Issue Date:3/3/2003
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Issue Date:3/3/2003
Hardwood Floors E-News Tuesday, March 3, 2003 Issue 206 Next issue published March 17, 2003 Deadline for items: March 13, 2003 Send news to [email protected]
Boen A/S Norway and Palo Duro Hardwoods Form Alliance Boen A/S Norway has announced its alliance with Palo Duro Hardwoods Inc. (Denver, Colo.). Boen A/S Norway will acquire equity via common stock in Palo Duro Hardwoods, and Palo Duro will become the marketing arm for Boen engineered wood flooring products in the U.S. market. Boen will acquire an active interest in Palo Duro's business. Boen Hardwood Flooring Inc. (Martinsville, Va.) will continue as a logistics center, taking care of stock in Martinsville and Denver.
Boen Hardwood Flooring also will market sports floors for Boen Norway in the U.S. market, and will act as distributor for the Virginia market. Contact Boen Hardwood Flooring directly at 276/638-3700 for more information. The new alliance will begin business on April 1and will have a new toll-free number: 888/897-0800.
NWFA Holds Wood Flooring Installation School in Las Vegas The NWFA held its Introduction to Wood Flooring Installation school Feb. 25-28 in Las Vegas. Led by NWFA's Steve Seabaugh, the following volunteer instructors gave students hands-on installation instruction: Glenn Werneke, 3M Construction & Home Improvement; Brent Sorbet, Basic Coatings; Mike Hodges and Pat Cooney, BonaKemi USA Inc.; Jack Campbell, Campbell & Company Hardwood Floors; Wayne Lee, Clarke American Sanders; Christine Coates, Coates & Associates; Terry Green, Dura Seal; Joe Weinmann, Floor One; Sheldon Walker, Glitsa American Inc.; Mathias Klein, Klein Hardwood Flooring; Kirk Davis, Rode Bros. Floors; and Dave Stark, Virginia Abrasives Corporation.
Manufacturer News VerMeister Srl of Italy has announced the formation of its U.S. corporation, VerMeister USA Inc., with David Eggly serving as president. In the year ahead, the company says it will be looking to hire new sales reps and open new markets throughout the country. Training seminars will be offered to assist new distribution centers. In June of 2003, the company will move into its new corporate headquarters located at 26509 Bond Road N.E., Kingston, WA 98346.
Distributor News Zickgraf Hardwood Flooring Co. (Franklin, N.C.) has appointed Georgia Oak Floor Distributors (Norcross, Fayetteville, Alpharetta and Marietta, Ga.) as the exclusive distributor for its Diamondized Factory-Finished Hardwood Flooring line in Georgia. The company can be reached at 770/446-2600
Galleher Inc. (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) took a group of more than 450 customers and guests on a seven-day eastern Caribbean cruise earlier this month. The company also has announced a trip promotion for 2004-Galleher's Grand Adventures. This trip will take Galleher customers on their choice of either a 10-day cruise to the Panama Canal or a seven-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera, the company says. For more information, call 562/356-4614.
Lauzon Distinctive Hardwood Flooring (Papineauville, Quebec) has added Elias Wilf Corp. (Baltimore), a fourth-generation, family-owned, independent company, to its list of distributors. The new partnership is effective immediately. For more information, visit the Elias Wilf Corp. Web site at www.flooryou.com.
Select Flooring Distributors Inc.'s (Overland Park, Kan. and Lee's Summit, Mo.) cruise promotion was a success. Eighty-one of Select Flooring's customers, vendors and employees sailed on the Carnival Cruises' Imagination to the Western Caribbean for four nights. Participating vendors included people from Century Flooring, Mullican Flooring and Hassel & Hughes Lumber. Other co-sponsors included: 3M, BonaKemi USA, Glitsa America, Harco, J&S Tools, Johnson Abrasives and Old Western Paint Co.
