Issue Date:8/8/2005
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Issue Date:8/8/2005
Hardwood Floors E-News Monday, August 8, 2005 Issue 269 Next issue published August 22, 2005 Deadline for items: August 17, 2005 Send news to [email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------------Manufacturer News
Wood Flooring International Inc. (Burlington, N.J.) has expanded and moved into its new 150,000-square-foot headquarters. The new building includes 25,000 square feet of office space, 70,000 square feet of warehouse space and 45,000 square feet of manufacturing space for a POP shop, a molding and stair part shop, a prototype shop and a finish line. For more information, visit www.wflooring.com/newfacility.
Selta Hardwood Flooring (Columbus, Ohio), a manufacturer of prefinished and unfinished hardwood flooring including the Olde World Collection of wide plank Brazilian Lyptus, is seeking new distributors and dealers. For more information, call Scott Veatch at 614/850-5376 or e-mail [email protected].
Mirage (Saint-Georges, Quebec) has earned the top ranking for quality in a national survey conducted by Floor Focus magazine. The “What Retailers Think†survey results, which were unveiled in the July 2005 edition of Floor Focus, ranked Mirage first in product quality among 20 hardwood flooring manufacturers. This is the second time in three years that Mirage has earned the top rating for quality.
Distributor News
Scandian Wood Floors (Virginia Beach, Va.), a family-owned Brazilian company producing solid and engineered wood flooring and other forest products, has named Elias Wilf Corp. (Owings Mills, Md.) as the representative for its complete line of prefinished exotic hardwood flooring. Elias Wilf Corp. has four branches serving Delaware, Washington, D.C., Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
A American Custom Flooring Inc. (Chicago) will be moving to its new location as of August 10. The facility is located at 7777 N. Caldwell, Niles, IL 60714. The grand opening celebration is scheduled for the same day, and will include a sale and free food and beverages. The 300,000-square-foot facility has a 22,0000-square-foot showroom and a warehouse with a million square feet of Brazilian cherry in stock, as well as thousands of square feet of unfinished, prefinished, exotic and laminated floors.
People News
Nydree (Forest, Va.), the parent company of PermaGrain, Gammapar and Old Virginia Leather, has named Susan Ford its western regional vice president of sales. Ford most recently served as the commercial development manager and national accounts manager for Basic Coatings and its former parent company, The Atlas Companies. In her new role, Ford will report to the vice president of sales and marketing, Jay Cooper, and will be responsible for driving sales, developing and implementing strategies to support the companies’ strategic plans, as well as directing the activities of independent agencies for the companies west of the Mississippi River.
Preverco Inc. (St-Augustin-de-Desmaures, Quebec) has named Mark Murphy its sales manager for the United States. Murphy has experience in sales and marketing, including seven years as vice president of sales and marketing for Prestolam and five years as major accounts manager for Uniboard Canada.
BonaKemi USA Inc. (Aurora, Colo.) has added Dennis Savage as sports sales manager for the western region. Savage comes to Bona with experience as an athletic director at Santa Rosa Christian School, where he managed the maintenance and control of various sports facilities, including gymnasium floors. Prior to Santa Rosa, Savage spent many years in the janitorial distribution industry in northern California, specializing in sport floor finishes.
Mercier Wood Flooring (Montmagny, Quebec) has added four sales representatives to its sales team. Wade Bondrowski brings 20 years of experience in the floor covering industry. Previously employed as sales manager for a well-known distribution company, Bondrowski represents Mercier in the mid-Atlantic territory. Mike Young now covers the Midwest territory. His flooring background includes nine years of sales and installation experience at the retail level, seven years’ experience in retail store management and 14 years’ experience in wholesale floor covering distribution. Nick Sirianni joins Mercier with 17 years of experience in both distribution and manufacturing representation in New York and parts of New England. He covers the New England territory. Sabrina Fisher has joined the company as a sales representative for the Ontario region. She has experience in sales and service.
