Stern Launches New Wood Flooring Company
John Stern, who recently announced his retirement after 29 years as owner of
Kentucky Wood Floors (Louisville, Ky.), which was acquired by
Koetter Woodworking Inc. (Borden, Ind.), has started a new manufacturing company,
Louisville Wood Floors. The company manufactures specialty hardwood flooring and accessories in solid and engineered, and prefinished and unfinished options with various textures. "I just feel there’s a tremendous opportunity in the specialty niche," Stern says. Louisville Wood Floors is located at 3340 Green Hill Lane, Louisville, KY 40207-1828. The company is currently accepting orders and looking for distributors. For more information, contact
John Stern at 502/899-9663 or by e-mail at
[email protected].
Manufacturer News
BonaKemi USA (Aurora, Colo.) will open an 87,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Monroe, N.C., that will be fully operational by the end of 2006. The plant will serve all of North America and supplement the Malmö, Sweden, production of Bona’s Environmental Choice System waterborne hardwood floor finishing products.
Lenmar Inc. (Baltimore) held a two-day sanding-and-finishing training session June 22-23 for representatives from Cherokee Wholesalers (Charlotte, N.C.) and Hoboken Floors (Wayne, N.J.). Guests were also treated to a plant tour, dinner and a Baltimore Orioles baseball game. Janet Sullivan, Russ Bates, Shu King and Craig Dupra led the instruction.
Graf Brothers Flooring (South Shore, Ky.) has added four stainless steel dry kilns, bringing its total kiln capacity to 1,500,000 square feet. It has also completed an automated rip line, bringing its flooring production to 40,000 square feet per day.
The deadline to submit nominations for the Mannington Mills (Salem, N.J.) Stand on a Better World Awards is August 31. If you wish to nominate a woman who enriches the lives of others and positively impacts her community, visit www.standonabetterworld.com.
Bosch Power Tools and Accessories (Chicago) will sponsor #18 Bobby Hamilton in the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Distributor News
Lon Musolf Distributing Inc. (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) held its annual golf tournament July 19. Sponsors for the event included
3M,
Artistic Finishes,
Barefoot Flooring,
Boen/Palo Duro,
BonaKemi USA,
Dura Seal,
Forest Products,
Grill Works,
Lägler,
North Wood Flooring,
Ochoco International,
Padco,
Smith Flooring and
Ua Floors.
Mercier Wood Flooring Inc. (Montmagny, Quebec) has selected Herregan Distributors Inc. (Minneapolis) as a distributor for the Midwest effective September 1.
Hoboken Floors has launched a loyalty awards program-the Hoboken Floors Advantage Program, in which customers accumulate points with each Hoboken product purchase to trade in for items such as jewelry, electronics and sporting equipment. For more information, visit www.hobokenfloorsadvantage.com.
People News
Clarke American Sanders (Springdale, Ark.) has promoted
Brian Strickland to sales director of rental. Strickland can be contacted at 479/750-8433 or at
[email protected]. Clarke has also appointed
Tom Jarvis product manager. He can be contacted at 479/750-8266 or
[email protected]. In addition, the company has added
Clinton Lancaster as marketing assistant. Lancaster will manage Web site maintenance, graphic design and commercial writing.
BonaKemi USA has added Eric See, Chad Nordhagen and Erica Kitze to its sales and marketing teams. See will work with commercial sales, focusing on hardwood floor care solutions for retail and national restaurant chains. Nordhagen is marketing project developer and will assist in the development of product introductions, product promotions and other marketing programs. Kitze, marketing communications assistant, will be involved in all aspects of Bona’s marketing communications programs.
By the Numbers
Wood flooring shipments for June 2006 totaled 42,856,000 square feet, according to
NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association. This is a 5 percent decrease compared with the same month last year and brings the year-to-date shipments to 260,302,000 square feet, a 2 percent increase over the same time period in 2005. 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.
New home sales for June 2006 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,131,000 units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. This is 3 percent below the revised May rate of 1,166,000 units.
Mark Your Calendar
The NWFA will hold a Wood Flooring Inspection School September 25-29 at its training facility in St. Louis. For more information, e-mail
[email protected] or visit
www.nwfa.org.
Dri-Eaz (Burlington, Wash.) will host a Restorative Drying Symposium at the Las Vegas Hilton September 20-21 in conjunction with the Connections Convention and Trade Show. For more information, visit www.dri-eaz.com/home/symposium2006.html.
Lenmar Inc. will hold training sessions targeting its distributors and key contractors September 14-15, October 19-20 and November 16-17 at its headquarters in Baltimore. Two NWFA training credits will be awarded to attending trainees. For more information, contact Craig Dupra at [email protected].
Erickson’s Flooring & Supply (Ferndale, Mich.) will host its First Annual Fall Color Tour Conference & Marketplace September 27-29 at the Soaring Eagle Casino and Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Mich. The conference will offer educational programs, peer networking opportunities, a product showcase and guest speakers, including Jonathan Trivers, author of One Stop Marketing, and Sergio Korn, past president of the International Wood Products Association. For more information, contact Stephanie at 800/225-9663, ext. 1129, or by e-mail at [email protected], or visit www.efs.bz.
Job Watch
BonaKemi USA is hiring additional regional contractor managers for the East Coast (New Jersey) and Southern California (Los Angeles area). This position is responsible for demonstrations and training for contractors and distributors using Bona’s product line. Applicants must have comprehensive sand-and-finish and recoating experience; good communication, presentation and organizational skills; and they must be centrally located in these territories and willing to travel on a weekly basis. For more information, contact
Betty Jo Hargrave at 800/872-5515, ext. 343, e-mail
[email protected] or visit
www.bonakemi.com. Interviews are being scheduled in Los Angeles August 21-23 and in Newark, N.J., August 24-25.
BSL Wood Products (Mont-Joli, Quebec) is seeking an experienced sales representative for the Southeast. Résumés should be sent to [email protected]. For more information, visit www.bslcanada.com.
Wood Pro Inc. (Auburn, Mass) is looking for outside salespeople for New England. These positions include salary plus commission, car allowance and benefits. Résumés should be sent to Tony Benvenuti at [email protected].
For Sale
A hardwood flooring manufacturing plant capable of producing 10,000 to 12,000 square feet of flooring per shift is for sale. The plant comes complete with machinery. Its known trade name and Canadian distribution network is also for sale with more than 200 point-of-sale displays in place. For more information, telephone 519/368-7975, fax 519/368-7012 or e-mail
[email protected].
NWFA Member Service
The 2006 Distributor Employee Compensation Report is now available. Volume I contains information on executive and employee compensation for NWFA firms. Volume II is a cross-industry report that provides breakouts for sales volume categories and profiles specific geographic areas. Members can download Volume I by going to
www.nwfa.org and clicking on "Statistical Reports" under the "Services and Supplies" link. A copy of Volume I will be sent to all NWFA distributor members. Copies are available to all other members upon request. Volume II is available on CD for $5 plus shipping and handling. To request a copy of either report, contact the NWFA by phone at 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international) or by e-mail at
[email protected].
