower south texas with hurricane force winds and massive flooding causing catastrophic damage to homes all over south texas. Not long after, “valley cash & carry building materials” are created in pharr & san benito.
1975
The Beginning of an Era
Ira matt becomes the owner of and renames the company to “matt’s cash & carry building materials”. Danny smith is brought on board to help with managing, purchasing, and overseeing both locations. Matt’s decides to be the only lumberyard and building material store to cater to the hispanic community. People thought they were crazy for doing so. Needless to say, matt’s is the only business of it’s kind still in operation today.
1985
The Stores Expand
By 1985 matt’s had grown beyond offering just building materials & tools. They now offered home goods like fixtures, flooring, plumbing, cabinets, windows, and a full service door shop. Both stores were expanded to make room for the new products.
1999
Faith Rewarded
Danny, feeling strongly about his faith, decides to close on sundays even though the competition was growing. Expecting a loss in sales, danny hopes & prays for the best. Surprising everyone, sales increase! More business was done in 6 days than 7. Business continues.
2002
New Ownership
After a successful career as a business owner, ira matt decides it’s time to retire. Rather than retain ownership of the business, ira sells it to danny & his wife diana. Danny in turn gives his two longtime friends and co-workers, luis mancillas and oscar sandoval, a stake in the business making them co-owners. To reflect the change in ownership & the changing market, the business is renamed “matt’s building materials”.
2008
Blessing Continued
When the housing market collapsed leading to the great recession, many lumberyard & home improvement centers saw sales decrease by 20-50%. Things looked dire, but the company managed to grow their sales by 3% the following year. When asked about the increase in business danny had no clue but said “we are blessed beyond what we know”.
2015
New Venture & Bright Future
Matt’s building materials opens its first new location in over 40 years. A brand new store is open in palmview. The store is planned, operated, and managed with the help of danny’s 3 sons jeremy, isaac, and ben. The new stores general manager is danny’s youngest son ben.
2019
50th Anniversary
To celebrate 50 years in business, matt’s threw a huge party in the lumberyard of the pharr store. With over 300 attendees including customers, vendors, city officials, and employees from the past/present. To make the night special there was a live band, food trucks, a crawfish boil, dunking booth, and a mechanical bull.
2022
Fire at Pharr Store
At 9:00am on january 1st, 2022 while the store was closed for new years day, a fire started in the door shop. It quickly spread to the main building and by the time the fire fighters arrived it had turned into an inferno. Fire departments from across the valley spent nearly thirty hours containing the blaze. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the lumberyard was spared, but the store was completely destroyed. The flagship store which had stood for 50 years and created countless memories was gone.
2022
Moving Forward After Tragedy
The morning after the fire, danny smith stood in the lumberyard and prayed with the employees and concluded by saying “that building behind me isn’t matt’s building materials. It’s not the building. It’s the people. You are matt’s building materials. We are matt’s”. Taking those words to heart, the team began adjusting to the challenges and planning for a new future. On february 8th, 2022 the mini-matt’s in pharr opened allowing sales of building materials in pharr to resume.
2023
Construction Begins
Nearly one year to the day after the fire, construction of the new store in pharr began. The building plans called for a slightly smaller but more efficient design. The new store would be slightly smaller but would add leased retail space, additional parking, and the brookhaven event center.