People News DriTac Adhesive Group (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has hired Tom Atkins, a manufacturer's representative of Atkins Associates, as its Midwest regional sales manager. Atkins has a long history in sales and is founder and president of Atkins Associates, which was founded in 1989.
Fini UV International Inc. (Frampton, Quebec) has appointed Brigitte Bernard sales representative for the United States. Bernard joins Fini UV with six years of experience in the industry, previously having served as an inside sales representative for Primatech. Bernard can be reached at 418/878-5540 or [email protected].
Wood Flooring International (Delran, N.J.) has appointed Alex Soto as Midwest/Northeast regional sales manager. Formerly with TEKsystems Inc., Soto brings considerable experience to WFI in support of its distribution. He can be contacted by e-mail at [email protected] or by phone at 856/764-2501, ext. 113.
Premiere Finishing & Coating (Reidsville, N.C.) has appointed George Palmer flatline sales manager for its wood coatings segment. Palmer has seven years of prefinished flooring experience and will coordinate sales and service activities for flooring and other wood customers.
By the Numbers In January, strip shipments numbered 48,274,000 board feet, up 3 percent from the 46,688,000 board feet shipped in January 2002, according to NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association.
Builders began work on new homes and apartments at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.85 million units in January, according to the Commerce Department. This marks the fastest pace of housing construction in 16 years. New single-family homes were constructed at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.51 million units in January, up 2.1 percent from December.
In other numbers from the department, new-home sales fell below the million-unit mark for the first time in six months this January, slowing 15 percent from December's record-high pace to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 914,000 units. This was the slowest pace of new-home sales since January 2002. Regionally, January's decline was concentrated in the Midwest and South. The inventory of unsold new homes rose by just over 2 percent in January to 346,000 units, a 4.5 months' supply at the current sales rate compared with December's 3.8 months' supply.
The National Association of Home Builders' Housing Market Index (HMI) was down two points to 62 in February. The HMI's component gauging current sales conditions for new single-family homes registered no change in February from its mark of 69 the previous month, while the component gauging builders' expectations of sales in the next six months registered a two-point decline to 66. However, the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers fell eight points to 43 in February, possibly due to bad weather conditions.
Job Watch An experienced national sales manager is wanted for DriTac Adhesive Group (Brooklyn, N.Y.), a manufacturer of premium wood flooring adhesives and related products. Interested parties should contact Myrna Block at 800/394-9310, ext. 299. To send a résumé, fax 718/366-1425, or e-mail [email protected].
Mark Your Calendar Columbia Flooring (Danville, Va.) has announced its basic hardwood and laminate flooring installation classes will be held at its Danville training center May 19-21, June 9-11, Sept. 29-Oct. 1 and Dec. 8-10. Advanced classes will take place Aug. 28-30 and Nov. 10-12. The basic class is open to those with minimum to intermediate experience and will feature hands-on training and information on hardwood and laminate flooring. The advanced installation seminar is geared toward those who have completed Columbia's basic class and have a minimum of two years' experience installing hardwood and laminate floors. For more information, contact Columbia at 800/654-8796.
The Natural Products Expo West will be held March 6-9 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif. There will be more than 2,400 exhibits and more than 40 seminars and workshops. The event also will feature the "Store of the Future," showcasing nontoxic, earth-friendly sustainable building products and finishes, as well as the latest merchandising strategies for natural products, trending information and back-room technology.
For Sale Walk on Wood, The Hardwood Floor Store (Kahulul, Hawaii), Maui's only hardwood floor store, is for sale. It has a 900-square-foot showroom and a 2,200-square-foot warehouse. The company sells only wood flooring and offers installation, sanding and finishing services. The owner is selling the business due to health reasons. For more information, call John Grossman at 808/872-9663 or fax 808/877-7859.
NWFA Member Services The Distribution Team has developed a variety of products and services to aid distributors in managing their operations' largest asset-inventory. Members receive 30 free minutes of phone consultation per year about their inventory strategies. Call Scott Stratman at 719/597-5978 or visit www.dteam.com.