Issue Date:2/16/2004
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Issue Date:2/16/2004
Hardwood Floors E-News Monday, February 16, 2004 Issue 231 Next issue published March 1, 2004 Deadline for items: February 25, 2004 Send news to [email protected]
Millstone Industries Acquires Key Business Divisons of Morelock Millstone Industries (Bend, Ore.) has signed a letter of intent for the purchase of certain assets of Morelock Enterprises Inc. (Bend, Ore.), the parent company of Morelock Wood Products, a family-owned company that manufactures moldings, millwork, furniture components and hardwood flooring. Backed by a local group of investors, the newly formed Millstone Industries will retain more than 50 of Morelock's key employees to protect long-standing customer relationships, effect a smooth ownership transition and safeguard a significant number of local jobs. "All involved are confident," said Tom Pickell, president and CEO of Millstone Industries, "that the opportunities afforded by the niche wood products market, coupled with a focus on building and securing our customer base, will ensure the profitable operation of Millstone Industries." Morelock Flooring, the company's nationally distributed hardwood flooring line, will continue to be marketed under its current name by Millstone Industries.
Surfaces 2004 Numbers Down About 10 Percent Attendance at Surfaces 2004 was 36,140, about 10 percent fewer than 2003's record attendance of 40,389. There were slightly fewer exhibitors-925 compared with 938 in 2003. More than 200 of the exhibiting companies were first-time exhibitors. Exhibit space totaled 472,000 square feet, a more than 11 percent decrease compared with 2003, which had 535,000 square feet of exhibit space. Despite the decreased numbers, exhibitors largely had positive reactions to the traffic and quality of attendees at the show (see the Monday, Feb. 2 Hardwood Fax).
Students Learn Custom Wood Flooring Skills at NWFA Advanced School The NWFA held its Advanced Installation School Feb. 11-13 at its state-of-the-art training center in St. Louis, with 23 students in attendance to develop their advanced installation skills. Steve Seabaugh, NWFA technical director, headed up the school, assisted by NWFA's Assistant Director of Technical Training Rusty Swindoll. Volunteer instructors for the event were Brent Sorbet, Basic Coatings; Evandro Carvalho, Blesing's Flooring; Tony Ziola, BonaKemi USA; Wayne Lee, Clarke American Sanders; Timothy McCool, Cornerstone Flooring Inc.; Jamie Lupresto, Diamond Flooring; Tom Peotter, Oshkosh Floor Designs Inc.; and Todd Theisen, TMT Integrity Flooring.
Manufacturer News Penn Wood Products (East Berlin, Pa.) has completed a $1.25 million capital improvement and plant expansion project. Two new buildings provide an additional 21,000 square feet of manufacturing space for hardwood flooring, architectural and decorative moldings, and feature strips for hardwood floors, and existing manufacturing areas have been reconfigured to consolidate molding operations. New equipment includes a Weinig Hydromat 23C molder, which increases molding production capacity to 200 feet per minute, as well as two new Della Vedove vacuum finishing lines and a Della Vedove profile sander that have quadrupled finishing capacity, the company says.
Powernail Company Inc. (Lincolnshire, Ill.) has awarded its 2003 Salesman of the Year Award to Jim Duffek. Powernail also has awarded the 2003 Sales Representative of the Year Award to Andy Rebick of REB Enterprises Inc. Duffek covers Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin for Powernail and Rebick covers Canada.
Distributor News PoloPlaz (Jacksonville, Ark.) has appointed the following distributors: Covington Wood and Supply (Birmingham, Ala.); ECF Supply (Miami, Fla.); Cochran Hardwood (Cincinnati, Ohio); Panel Town & Floors (Columbus, Ohio); and T&G Hardwood (Minneapolis). Those interested in distributorships should contact Bill Jauernig at 800/421-7319 or e-mail [email protected].
Mirage/Boa-Franc (Saint-Georges de Beauce, Quebec) has added Hoboken Floors (Hoboken, N.J.) as a distributor for its Florida territory. Hoboken has 13 branches throughout eight states.
Frame Hardwoods Inc. (Chelsea, Mich.) has appointed Belknap White/Alcco as a distributor for its Chelsea Plank and Restoration Series Plank. Belknap White/Alcco will serve all of New England and the state of New York with display systems and inventory in stock at multiple locations. Dealers should contact Ken Sheldon (wood products) at 800/283-7500, ext. 257, or Dan Robilotto (customer support/information) at 800/342-3981, ext. 231.
People News First Grade Hardwood Supplies (Homer Glen, Ill.) has named Tom Ringelsten vice president. He formerly served as general manager of Merle B. Smith Co., and was with that company for 13 years.
Elegance Exotic Wood Flooring (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) has promoted its former sales manager, Joannie Lu, to the newly created position of general manager. In addition, Phil Reifinger has been appointed sales manager, and Khelin Young has been promoted to senior account manager.
Northeast Flooring Inc. (Park Ridge, N.J.) has named Kevin Jameson manager of custom installations. He also is responsible for commercial account development in northern New Jersey and southeastern New York. Also, Gregg Fox has joined the company as office manager and will oversee all sanding and finishing operations.
Penn Wood Products Inc. (East Berlin, Pa.) has named Todd Barton West Coast sales manager. The company has appointed Frank Yoder production manager at Penn Wood's East Berlin manufacturing facilities. In addition, Angie Harper has been named office manager/scheduling manager; Judy A. Kuhn is quality control manager, and Jim Young is finishing operations manager.
Hunter Hardwoods (Alsip, Ill.) has appointed Joy Menne as its outside sales specialist. She is responsible forcustomer and dealer bases for the company. She can be reached at 708/671-1540 or [email protected].
On the Web Brazil Hardwoods (Aliso Viejo, Calif., and Presidente Prudente, Brazil) has launched a revised Web site at www.brazilhardwoods.com. The site features information about the company's expanded product line.
Par-ky (Menen, Belgium) has launched a Web site at www.par-ky.com. The site has a special section for customers in the United States and features an overview of the more than 60 different wood species the company offers.
Pyramid Sports Floor Systems (Calgary, Alberta), a division of Woodco Flooring Inc., has a new Web site at www.pyramidsportsfloors.com. The site showcases maple and rubber sport floor systems.
Mark Your Calendar The NWFA will hold its Introduction to Wood Flooring Installation School Feb. 24-27 in St. Louis. It will hold its Installation and Sand & Finish School March 2-5 in Denver, preceded by a Dynamics of Wood Flooring Sales School on March 1. For more information, contact the NWFA at 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international), e-mail [email protected], or visit the association's Web site at www.nwfa.org.
The National Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD) will present its Mid-Level Management Conference, "Where Business Philosophy Meets Reality," March 12-14 at Ohio State University. The conference discusses operations, sales, financial management and more. For more information, visit www.nafcd.org.
Corrections In the Dec. 22, Hardwood Floors E-News the new phone number for First Grade Hardwood Supplies should have been 708/645-0108 or 800/WOOD-FLR.
NWFA Member Services NWFA members can download Al Bates' Profit Improvement Report "Watching Your Profits Slip Away" on the NWFA Web site. Bates' article explores two specific issues related to ongoing reductions in profitability, "Determining the Magnitude of the Profit Reductions" and "Eliminating Profit Erosion." To view the report, go to www.nwfa.org and click on Statistical Reports (from the Membership Services drop-down menu) and enter your member ID number. Click on Profit Improvement Report and the report name to download. Or contact NWFA at 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international).