Issue Date:10/14/2002
Log in to view the full article
Issue Date:10/14/2002
Hardwood Floors E-News Monday, October 14, 2002 Issue 196 Next issue published October 28 Deadline for items: October 24 Send news to [email protected]
NWFA Travels to Anaheim, Calif., for Latest School The NWFA held its latest Installation and Sand-and-Finish School in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 8-11. NWFA's Steve Seabaugh led 14 volunteer instructors for the event, including Glenn Werneke and Dennis Plaut, 3M Construction & Home Improvement; Brent Sorbet, Basic Coatings; Larry Subervi and Pat Cooney, BonaKemi USA; Steve Marley, Cal Coast Hardwood Flooring; Don Smithson, Clarke American Sanders; Terry Green, Dura Seal; Sheldon Walker, Glitsa American; Tom Peotter, Historic Floors of Oshkosh; Aaron Miller, Miller's Flooring; Dave Stark, Virginia Abrasives Corp.; Vikki Johnson, Wagner Electronic Products; and Dave Posey, Wood Pro Floors. The school's lead distributor was Galleher Hardwood Co. The Dynamic Sales class preceding the school was taught by Richard Poirier of Dimension International.
Home Depot to Acquire Three Flooring Businesses The Home Depot (Atlanta) has announced it has entered into definitive agreements to acquire Floors Inc. (Maryland), Arvada Hardwood Floor Co. (Denver) and Floorworks Inc. (Phoenix). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. "Our target is the $12 billion of flooring material and services annually consumed in new home construction," says Jim Stoddart, division president of Home Depot Supply.The three companies have relationships with 17 of the top 20 homebuilders in the country, which, upon completion of the acquisitions, will make Home Depot the largest turnkey supplier of flooring to the residential construction market. In addition, all three companies operate showrooms and coordinate the entire supply chain through finished product installation. Mark Fikse, currently Home Depot's vice president of strategic business development, will be named president of these combined businesses and will report to Stoddart. The leaders from all three companies, including Al Shields and Brian Whitehead from Floors Inc., Jack Cook and Wendall Cook from Floorworks Inc. and Willie Northrop and Craig Schoepke from Arvada, have agreed to stay on in their leadership roles, Fikse says.
Manufacturer News Golden Aged Industries (Valparaiso, Ind.) is a new company that manufactures antique wood floors. The company's products range from hand-scraped wide plank to custom patterned floors such as parquets, herringbones, end grain and its Colonial Log Rounds. A variety of floors are available from international hardwoods to domestic hardwoods. "Here at Golden Aged, we keep in mind beauty and low maintenance for the homeowner, unlimited possibilities for the designer and easy installation for the installer. We take great pride in the fact that each piece of flooring is truly a reproduction of the past," says Tim Golden, owner. The company's products are prefinished; however, the company will provide unfinished product upon customer request, Golden says. Golden can be reached via mail at 2402 Beech St., Valparaiso, IN 46383, via phone at 219/531-9663, or via fax at 219/531-9061.
Premiere Finishing & Coating LLC (Reidsville, N.C.) has moved its flat line prefinishing operation from Greensboro, N.C., to Reidsville, N.C. The move and 75,000-square-foot building will enable Premiere to better serve its growing customer base and operate more efficiently, the company says. The new address for the prefinishing operation is 642 Grooms Road, Reidsville, NC 27320. The phone number is 336/349-1994, and the fax number is 336/349-6376.
Kentucky Wood Floors (Louisville, Ky.) recently celebrated its 25th year of supplying specialty hardwood flooring to the domestic and international hardwood flooring markets. Founded in 1977, the company says it has had several milestones during its first quarter century, including providing hardwood floors for the White House, starting in 1978 with the East Room and subsequently supplying flooring for nine additional rooms; receiving the American Society of Interior Designers' "International Product Design Award" in 1980; introducing many imported species over the years; introducing new patterns, including Aquatica, Camelot, Citation, Palace and many custom borders (1984) and custom accents (1992); paving the way for today's large POP displays with its award-winning Design Center in 1997; using Mario Andretti as company spokesperson for two years starting in 1997; and receiving a "Best Buy" designation from Consumers Digest in 2000.
Kane Hardwood (Kane, Pa.), a Collins company, recently received the National Hardwood Lumber Association's (NHLA) Forest Stewardship Award. A panel of five judges, made up of NHLA board members, academic experts and industry insiders, selected this year's finalists and the winner based on five areas of consideration: public education, political involvement, private landowner education, forest stewardship on-the-ground, and efficient resource utilization. Kane Hardwood owns and manages more than 125,000 acres of premium hardwood, and the Collins Companies, a group of family-owned businesses of which Kane is a part, was the first privately-owned forest products company in the United States to be independently certified under the Forest Stewardship Council.
Johnson Premium Hardwood Flooring (Pomona, Calif.) disassociated with Warehouse Manager Jim Starks as of Sept. 28, 2002. Any private deals made with Starks prior to or post Sept. 28, 2002, without proper paperwork and/or Johnson Premium Hardwood Flooring's knowledge, will not be honored by the company in any way. Anyone with any information about private deals made with Starks is urged to call Johnson's corporate office at 909/620-8393.
Job Watch Develop business with existing and new accounts for an established hardwood flooring distributor: Two positions are available in the metro Detroit area. Hardwood experience is required, and wood flooring experience is a must. The position includes salary plus bonus, full benefits and a 401(k) package. Resumes should be sent to Greg W. at Erickson's Flooring & Supply, 1013 Orchard St., Ferndale, MI 48220, faxed to 248/543-7912 or e-mailed to [email protected].
On the Web WoodFloorsOnline.com has announced the launch of two new specialty wood flooring sites: www.PlankWoodFloors.com and www.ExoticWoodFlooring.com. These sites provide detailed information, product samples, technical help and sources to purchase these specialty wood floor products online. This now brings the network to a total of 10 wood floor-related sites, with more than 5,000 daily visitors requesting more than 15,000 square feet of wood floor materials, the company says. The network will continue to grow, says Joe Boone Jr., CEO of WoodFloorsOnline.com, adding that 10 additional sites will be added within the next year.
Product News Ellis International (Cleveland) has introduced a new line of Areno Eco-Line Engineered Hardwood Flooring. The line features a solid 7/32-inch top layer of hardwood laminated onto a ¼-inch multi-ply Finnish birch waterproof plywood. Species available are pear, steamed acacia, hornbeam, doussie and steamed beech. Contact Ellis International at 866/355-4468 or e-mail the company at [email protected].
Corrections In the last issue of the Hardwood Fax/E-news, it should not have stated that Horizon Forest Products has the only floor sanding equipment repair shop in central and eastern North Carolina. Armfield Flooring Distributors opened a repair shop in Raleigh in December 2001, and distributor Long Floor Supply has a repair shop that opened in its new 18,000-square-foot Raleigh facility in July.
In the last issue of Hardwood Floors' E-News, Stan Lawson should have been listed as an instructor representing Powernail Company (Lincolnshire, Ill.) at the NOFMA/NWFA Professional Installation School in Memphis Sept. 21-25.
NWFA Member Services No matter the size of your company, Mutual of America offers 401(k) plans that fit both your budget and retirement needs of your employees. Representatives are located nationwide to service you. Call 800/468-3785 for more information or to schedule an appointment.