# Ben Pierce, Holt & Bugbee Company

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-woodpreneur-podcast-1118875/ben-pierce-holt-bugbee-company
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-woodpreneur-podcast-1118875/ben-pierce-holt-bugbee-company.md
Podcast: [The Woodpreneur Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-woodpreneur-podcast-1118875)
Published: 2026-06-04T15:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://stevekex.podbean.com/e/ben-pierce-holt-bugbee-company/
Audio file: https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/oc5mdwynzb8wb3mr/49c705fa-48d2-4df7-bd6e-f4b23b11c655_e38c8b92-209a-448a-8e56-59b69bd20665.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-woodpreneur-podcast-1118875/episodes/ben-pierce-holt-bugbee-company
Duration seconds: 2141

## Resource

In this episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast, host Jennifer Alger sits down with Ben Pierce, a sixth-generation family member at the Holt & Bugbee Company, one of the oldest hardwood lumber businesses in the United States. At 201 years old, Holt & Bugbee Company has survived recessions, industry shifts, and the rise of synthetic flooring by doing what it's always done: adapting. Ben shares how the company evolved from importing mahogany from Central America to becoming a premier domestic hardwood wholesaler serving the East Coast from four branches in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York. You'll hear about what it was like to start working at the family business right as the 2008 recession wiped out 40 percent of their revenue overnight, and how the company held onto its sales team and pivoted toward higher-end, longer-length, wider material for luxury residential projects and architectural millwork firms. Ben talks about the shift from selling truckloads of commodity lumber to filling precise, high-dollar orders for coastal homes and custom molding work, and how COVID unexpectedly rewarded the company's ability to source, produce, and deliver when competitors couldn't. Ben also shares two of the best marketing stories you'll hear on this podcast. First, how he got Holt & Bugbee Company featured on This Old House by donating a white oak floor during their 200th anniversary year. And second, how a chance sighting of a century-old ghost sign on a Boston building during a duck boat tour led to a nine-month restoration project that landed coverage from WBZ, the Boston Globe, and local NPR. Both stories are masterclasses in creative, relationship-driven marketing in an industry where traditional advertising doesn't always apply. Jennifer and Ben also dig into…

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## Transcript

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