Issue Date:7/7/2003
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Issue Date:7/7/2003
Hardwood Floors E-News Monday, July 7, 2003 Issue 215 Next issue published July 21, 2003 Deadline for items: July 16, 2003 Send news to [email protected]
Mohawk and Columbia Plan to Skip Surfaces 2004 Due to a new concentration on its regional events, Mohawk Industries Inc. (Dalton, Ga.) has elected not to attend Surfaces 2004. "Hanley-Wood is an excellent organization, and Surfaces is a great show, but we feel in order to provide our dealers with the exceptional-quality regional events they've asked for, Mohawk will direct its resources to this," said Ed Williams, Mohawk's senior vice president of marketing. In response to requests from its dealers, Mohawk has made plans to expand its regional product introduction meetings, holding in excess of 24 meetings throughout the remainder of 2003 and the beginning of 2004. Dealers, Williams said, like the reduced travel expenses and specialized service they receive at these regional events, and by holding more of them Mohawk can cater to dealers' distinctive regional preferences in products such as hardwood and ceramic. "The goal is simple. We want to make it easy for our dealers to see our new products and programs, and we want them to get as much as possible out of the time they spend with us," Williams said.
Mohawk isn't the only company that has elected not to attend Surfaces 2004. Columbia Flooring (Danville, Va.) also has decided to skip the show in favor of spending more localized time with its distributors and retailers-a decision Columbia President David Wootton said was made in December of 2002. "Last year, we spent a very significant amount of money on our Surfaces program, and quite frankly, we believe we can achieve better results by applying these funds to ensure more quality time with our distributors and retailers," Wootton said, noting that in addition to investing in programs dedicated to its distributors and retailers, the company also is planning to construct a design center and training facility at its Danville operation.
Manufacturer News Artistic Finishes Inc. (Roseville, Minn.) held its third annual distributor summit conference June 16-19. The event drew representatives from the company's distribution partners across the United States and Canada. Attendees received an update from the company's sales and production departments, an introduction to new online marketing tools and an on-site mill tour.
TimberGrass LLC (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) has moved its Midwest distribution center from Cincinnati to Plainfield, Ind. The center will serve TimberGrass distributors in the Midwest and East Coast, from Maine to Florida.
Brazil Hardwoods Inc. (Presidente Prudente, Brazil, and Aliso Viego, Calif.) has expanded its U.S. operations. The company's flooring is available for shipment from warehouses in New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas and California, with new warehouses planned for Arizona, Florida and Illinois. The company also has opened an office in China, appointing Greg Schultheis vice president of sales and marketing. Schultheis' office is located in Guangdong Province. His e-mail address [email protected].
National Hardwood Flooring (Van Nuys, Calif.) is participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Los Angeles Sept. 6-7. Omer Katzir, president of National Hardwood, along with thousands of others, will be walking 60 miles over the course of two days. Any person or company wishing to support Avon's fight against breast cancer can send checks payable to the Avon Breast Cancer Walk to National Hardwood Flooring, 14959 Delano St., Van Nuys, CA 91411.
Distributor News Dean Hardwoods (Wilmington, N.C.) recognized Horizon Forest Products (Raleigh, N.C.) as its 2002 Flooring Distributor of the Year for its Prestige hardwood flooring. The event recognizing outstanding performance was held last month at a restaurant overlooking the Cape Fear River. David Williams accepted the first of many plaques and awards for Horizon from Chuck Dean, president of Dean Hardwoods. Also recognized were branch managers Steve Garner (Wilmington, N.C.), Mike Adams and Carl Bahn (Fuquay-Varina, N.C.) and Mark Ethridge (Charleston, S.C.) for their distribution of Dean's locally manufactured foreign and domestic custom plank flooring.
Jungle Jim Tools (Corralitos, Calif.) currently is seeking new distributors for its scraper/blade, "The Cobra." Contact the company at 831/685-4028 or fax 831/425-1661 for more information.
Contractor News Costen Floors Inc. (Richmond, Va.) hosted a 55th anniversary celebration June 27 for more than 300 invited clients, vendors and staff at the Colonial Downs horse race track. The company was founded as Costen Lumber Co. in 1948 by Ralph L. Costen Sr. and was incorporated as Costen Floors Inc. in 1974. It now is owned and operated by Ralph L. Costen Jr., his wife Marsha, his son Ralph L. "Tripp" Costen III and brother-in-law Nick Rasnick. The company employs 130 people and was a finalist this year in the Better Business Bureau's Torch Awards for ethical business practices.
People News DriTac Adhesive Group (Brooklyn, N.Y.) has appointed Chuck Hall national sales manager. Hall will direct and oversee all sales efforts for the company in the United States and Canada. He has 25 years of experience in the flooring industry, having spent 19 years with Hartco Flooring Company as western regional sales manager and, most recently, serving as president of Chuck Hall Associates, a consulting firm to the hardwood flooring industry.
By the Numbers Sales of new single-family homes rose for the third consecutive month in May to a record-high seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million units, according to the Commerce Department. This was 12.5 percent ahead of April's seasonally adjusted sales pace, and the fourth time this year that sales surpassed the million-unit mark. Sales of new single-family homes in May posted gains of 16 percent and 19.7 percent in the South and West, respectively, and a 1.6 percent gain in the Midwest. A 9 percent decline in the Northeast was due primarily to unusually wet weather.
The nation's housing market should continue to provide solid support to the U.S. economy throughout the remainder of 2003 and beyond, and will likely set a new record for sales of new single-family homes this year, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The NAHB has revised upward its forecast for 2003 sales of new single-family homes to 985,000 units, about 1 percent above last year's record-breaking 973,000 units. As for housing starts, NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders says the NAHB is "holding to our previous forecast for a total of 1.7 million housing starts this year." This number "includes an upwardly revised 1 percent gain in single-family home production, to 1.38 million units, and a 6.6 percent decline in multifamily production, to 324,000 units," he says.
Association News Don't forget to make a note of the NWFA's new contact information at the new International Training Center and Headquarters. The NWFA now is located at 111 Chesterfield Industrial Blvd., Chesterfield, MO 36005 and can be reached at 636/519-9663 (local), 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) and by fax at 636/519-9664.
Mark Your Calendar The next school scheduled at the NWFA's International Training Center is the Technical Education Conference, which will be held Aug. 11-15. The NWFA also will host its Expert Installation and Expert Sand and Finish schools at the new training center. The Expert Installation School will be held Oct. 1-4, and the Expert Sand and Finish School will be held Oct. 6-8. For more information, contact the NWFA at the numbers listed above or visit www.nwfa.org.
Your Resource Book Form is Past Due! The June 20 deadline for returning your forms for the 2004 Resource Book and NWFA Networking Guide has passed; however, there's still time to turn them in. If you haven't returned your form, please do so ASAP to make sure your most recent information is included. If you have questions or need another form, please contact Nancy at Hardwood Floors magazine at 800/722-8764, ext. 117, or e-mail [email protected].
NWFA Member Services The Profit Planning Group has prepared another Profit Improvement Report entitled "The Three by Three Difference." Al Bates suggests an approach whereby firms target a 3 percent improvement in three major areas of their businesses-sales, gross margin and expenses. Contact NWFA for a copy sent via e-mail or fax.