Issue Date:6/10/2002
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Issue Date:6/10/2002
Hardwood Floors E-News Monday, June 10, 2002 Issue 186 Next issue published June 24 Deadline for items June 20 Send news to [email protected]
Piedmont Hardwood Emerges from Bankruptcy Piedmont Hardwood Flooring (Macon, Ga.) emerged from bankruptcy on May 11, 2002, with the sale of all its operating assets to Piedmont Acquisition LLC. Piedmont Acquisition subsequently changed its name to Piedmont Hardwood Flooring LLC and continues to operate the business with the same employees as the old company. The original company has been renamed Icarus Holdings LLC and will remain in bankruptcy until all distributions are made to creditors. Piedmont's new majority shareholder is Harbinger Mezzanine Partners LP (HMP) (Nashville, Tenn.), a mezzanine investment fund sponsored by Harbert Management Corp. (Birmingham, Ala.). In addition to HMP, the executive management team of Piedmont and the unsecured creditors of the previous company also have equity participation in the new company.
"Besides the fact that we still produce a quality product, Piedmont is a very different company," says Jason Delves, Piedmont's president and CEO. "We have put in place the necessary controls on all aspects of our business and have reestablished our focus on making hardwood floors."
NWFA School Teaches Full House in Louisville, Ky. NWFA's latest Installation and Sand-and-Finish School took place in Louisville, Ky., June 4-7. Forty-seven students were taught by NWFA's Steve Seabaugh and volunteer instructors Jim Heeg and Jim Schumacher, 3M Co.; Tom Peotter, Historic Floors of Oshkosh; Brent Sorbet, Basic Coatings; Janet Sullivan and Sharon Miller, Lenmar; Larry Alfieri, Absolute Coatings; Wayne Lee, Alto U.S.; Larry LeFevre and Bill Costello, Dura Seal; Bob Goldstein, Floor Style Products; Paul Ruiz, Glitsa American; John Bast III, Lanham Hardwood Flooring Co.; Curtis Richard, Primatech; A.J. Winstead, Virginia Abrasives; and Joe Allyn, Woody Hilscher, and Tony Ziola, BonaKemi USA. The sponsoring distributors were American Products and Lanham Hardwood Flooring Co. Richard Poirier of Dimension International taught the Dynamic Sales class at the same location June 3-4.
By the Numbers New home sales in April rose 1 percent from March to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 915,000 units, the Commerce Department recently reported. The gain was reported simultaneously with substantial upward revisions to new home sales figures for January, February and March. The housing sector's strength so far can be primarily attributed to low interest rates, positive house price movements and unseasonably good weather conditions, according Gary Garczynski, president of the National Association of Home Builders.
People News Johnson Premium Hardwood Flooring (Pomona, Calif.) has reinstated Robert (Bob) Hart as the company's vice president of sales and marketing after his one-year hiatus from the company. Prior to joining the company, Hart had been vice president of sales and marketing at Global Lumber International Inc.
Mirage/Boa-Franc (Saint-Georges de Beauce, Quebec) announces the addition of Valerie Lemieux, who is in charge of communications and publications within its sales and marketing team. Lemieux is a graduate of Laval University.
Dan Cosgrove has joined Brazilian Direct as its national sales manager.
Manufacturer News Maxwell Hardwood Flooring (Monticello, Ark.) continued with its 10th anniversary celebration on May 31 by hosting an employee fair at the Drew County Fairgrounds. Employees of the company and their families enjoyed the festivities and games (include a dunking booth in which several company supervisors and President Tommy Maxwell were dunked), as well as food and entertainment.
Yihua International Group (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), a manufacturer that sells hardwood flooring through 240 stores in China, recently purchased a 175,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Rancho Cucamonga to target the North American market.
APAC (Dalton, Ga.) has named Goodyear Chemicals as the first recipient of its "APAC Corporate Vendor Award." The new program gives special recognition to companies that provide outstanding support to APAC. Goodyear Chemical receives the honor for its marketing and product innovation support programs for the 2001-2002 fiscal year.
Distributor News Tembec (Huntsville, Ontario) has appointed Cascade Pacific Flooring Distributors (Kent, Wash.) as the exclusive distributor of Muskoka Brand Prefinished Hardwood Flooring line in the states of Oregon, Washington, Montana and Alaska.
Timbergrass Fine Bamboo Flooring & Panels (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) has named NRF Distributors Inc. (Augusta, Maine) as its distributor for the northeastern United States.
Hoboken Floors (Wayne, N.J.) has completed the renovation of its Wayne, N.J., showroom. The renovation of the 3,000-square-foot facility took four weeks. Work currently is in progress on a new showroom in the D&D Building in New York City where Hoboken will be relocating to the 8th floor.
PermaGrain Products (Newtown Square, Pa.) has awarded Derr Flooring Co. (Willow Grove, Pa.) its "2001 Distributor of the Year Award." Derr Flooring is one of the original distributors of PermaGrain Products, having worked with the company when PermaGrain still was a part of ARCO Chemical Co. In other PermaGrain news, Kelly Donia, president of Donia & Associates (Exton, Pa.), an independent sales agency, received PermaGrain's annual "Representative of the Year Award." Donia's territory has the highest volume of sales for PermaGrain's SmartFlooring wood and stone floors. Job Watch
Basic Coatings (Des Moines, Iowa) currently is seeking a sales representative for the south/southeast region of the United States. For more information, contact Mike Sundell via phone at 800/247-5471 or via e-mail at [email protected].
Woodland Distributors Inc. (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) is seeking dependable, self-motivated individuals able to perform a variety of duties, including filling orders, assisting customers, answering phones, making deliveries and sales. Being multi-lingual is a plus. Benefits include health insurance, paid holidays and weekends off. For more information, contact Jack Gazgano at 847/364-6600.
Junckers Hardwood (Anaheim, Calif.) is seeking an A&D person to cover the New York territory. Candidates should have experience with wood flooring and selling in the commercial marketplace. A complete compensation package will be provided, including salary, commission and bonus. Interested parties can fax resumes to 760/942-6760 or e-mail them to [email protected].
Last Chance Forms for Hardwood Floors magazine's October/November Resource Book need to be returned as soon as possible. For answers to questions about the forms, e-mail Katie Wilke at [email protected].
Member Services The NWFA's Industry RoadMap and Tool Kit is a self-diagnostic tool that allows distributors to analyze and improve their business operations. Using the RoadMap, distributors can review sales management, operations and inventory management. The Took Kit allows distributors to implement recommendations provided by the RoadMap. The complete set is available from NWFA. For more information, contact Member Services for details by e-mailing [email protected].