Issue Date:3/1/2004
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Issue Date:3/1/2004
Hardwood Floors E-News Monday, March 1, 2004 Issue 232 Next issue published March 15, 2004 Deadline for items: March 10, 2004 Send news to [email protected]
Forty-Four Attend NWFA Installation School The NWFA held its Introduction to Wood Flooring Installation School Feb. 24-27 at its headquarters in St. Louis. The school was led by NWFA Technical Director Steve Seabaugh and assisted by NWFA's Rusty Swindoll . Volunteer instructors for the 44 students attending the school were: Jim Schumacher, 3M; Jerry Wing, Absolute Coatings; Neil Moss, Armstrong Wood Products; Rhonda McCulley and Rob Johnson, Basic Coatings; Brett Ker and J.R. Ryan, BonaKemi USA; Jack Campbell, Campbell & Company Hardwood Floors; Wayne Lee, Clarke American Sanders; Timothy McCool, Cornerstone Flooring; Richard Cassinger, Custom Hardwood Floors; William Costello, Dura Seal; Ron Hendricks, E.J. Welch Co.; Roger Barker, Fortifiber Building Products; Sharon Miller, Lenmar; Bill Jauernig, PoloPlaz; Alan Blake, Stauf-USA Adhesive ; and Dave Stark, Virginia Abrasives Corp .
People News BonaKemi USA (Aurora, Colo.) has named Larry Subervi its national sales manager to direct the introduction of UV factory finishes to North America, working with prefinished hardwood flooring manufacturers to promote BonaKemi UV coatings and maintenance products. Subervi is based at Bona's headquarters in Aurora, Colo. He has been with BonaKemi since 1998 as regional manager and Bona Sport division manager.
Southeast Hardwood Flooring Distributors Inc. (Mandeville, La.) has announced that Frank Macaluso will assume the role of sales and marketing manager as of March 1. He will be responsible for the company's entire sales area-Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and the Florida Panhandle. Macaluso can be reached by phone at 800/332-3054.
Caseworks Custom Moulding and Millwork (Tucson, Ariz.) has added Scott Marlowe to its staff, with responsibilities including sales and manufacturing. Marlowe has more than 20 years' experience in the molding and hardwood business. He can be reached at 520/574-1000 or [email protected] .
By the Numbers Strip shipments for January 2004 totaled 54,507,000 board feet, up 12 percent from the 48,274,000 board feet shipped during January 2003, according to NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturer's Association .
Housing starts slowed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.903 million units in January, 7.9 percent below December's revised estimate of 2.067 million units, but 4.1 percent above the January 2003 rate and 12 percent above the annual total of 1.848 million for 2003, which was the highest in 26 years, according to the Commerce Department . Single-family starts dipped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.537 million units, 8 percent below the revised December rate and 1.9 percent above the January 2003 pace.
The National Association of Home Builders ' Housing Market Index (HMI) rested at 65 for February, its lowest level since July 2003. Unusually bad winter weather conditions across much of the country were partly to blame for the four-point decline from January. Each of the HMI's component indexes also slipped in February. The index gauging traffic of prospective buyers slipped the most, down five points to 46, followed by the index gauging current sales of new single-family homes, which was down four points to 72. The index gauging expected sales in the next six months slid three points to 73.
New-home sales dipped slightly in January, but remained well above last year's record-setting pace. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new single-family homes sales was 1.106 million, according to the Commerce Department , down 1.7 percent from December's upwardly-revised rate of 1.125 million, but 9.6 percent above the January 2003 rate of 1.009 million units. Three regions registered sales declines for the month. The Northeast, South and West posted 5 percent, 2.1 percent and 3.9 percent declines, respectively. The Midwest registered a 5.6 percent increase over the month before.
