Issue Date:1/10/2005
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Issue Date:1/10/2005
Hardwood Floors E-News
Monday, January 10, 2005
Issue 254
Next issue published January 24, 2005
Deadline for items: January 19, 2005
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Aacer Flooring Purchases Superior Floor Co. Business, WD Flooring Buys Mill
Aacer Flooring (Peshtigo, Wis.) has purchased Superior Floor Co. (Wausau, Wis.). Superior Flooring Co., founded in 1986 by Floyd and Pat Shelton, is best known for its athletic maple flooring products, including its Scissor-Loc Floor System with its patented Airflow System. The purchase enhances the product line and increases the customer base for Aacer, a hardwood flooring and athletic surface manufacturer and supplier.
"The sale of Superior Floor makes it possible to increase the Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association product line that was available to the company's customers," says Pat Shelton. "Aacer has acquired Superior Floor, but it's a blending of everything Superior and Aacer stand for and all of the gymnasium systems and product lines that Superior and Aacer have." Aacer Flooring President Brad Karnstedt says, "The purchase of Superior Floor Co. puts Aacer Flooring LLC in an outstanding position to lead the athletic surface market in both quality and performance. Combined, these two product lines offer the end-user and athletic surface marketplace an offering second to none."
Aacer, which recently began construction on a 100,000-square-foot addition to its existing plant to add additional production and kiln drying capacity, will move production of Superior Floor products to its manufacturing plant in Peshtigo. Superior Floor Co. will continue to operate its office in Wausau, Wis., until further notice. All technical and sales staff from Superior will stay on with Aacer, and Floyd and Pat Shelton will stay on as consultants, offering the technical expertise and training programs that were available through Superior, says Shelton, noting that her husband was instrumental in developing several patented sports flooring systems for the company, as well as an installation training program.
Meanwhile, Superior Floor Co.'s Laona, Wis., mill was sold to WD Flooring (Laona, Wis.). "There are so many aspects to the facility that give us an advantage: the lumber drying and storage, the expansion capacities at the mill and the trained work force give WD Flooring an amazing advantage going forward," says Pat Tallier, vice president of WD Flooring. "Basically, it would have taken years and hefty investment to rebuild what we have purchased," Tallier explains. "It's a turn-key operation that expanded our business by nearly two-thirds." WD Flooring also plans to add another 20 jobs in the next six to 12 months. "We have ambitious plans to continue to expand our business, and this means more jobs and a truly constructive impact on Northeastern Wisconsin," says Peter Connor, president of WD Flooring.
Manufacturer News
Starting this year, Dri-Eaz (Burlington, Wash.) will publish third-party certification for all of its products, according to company president Bill Bruders. Dri-Eaz already secures independent verification from AHAM and Underwriters Laboratories (UL), and will begin publishing nationally recognized test results for equipment. Bruders also sent a letter to industry professionals calling on other restoration manufacturers to secure independent testing of equipment performance by nationally recognized certification agencies, and asked the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) to set an official requirement that verified performance specifications be presented in certified education classes.
D & M Bamboo Flooring Co. (Roselle, Ill.) was selected as the flooring manufacturer for the William J. Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Ark. More than 25,000 square feet of the company's EcoWood bamboo flooring was installed in the library. For more information, contact Dorothy Wong at 630/582-1600.
Over the past year, Estate Hardwood Floors (Flint, Mich.) has invested $9,000,000 in capital equipment and material handling. The investment rounds out the 180,000-square-foot production hall, 420,000 board feet of dry-kiln capacity and a UV finishing line obtained in the March 2004 purchase of Madawaska Hardwood Floors (Renfrew, Ontario), and includes an on-site sawmill, new production lines for engineered and solid hardwood flooring and a second UV finishing line. The company currently is producing 3/4-inch prefinished solids. Estate will launch two new products this month-a thin-gauge, 7/16-inch prefinished solid and a true random length prefinished, single-strip, engineered, floating wood click, featuring the Uniclic Glue-Less hinge technology. The manufacturing capacity is 45,000 square feet per shift of solids and 30,000 square feet per shift of engineered. The products will be marketed in the United States under the Kultur brand names-Kultur Naturale and Kultur Clique. Interested distributors should contact the company at 613/432-7521, ext. 236.
Powernail Co. (Lincolnshire, Ill.) has announced its 2004 Salesman and Sales Representative of the Year Awards. Jim Duffek was awarded the 2004 Salesman of the Year honor, and Randy Moore was presented the award for 2004 Sales Representative of the Year.
Best Value Flooring (St. Stanislas, Quebec) has opened a 32,000-square-foot facility in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. It is a multi-million dollar investment to increase milling capacity as well as production of square-edge unfinished hardwood. For more information, call 418/328-4676, fax 418/328-4677 or e-mail [email protected].
