Manufacturer News
Karelia (West Vancouver, British Columbia) and
FinnWoodFloors Ltd. (Nokia, Finland) have merged to form
Karelia-Upofloor Oy. The newly formed company’s separate brands, Karelia and Upofloor, will remain on the market as named. The phone number of the new company is 358-20-740-9300 and the Web site is
www.kareliafloors.com.
Beno J. Gundlach Company (Belleville, Ill.) is seeking experienced independent manufacturer representatives selling to hardwood flooring distributors in California, Arizona, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Tennessee. Company profile information should be mailed to Pat Summerville, P.O. Box 544, Belleville, IL 62222-0544; or e-mailed to [email protected].
Higuera Hardwoods LLC (Poulsbo, Wash.) has opened Higuera Mouldings, which produces custom and standard floor moldings, handrails and stair systems. The address is 19006 Front St., P.O. Box 2067, Poulsbo, WA 98370; the phone number is 360/779-4050 or 888/300-2059; and the fax number is 360/779-4057. For more information, visit www.higuerahardwoods.com.
Mullican Flooring (Johnson City, Tenn.) was showcased on "Weekend Makeover" on the E! Entertainment network December 31, 2006.
Distributor News
Lon Musolf Distributing Inc. (Vadnais Heights, Minn.) will hold Lunch and Learn seminars with
Absolute Coatings (New Rochelle, N.Y.) at all three of the Lon Musolf distributorships. The events will take place at noon on January 23 in Waukesha, Wis.; January 24 in Vadnais Heights; and January 25 in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Chris Coates of
Boral Timber (Novato, Calif.) will attend the Vadnais Heights event. For more information, contact
Liz Grohn at 651/484-3020.
Blake-Stevens Wood Flooring Inc. (Pewaukee, Wis.) held a contractor business seminar January 4. Twenty-three hardwood flooring professionals attended the event.
Dealer/Contractor News
Drew Kern has sold
Flooring Works (Milton, Ontario) to
Naim Bejjany. Kern had been president since 2001 and will remain in the industry as a free agent. For more information, visit
www.flooringworks.ca.
People News
Lenmar Inc. (Baltimore) has promoted
Craig Dupra to business development manager. Dupra has 24 years in the hardwood flooring industry. He will identify, target and sell key distributor prospects. Dupra can be contacted at 585/455-8809 or
[email protected].
EZ Tread (New Castle, Del.) has named Tim Driehorst director of technical services. Driehorst brings more than 30 years’ experience to the company. He can be reached at 302/328-9444.
HomerWood Hardwood Flooring Company (Titusville, Pa.) has added Sue Kamps, Sue Brown and Rob O’Connor for outside sales support and account management for the United States. Kempas previously worked at Armstrong, Brown was with Congoleum and O’Connor previously worked for Mohawk.
Mapei Group (Milan, Italy) CEO Giorgio Squinzi was awarded the Leonardo Quality Prize for Italy by the Italian Republic President Giorgio Napoletano. The prize recognizes businesspeople promoting and enhancing Italian quality throughout the world.
By the Numbers
Wood flooring shipments for November 2006 totaled 36,225,000 square feet, according to
NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association. This is a 19 percent decrease compared with the same month last year and brings the year-to-date shipments to 449,971,000 square feet, a 7 percent decrease from 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 residential sales of single-family houses in November 2006 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,047,000 units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. This is 3.4 percent above the revised October rate of 1,013,000 units but 15.3 percent below the November 2005 total of 1,236,000 units.
Mark Your Calendar
Howard Brickman, president of
Brickman Consulting (Norwell, Mass.), will hold a one-day inspection class January 30 in Auburn, Mass. For more information, e-mail
[email protected].
The NWFA will hold an Advanced Installation School February 20-22 at its training facility in St. Louis. For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nwfa.org.
Expo Build China 2007, an international trade show for building interiors and surfaces and building envelopes, will be held April 4-7 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai, China. For more information, visit www.expobuild.cn.
On the Web
USG Corporation (Chicago), manufacturer of underlayment products, has updated its Web site at
www.usg.com.
Job Watch
The Palmetto Hardwood Company (Anderson, S.C.) is seeking a highly motivated outside salesperson/account representative to develop and maintain new accounts. Experience in the hardwood flooring industry is preferred. The qualified applicant will be an ambitious individual with leadership skills. This position could lead to a sales management opportunity. The company offers salary plus commission. Résumés should be faxed to 864/224-3894 or e-mailed to
[email protected].
Send us Your Mail!
Hardwood Floors is looking for great direct mail pieces for its April/May 2007 dealer/contractor marketing contest. A professional branding expert will pick the best one, the winner will receive a
Hardwood Floors T-shirt, and the winning mail pieces will appear in the magazine. The deadline for submitting items is Monday, January 15. If you are a hardwood flooring dealer or contractor and think you have a great company direct mail piece, mail it to: Direct Mail Pieces, Hardwood Floors, 4130 Lien Road, Madison, WI 53704.
NWFA Member Services
Have you ever wished there was a forum for wood flooring professionals? There is for NWFA members. Listserv is an e-mail list management program that gives NWFA members the ability to communicate with other members on topics of similar interest via e-mail. Listserv is activated upon request only. For more information, contact the NWFA by phone at 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international), by e-mail at
[email protected] or visit
www.nwfa.org.