By the Numbers
Hardwood flooring shipments for June 2005 totaled 45,064,000 square feet, down 4 percent from the 47,095,000 square feet shipped during June 2004, according to NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association. June 2004 was the strongest month of the strongest year for flooring shipments since the mid-1960s. Year-to-date shipments for the first six months of 2005 totaled 254,436,000 square feet, down 2 percent from the 259,285,000 square feet shipped during the same period in 2004. Hardwood flooring shipments for the past 12 months have totaled 513,210,000 square feet, or about 3 million feet higher than the same 12-month period one year ago. The NOFMA data is from hardwood flooring manufacturers in the U.S., corresponding to actual figures from a majority of the known producing units, plus projections representing units for which actual data is occasionally provided or not provided. The flooring shipments reported include solid prefinished and unfinished oak, beech, birch, maple, hickory/pecan, ash, cherry and walnut.
Sales of newly built, single-family homes surged to an all-time record pace in June, at a seasonally adjusted rate of 1.374 million units, according to estimates recently released by the Commerce Department. The rate was 4.0 percent higher than the upwardly revised sales pace set in May, and 14.0 percent above June 2004. All four regions across the country posted a higher home sales pace in June compared with the month before. The Northeast posted a 7.2 percent increase, sales in the Midwest were up 2.1 percent, sales in the South increased 5.1 percent, and sales in the West moved up 2.8 percent.
Job Watch
GV Floors (New York), a manufacturer of premium-quality prefinished hardwood flooring, is expanding its sales force in the North American market. The company is seeking sales representatives in both the United States and Canada to cover various regions. Candidates must have at least three years’ experience in floor covering sales and must have an existing client base for sales lead generation. Résumés should be sent via e-mail or fax to the attention of Jacqueline Vuong at [email protected] or 212/564-1791.
Powernail Co. (Lake Zurich, Ill.) is seeking a regional sales manager for New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Qualifications include a working knowledge and understanding of the wood floor industry and distribution. Management of large territories and experience in hardwood flooring salesâ€"as well as building relationships with distributorsâ€"are a plus. Travel of 40 to 50 percent is required. The position offers an excellent compensation and benefits package. Résumés should be sent to Tom Coates, national sales manager, 1300 Rose Road, Lake Zurich, IL 60047 or [email protected].
Design Flooring Distributors (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) has an opening for a territory manager for its southwest Florida sales region. A floor covering sales background in manufacturing or distribution is preferred. The position offers excellent benefits with a growing company. Those interested should fax a résumé to Ken Custer at 954/481-2001 or e-mail [email protected].
Beijing Rich Materials (Beijing, China) has an opening for a sales representative in its Los Angeles sales office. Applicants do not have to reside in Los Angeles, but must have experience with laminate flooring, bamboo flooring and hardwood flooring. The company’s main goal is to provide its employees with enough space for creativity and to maximize each employee’s potential. Send a résumé to Chen Kangmin at Beijing Rich Minmetals, Room 219, Zhonglin Business Building, No. 12 Hepingli Dongjie Dongcheng District, Beijing 100013, China, fax 10-64226330 or e-mail [email protected].
Mark Your Calendar
The NAFCD will launch its Sales, Inventory and Purchasing Conference Sept. 25-27 at the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago. A total of nine class modules are planned. All attendees will participate in the opening general session and the closing customer profitability session. Throughout the conference, participants will join class modules customized for their areas of specialization. This conference is the first of three training courses offered by NAFCD University that focus on the skills and knowledge required for success in wholesale distribution. Two additional courses, addressing other distribution disciplines, are being planned for next year. For more information, call 312/321-6836, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nafcd.org.
NWFA Member Services
The NWFA now offers a Spanish Technical Hotline. La Asociación Nacional de Pisos de Madera NWFA ahora le ofrece un soporte técnico inmediato en español de 8:00 a.m. a 5:00 p.m. hora Central. Los Afiliados de NWFA de habla hispana, podrán utilizar esta línea gratuita, y recibir una atención personalizada en el mismo momento en que UD. necesite de soluciones a las preguntas técnicas mas complejas. Nuestro personal a tiempo completo, dedicara el tiempo necesario para analizar su situación y ofrecerle soluciones concretas. Para comunicarse con nuestra línea gratuita, Soporte Técnico en Español, llamar al 800/784-7125.
Catalina Research recently released its “Chinese Floor Coverings Market Report,†which provides information on market size, growth potential, end-user markets, regional markets and competition. The report will help you identify growing product lines, strengthen distribution, penetrate end-user markets and plan for the future. NWFA members can receive the full report at a 15 percent discount. Use code #CR033NWFA to receive the discount. For more information, contact Catalina Research at 561/988-0853 or at [email protected].