Manufacturer News Armstrong and Bruce Hardwood Floors (Lancaster, Pa.) were voted brand leaders in multiple categories, winning "Builder" magazine's 2004 Brand Use Study in laminate, vinyl and wood flooring. Armstrong and Bruce swept all fields in the vinyl and wood categories, respectively, earning top honors in Brand Familiarity; Brand Used in Past Two Years; Brand Used Most; and Quality and Innovation. The brand-use study, conducted by Readex, and published by Hanley-Wood LLC, surveyed a statistical sample from "Builder" readers to rank flooring brands. The full results will be published in the April 2004 issue of "Builder." In other company news, Armstrong hardwood was selected by the editors of "Country Living" for its million-dollar 2004 House of the Year, inspired by the 18th Century Traditional Pennsylvania farmhouse. Bruce's Kennedale Prestige Plank wood flooring is used in the kitchen, which "Country Living" features in its February 2004 issue.
Columbia Flooring (Danville, Va.) recently hosted a large-scale event for its distributor customers at the Paridisus Riviera Cancun, where the company rolled out two new wood flooring products for 2004. More than 60 representatives from North America's floor covering distributors were given a preview of the company's Hardwood Essence hand-sculpted engineered hardwood collection and the 5/16-inch engineered Village Collection. In addition to its two business meetings, highlights of the event included golf tournaments, jungle cruises and deep-sea fishing.
Caseworks Custom Moulding and Millwork has completed the remodeling of its 135,000-square-foot facility, including the installation of a second Weinig high-speed molder, Weinig Opticut optimizing saw, Delle Vedove sander and Baker Products band saw. The Della Vedove U.V. Vacuum Finishing Line has been updated to include aluminum oxide, and a new high-speed dryer for the vacuum staining line is in development. The company says the changes will enhance its capacity and quality in the manufacture of architectural and decorative moldings and feature strips for hardwood floors.
Signature Innovations (Wood Dale, Ill.) has announced new e-mail addresses for the company. Following is the new directory of e-mails: Corporate Sales Office, [email protected] ;Mirek Sidor , regional sales manager, [email protected] ;Leslee E. Serdar , national sales associate, [email protected] ;Tom Koczur , vice president, tkoczur@ signaturehardwoods.com ;Agnes Dudek , office/customer service manager, [email protected] ; and Stanley Bozek , warehouse/distribution manager, [email protected] .
Injectidry Systems Inc. (Kirkland, Wash.) has named its new drying adaptor "Adaptidry." The name was chosen through the company's "Name Injectidry's New Drying Adaptor Contest," and the winning moniker was submitted by Joe Emmert of Vortex Drying School . Emmert receives $3,000 in drying products from Injectidry for his effort.
Distributor News Teragren Fine Floors, Panels & Veneers (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) has named Butler Johnson Corporation (San Jose, Calif.) its distributor for both the TimberGrass Bamboo Solid Strip and Teragren Bamboo Wide Plank flooring brands in Northern California and Reno, Nev. For more information, contact John Ryan at 800/776-2167 or visit www.teragren.com .
Pembroke Consulting and the "Modern Distribution Management" newsletter (Philadelphia) offer a $5,000 scholarship designed to foster leadership in the wholesale distribution industry. Full-time college students at accredited U.S. universities are encouraged to apply. Entrants are required to submit an essay discussing how technology will affect the supply chain and the future strategies of wholesale distributors. The scholarship winner will be announced in September, and the winning essay will be published in "Modern Distribution Management."
Austwood Australia (Tamworth, New South Wales) has new solid two-strip, nested, random length, 5 1/4-by-3/4-inch Australian cypress flooring available prefinished or unfinished with a square- or micro-bevel. Distributors interested in this flooring for the U.S. market should contact [email protected] .
Timeless Timber (Sudbury, Mass.) has introduced an end-grain block flooring material made from SCS-certified, underwater-recovered, virgin-growth timber and is seeking national distribution for this and its standard unfinished strip flooring. For more information, contact Michael Bowen at 978/505-1911 or e-mail [email protected] .
