Rob Marek Raises the Roof

Literally RAISE THE ROOF for commercial properties needing taller ceilings. 80's baseball stats.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

Telescoping building columns! When people ask for a quick explanation, an elevator speech, that's what I say about how we raise the roof. Our new columns (gray) have temporary hydraulic jacks (green) when we're RAISING, then are permanently welded at raised roof elevation.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@SullyBusiness Corrollary: Loosen the straps if you have to change them. I know it can be a pain and you want it cinched down and you had it perfect last time, but loosen them fully and start over. Every time. Get good at it. Better than fighting with it.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

Possibly the worst beverage I've ever had. Slightly carbonated gatorade? YUCK. Once on a school trip it's all they had in boxes lunches, so I choked it down. There was a promotion running where you'd win prizes by looking under the beverage cap, and I won a 30-day supply of more All-Sport! I tossed the winning cap.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@MattVNYC It's like he's flaunting that he doesn't need to pay attention

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@TheWARmonger_ @RefWinkerback @Come_and_See___ Are you from Minnesota? What a great example of Minnesota nice! "You've brought no evidence and made no compelling argument, but sure, it could be your feels are correct...."

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@cammillerfilms July 24, 1985. Gary Carter pinch hits for Clint Hurdle in the 8th. @20Hojo at 3B. Result of this AB is either a strikeout, a popout, a GDP, or a walk. Aguilera pitching.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@bethanyjbabcock Can I agree while also noting that retail & industrial marketing packets are not immune from complete fiction? Surest sign of a 16' ceiling height is if it's advertised as 18 clear.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@contractorkeith Markup can come down on larger jobs because overhead doesn’t rise proportionally. But profit is still a resource. If winning a bigger job at a lower margin consumes too much effort, risk, or capacity that could earn better returns elsewhere, then it's a mistake. Find the balance.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

It was a thing. Steinbrenner would watch Yankee games and see his guys strike out and pitch poorly sometimes, then flip on Sportscenter and see highlights only of every great player in the league. None of their mistakes. He'd get infatuated with the other guys, devalue his players.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@SMBfella @moseskagan Seconding this suggestion! It's a value add but also depends on finding distressed / obsolete / difficult properties. Buying at market pricing in hit markets often means little room for the renovations

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@stevegarthwaite @molzer I take comfort knowing I conduct myself in a way that lets me sleep at night.
Which is what I keep repeating to myself while staring at the ceiling at 2 in the morning.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@notgaetti @baseball_ref @Stathead I won't argue for Cey over Rolen but the way to make your comparison as favorable as possible would be neutral run environment stats that elevate Cey's numbers and deflate Rolen's. This tracks with their OPS+ being similar. Cey's homers were harder to come by than Rolen's.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@YankeesFiles I hear you. I'm in the 'athletes today are better and giving 100% on every pitch' camp, but would love to see a youtube deepdive into older radar guns, testing standards, etc. to try and quiet some of these guys who say Nolan Ryan was throwing 110 every pitch.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@YankeesFiles Has someone done the work to dust off these old guns to give us some science, apples to apples on pitches? Seems like that would be instructive one way or another.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

Hey. Thanks for the mention. Could be something I could offer practical advice on, insofar as how to salvage anything, maybe? Right answer may be demo/rebuild based on interior bearing walls, wood deck, probably smaller scale, etc. Fixing this used car may be as expensive as the new car he's considering.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@RpsAgainstTrump The overreach trying to impeach sexual predator Bill Clinton rather than censuring, was a misstep by both sides. Republicans for flying too close to the sun, Democrats for rehabilitating a scoundrel. A world with disgraced Bill Clinton never opens a door for Donald Trump.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@notgaetti I'm at least encouraged it's still Dodger Stadium. The field as a transient thing that changes paired with a permanent landmark prevents the confusion when UNIQLO changes. If they're going to do this, this is the way. It's still Jacobs Field, Comiskey, Skydome in my brain.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@notgaetti Is it tough? Boggs made out ~58.5% of his pa's, Gwynn made out ~61.2%? Roughly. You can say 2.7% isn't much and it's close, but 2.7% is the difference between Boggs & Bonds (55.6%, top 10 all-time) & Gwynn to guys like Ventura, Altuve, Nomar. (~63 -64%). Huge to me.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@ChadGriffiths The key to understanding all of this is that it's a corrupt grift.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

@capratecraig Wrong, they'll also probably have a survey from 1948.

[Rob Marek Raises the Roof @RobMarek]

A good post that shows FND is open to adaptive reuse, making their footprints cheaper. I've been involved with a few FND projects because one thing they need, regardless of footprint, is a ceiling height. One new FND in Littleton, CO, a former Burlington, got 4'8" taller (just above the red mark on the columns) to accommodate their model. Looks good!

[Jason Miller @jasonmiller15]

Floor & Decor $FND spent ~$10.2 MM per store to open 20 new stores in 2025

This was 11% less than the retailer spent to open 32 stores in 2023

And resulted in a capex savings of ~$1.5 MM per store

How was Floor & Decor able to achieve these savings?

Largely because many new stores were in repurposed “second use” sites that were vacated by furniture retailers, hashtag#grocery stores and movie theaters

Additionally, the majority of Floor & Decor's expected 20-store “class of 2026” is also expected to be in 2nd generation retail sites

This use of repurposed real estate has enabled Floor & Decor to open new stores at less cost and a faster pace than via ground up construction

The only downside?

Unlike other retailers—such as Ollie's Bargain Outlet $OLLI and Dollar Tree $DLTR —that frequently backfill “warm” spaces vacated by competitors, Floor & Decor is not likely to capture sales that previous occupants generated in the spaces

Floor & Decor’s repurposed sites—like those in former furniture stores, grocery stores and movie theaters—may be in good locations

But the flooring retailer is not likely to attract grocery store shoppers or customers of the movie theater

Of course if Floor & Decor were to find 2nd generation space recently vacated by direct competitors like The Home Depot, Lowe's, The Tile Shop or LL Flooring…

Well that might offer an opportunity for both low cost real estate AND strong new store unit economics