Medallion Hardwood Flooring (Linden, Ala.) has implemented a new product line strategy that improves inventory management for distributors, it says. According to Rick Knowles, Medallion's vice president of sales and marketing, the plan allows each of the company's distributors to purchase only the product they need at a given time. Medallion's program allows the distributor to order a variety of flooring the quantities needed, all mixed on one truck shipped from the company's distribution center in Linden, which sharply improves product delivery time, Knowles adds.
Vencon USA LLC (Kennesaw, Ga.) has opened its American office at 125 Town Park Center in Kennesaw. The new offices, together with the company's national distribution centers located in Atlanta and Los Angeles, offer American flooring distributors an opportunity to supply volume buyers with a high-quality and diverse wood flooring product range, the company says. Vencon Group has offices in the United States, China and Canada and is a full-line manufacturer of solid oak, ash, maple and exotic wood flooring. The company also offers engineered flooring. For more information, visit www.venconusa.com or e-mail [email protected].
Mirage (St-Georges, Quebec) has announced it has been selected to supply the flooring for the Not So Big Showhouse at the 2005 International Builders' Show being held January 13-16 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. The Not So Big Showhouse, built around Sarah Susanka's "build better, not bigger" approach to residential architecture, will be on exhibit for one year. Its design emphasizes energy efficiency, sustainability and elegance, from construction to the products and systems engaged. The Mirage hardwood flooring being used in the 2,500-square-foot home is engineered, 2 9/16-inch natural maple with a natural American cherry border. Along with engineered hardwood flooring, Mirage also will be previewing three new stains in the house.
Torlys (Mississauga, Ontario) has signed an agreement with Big Coal Productions of Toronto to be the preferred flooring supplier for "My Parents House," a new makeover program being produced by HGTV Canada. The focus of the program is room makeovers for empty-nester parents done with professional design help by adult children who have moved away. Currently in production, the 13-part series will begin airing on HGTV in April 2005. Torlys specializes in hardwood, cork, laminate and linoleum flooring. For more information, visit www.torlys.com.
Ointon International/Color Stone International Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.) has constructed a manufacturing plant in China and now supplies its customers with premium-quality solid hardwood flooring, the company says. The plant has a manufacturing capacity of 50 containers per month. Ointon currently is supplying Russian oak, American red oak and Brazilian cherry solid prefinished flooring. For more information, contact Richard Daugherty at 404/699-1937, ext. 215, or e-mail [email protected].
Distributor News
Floor Style Products Inc. (Hastings, Mich.) has opened a location in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. This is the third location for Floor Style, which has its home office in Hastings and a branch in Reno, Nev. James Gray, general manager of Floor Style, says he is impressed with the building and has already penciled in a finishing school for mid-February, which will be held in the 2,000-square-foot training room of the new building. "This building is perfect for the schools we put on for contractors to improve their skills," Gray says. Branch manager of the Florida location is Gary Lux, a 14-year-veteran of Floor Style. He has held two assistant branch manager positions as well as purchasing, sales and shipping manager positions. Chris Chamblin, with 20 years' experience in the hardwood flooring industry, is the assistant manager at Floor Style Florida and will concentrate on the new exotic hardwood flooring Floor Style is offering in conjunction with WoodFloor Mart. He is also an expert in floor sanding machine repair and service. Located at 3901 Ravenswood Road, Suite 102, the branch is near the I-595 and I-95 interchange, just south of the Ft. Lauderdale airport. For more information, call Floor Style Florida at 888/767-8953 or 800/977-6004, or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].
The Greer Company (Memphis) has moved. The new address is 2109 Thomas Road, Memphis, TN 38134. The phone number remains the same at 901/384-7337. The 25,000-square-foot facility almost doubles what the company had at its previous location. The new Web site is www.greerco.net.
Above All Hardwood Floor Distribution (Prior Lake, Minn.) has opened a second reload and distribution center in Lincoln, Neb. This facility will service distributors, retailers and flooring contractors in Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. For sales and product information, contact Carey Langer, Kirk Langer, Chris Langer or Jeff Wagner at 402/476-3500.
The San Diego branch of Virginia Hardwood Company (Asuza, Calif.) is opening a new, larger location Jan. 17. The new address is 8925 Carroll Way, Suites C and D, San Diego, CA 92121. All phone numbers remain the same. The branch's new vice president is Stacey C. Deiter. A grand opening is planned for February 2005.
The Environmental Home Center (Seattle), a sustainable building supplier, has announced its showroom is now open to the public. The company's previous location was destroyed in a fire on August 11. The company offices, showroom and warehouse are now located at 4121 First Ave. S., in Seattle's SODO district. The company is planning a grand reopening celebration for March when the showroom is completed.
Woodstock Hardwood Flooring Distributors (Birnamwood, Wis.) had its grand opening late last year. The 3,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art showroom is located on U.S. Highway 45 in Birnamwood. The company offers a large inventory, job-site delivery and acclimated warehousing, it says. For more information, call 715/449-2279, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.woodstockflooring.com.