Floor Style Products (Hastings, Mich.) has set up a delivery schedule for its customers in Michigan, Indiana and Illinois. Deliveries on Mondays will alternate between the Saginaw/Thumb area of Michigan or to the Ft. Wayne, Ind., area. Tuesday deliveries will be to the Detroit area and along the I-96 and I-94 corridors. Wednesday's deliveries will be along the Lake Michigan lakeshore area. Deliveries on Thursdays will alternate to the South Bend/Shipshewana locations or to the northern part of Lower Michigan.
For Sale A hardwood floor contracting company based in southwestern Virginia is for sale. For the last 12 years, the company has been supplying, installing, sanding and finishing wood floors. It also holds a patent on a sandpaper disk-cutting machine and manufactures its own wood filler. The number of employees for the business ranges from six to 12, and the company has a database of approximately 15,000 potential customers. The business grosses approximately $500,000 yearly. Optional with the company for sale is a private residence consisting of 2,500 square feet on 10 acres. The asking price for the company is $750,000, or $950,000 with the residence. For more information, call 276/768-9999 or e-mail [email protected] .
Job Watch Artistic Finishes Inc. (St. Paul, Minn.) currently is searching for a southeastern district sales manager. The manager will be responsible for maintaining current business and pursuing new opportunities. The ideal candidate will have a minimum of three years' experience in sales with dealer/distributor markets, excellent written and verbal communication skills and hardwood flooring or related industry experience. Qualified candidates should submit a résumé and salary history in confidence to Artistic Finishes Inc., Attn: Human Resource Manager, 2224 Terminal Road, St. Paul, MN 55113 or e-mail [email protected] .
Lanham Hardwood Flooring (Louisville, Ky.) has job opportunities in its Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Louisville branches. Positions are available in outside contractor sales, inside sales, operations and prefinished sales. Interested parties should send a cover letter and résumé to Sales Manager, 4704 Pinewood Road, Louisville, KY 40218.
On the Web Finitec Hardwood Products (St-Lambert-de-Lauzon, Quebec) has a revised Web site at www.finitec-inc.com .
Signature Hardwoods has a Web site under construction at www.signaturehardwoods.com . Its active Web site is currently www.signatureinnovations.com .
Bamboo Floors USA (Los Angeles) has a new Web site at www.bamboofloorsusa.com .
Mark Your Calendar The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association will hold its 11th Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz., March 6-8. The event features an educational program, problem-and-solution exchange forums and product-and-service exhibits. For more information, call Madhuri Carson at 847/480-9138.
The NAHB National Green Building Conference will be held in Austin, Texas, March 14-16, where NAHB and other experts will be advancing "greener" home building ideas and initiatives for all mainstream builders. For more information, visit www.nahb.org .
The first of two scheduled Floor Style Products -sponsored Road Shows in Ontario, Calif., will be held May 7. The second will be held July 23. There will be a two-day Road Show in Dundee, Mich., June 6-7 and one in Benton Harbor, Mich., July 25-26. All are from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. The shows feature the latest innovations in hardwood flooring, and attendees can participate in informational classes taught by factory-trained personnel, test drive machines and network with vendors. For more information, call 800/767-8953.
Addition In the last issue of the Hardwood Floors E-News, John Lessick and Kevin Mohring of Apex Wood Floors Inc . and Bob Bailey of Artisan Hardwood Floors Inc. should have been listed as volunteer instructors at the NWFA's Advanced Installation School held in St. Louis Feb. 11-13.
NWFA Member Services CrossCheck Inc. offers check guarantee services to NWFA members so they can accept checks with confidence. Members can contact John Crooker at 800/654-1003 to learn more about how they can increase business with CrossCheck premium programs, 24-hour customer service, free supplies and training. Canadian members can contact Global Payments Inc. at 800/638-4600, ext. 708, for a customized check acceptance program that reduces risk. Extending a new line of credit to your customers can increase sales. If that line of credit is from your store, you'll have more loyal customers and more repeat sales. Members can find out about the Preferred FloorCovering Program through GE Card Services . Optional Visa/MasterCard processing is available at competitive rates. For more information, call 800/244-7354.