Dealer/Contractor News
Schmidt Custom Floors Inc. (Waukesha, Wis.) recently completed its office/showroom expansion, including complete renovation of its existing showroom areas, adding an exclusive rustics showroom, displaying the latest in "old world" as well as current rustic patterns and designs. This renovation brings the total showroom area to more than 6,000 square feet. For more information, call 262/547-8763 or visit www.schmidtflooring.com.
People News
HomerWood Hardwood Floors (Titusville, Penn.) recently added Carol Pipher, Tressa Cassick and Kelly Holden to its sales team. Pipher and Cassick join Joe Nichols as part of the outside sales staff. Pipher is responsible for managing the upper northwest and mid-northern territories. Cassick manages the entire East Coast, and Nichols manages the southwest and mid-southern territories. Pipher, Cassick and Nichols also are available to provide product training classes, offer presentations and travel with salespeople. Holden joins Wendy Wescoat, Lori Bunce and David McVay to complete the inside sales and customer service staff. All of these HomerWood employees can be reached by calling 814/827-3855.
Tony Huston has joined Hardwood Flooring Distributors, a division of Goodfellow Inc., (Seattle) representing HFD/Goodfellow as territory manager for southwestern Washington and Oregon. Huston has 20 years of wood flooring experience and most recently worked with BonaKemi USA Inc. as regional sales manager.
By the Numbers
November 2004 strip shipments totaled 53,560,000 board feet, up 5 percent from the 51,186,000 board feet shipped during November 2003, according to NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association. For the first 11 months of 2004, strip shipments totaled 617,405,000 board feet, up 6 percent from the 580,355,000 shipped during the same period during 2003.
Sales of new single-family houses in November 2004 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,125,000, according to the Commerce Department. This is 12.0 percent below the revised October rate of 1,278,000 but is 3.6 percent above the November 2003 estimate of 1,086,000.
On the Web
Dynamic Laser Applications (DLA) (Marietta, Ga.) has an updated Web site at www.dynamiclaser.com. The site shows all the company's standard products available in its catalog and includes a photo gallery of some of the custom projects with which DLA has been involved over the years. The site is designed to be utilized by flooring contractors, distributors and retailers to introduce customers to DLA's products, the company notes.
Job Watch
GV Floors (New York), a manufacturer of oak, kempas and other hardwood flooring, is seeking experienced independent sales agents to expand its existing network. Applicants should have solid sales experience and an existing client portfolio (distributors, dealers, contractors, etc.). The company offers a competitive profit-sharing compensation structure with no limit on the upside. For more information contact Jacqueline at 212/564-1636 or [email protected].
Wood Flooring International (Delran, N.J.) is seeking territory sales managers based in the Texas/Dallas/Houston area, the central region (Chicago-based) and the West Coast region (Los Angeles-based). Applicants must have experience calling on distributors. For more information or to submit a résumé, e-mail [email protected].
Mark Your Calendar
Lon Musolf Distributing (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) will hold a series of workshops throughout 2005. The first workshop was held Jan. 5, and more than 180 people (flooring contractors, floor stores and lumber yards) attended, not including vendors or Lon Musolf employees, the company says. 3M's Galen Fitzel discussed installation techniques supported by the NWFA. A workshop on sanding techniques and machine maintenance will be held Feb. 9; a workshop on liens will be held March 9; a workshop on finish techniques will be held April 6; and a Food and Fun Open House will be held May 4, at which the company's vendors will give product information. Each workshop runs from 4 to 8 p.m. This year the company will be giving away a 2004 Yamaha Bruin automatic 4x4 ATV. For each workshop people attend, they will receive an additional entry for the drawing. The ATV will be raffled off at the final workshop in May. To register for one or all of the workshops, call Lon Musolf customer service at 651/484-3020.
The Installation Showcase at Surfaces 2005 Jan. 26-28 will be located next to the World Floor Covering Association booth (#1972). The sessions are free with exhibits admission. Wood flooring-related session dates, times and titles are: Jan. 26, 11 a.m. to 12 p.m., "Mixing It Up With Wood and Stone" presented by Steve Marley of Cal Coast Hardwood Flooring and Glenn Paris of Phillips Floor to Ceiling and Festool; Jan. 27, 1 to 2 p.m., "The Ins and Outs of Moisture Meters" presented by Peter Craig, independent, and Jon Namba, World Floor Covering Association; and Jan. 27, 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., "Knock on Wood" presented by Marley and Paris. For details or to register, visit www.SurfacesExpo.com or call 800/547-3477 or 972/536-6400.
NWFA Member Services
The NWFA will join forces with three associations to host an industry Legislative Day in Washington D.C. on Feb. 16. The National Association of Manufacturers, the Wood Machinery Manufacturers Association and the Jewelers of America Association will join the NWFA to form a coalition supporting key issues affecting our industries. The goal for this Legislative Day is to educate U.S. lawmakers that the NWFA is their resource for data on keys issues affecting our industry. The deadline for registering is Jan. 10. For more information, call the NWFA at 800/422-4556, 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international), e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nwfa.org.