Hardwood Floors E-News - 10/29/2007

The NWFA held an Intermediate Installation and Sand & Finish School in Seattle October 24-26. NWFA Technical Services Advisor Frank Kroupa led the instruction of 66 students. Volunteer instructors included: Dennis Plaut, 3M; Jason Black, Artisan Flooring LLC; Brad Betz, Basic Coatings; Frank Szubart, BonaKemi USA Inc.; Tony Summers, Centrex Hardwood LLC; Wayne Lee, Clarke American Sanders; Chase Cooper, Copacetic Wood Floors; Craig McIntosh, Dura Seal; Roger Barker, Fortifiber Building Systems Group; Julie Russell, Lon Vaughn and Mike Osborn, Glitsa American Inc.; Doug Klewin, Halal Hardwoods; Cort Dunlop, Hardwood Inspections; Michael Klinge, Loba Wakol LLC; Scott Avery, Modern Tech Floors LLC; Mike DeFriese, Norton Abrasives; Tom Peotter, Oshkosh Designs; Gary Arnold, Powernail Company Inc.; Brett Wheeler, Precision Technology LLC; Tom Heese, Primatech Inc.; Joshua Crossman, PTL Hardwoods; Rick Breuer, Rick’s Custom Hardwood Floors; Johannes Boonstra, Synteko Floor Finishes ; Chuck Garvey, Timbermate USA Inc.; Larry Subervi, UFloor Systems Inc.; Nathaniel Prior, VerMeister; Dave Stark, Virginia Abrasives Corporation; Dave Posey, Wagner Electronic Products; and Donald Bollinger, Wood Floor Products Inc. Lead distributors were Kelly-Goodwin Company (Seattle) and Hardwood Flooring Dist.-Goodfellow Inc. (Seattle). Cali Bamboo (San Diego, Calif.) has opened a distribution center in Philadelphia. All orders and calls will still be placed through the company’s San Diego branch.

Mohawk Industries (Dalton, Ga.) has been ranked 154^th in the top 250 most innovative users of information technology in the nation, according to Information Week ’s annual study. Information Week reviews businesses based on their technology strategies, investments and administrative procedures.

Mapei Corporation (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) has awarded Tom Tedford of Flo-Tech Inc. (Phoenix) a place on Robby Gordon’s pit crew in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series as part of Mapei’s Easy Pass to NASCAR promotion.

Accord Flooring (Boca Raton, Fla.) is now selling its products direct and has consequently terminated its distributorship relationship with Hoboken Floors (Wayne, N.J.).

Joel Lefkowitz has stepped down as CEO of Hoboken Floors (Wayne, N.J.), although he remains a shareholder in the business. The company has appointed Mark Steele as CEO, who has more than 20 years of international operations and manufacturing experience, previously as the CEO and president of Jakel Inc.

In other company news, Hoboken closed down its Dallas branch last month. "These operations were not performing to expectations," Steele said.

Mercier Wood Flooring Inc. has selected Primco Limited (Calgary, Alberta) as a distributor in Canada for the region between the Pacific coast and Ontario’s Thunder Bay, as well as the Yukon, Northwest and Nunavut territories.

Harco Clear Coatings (North Brunswick, N.J.) has added the following distributors: Floor Supply & Equipment (Los Angeles); Old Master Products (Van Nuys, Calif.); Pyramid Hardwood Flooring (Glendale, Calif.) and S & S Hardwood Supply (Los Angeles).

BR-111 Imports and Exports Inc. (Medley, Fla.) has selected Wheeler Total Flooring Solution (Miami) to distribute its products throughout Florida.

Golden State Flooring (South San Francisco, Calif.) held its annual Vendor Show October 17-19 at its Sacramento, Santa Fe Springs, South San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., locations. More than 1,000 customers were treated to raffle prizes, discounted items and T-shirts.

The Nydree Group (Forest, Va.), the parent company of Gammapar and PermaGrain, has promoted Stephanie Hackworth to sales operations manager. She has been with The Nydree Group since 2004 as customer service coordinator. Total housing starts for September 2007 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,191,000 units, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. This is 10.2 percent below the August 2007 figure of 1,327,000 units and 30.8 percent below the September 2006 rate of 1,721,000 units.

The overall National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI) declined two points from 20 in September to 18 in October, its lowest level since the index began in January 1985. Builder expectations for sales conditions in the next six months held steady at 26, while the index for gauging current single-family home sales and the index gauging traffic of prospective buyers each declined two points, to 18 and 15, respectively.

The NAHB will launch its National Green Building Program February 14 at the 2008 NAHB International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Fla. The national initiative will link dozens of successful state and local green building programs with a universal online certification tool, national registry of green homes and green builders and a range of educational tools and resources for home builders and buyers.

The International Standards and Training Alliance (INSTALL) has added five members: Dayton Superior (Dayton, Ohio), GAF-ELK (Fontana, Calif.), Graf Brothers Flooring and Lumber (South Shore, Ky.), Lewis G. Migliore & Associates (Dalton, Ga.) and Kährs International (Altamonte Springs, Fla.).

Sekulic International Trading Co. (Los Angeles) has updated its Web site at www.specialflooring.com.

Long Floor (Richmond, Va.) has launched its newly designed Web site at www.longfloor.com.

The NWFA will hold an Intermediate Installation, Sand and Finish School February 12-15, 2008, in Long Beach, Calif. For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nwfa.org. UFloor Systems (Greensboro, N.C.) is looking for sales representatives for its Pallman finish division. Experience with hardwood finishes is required. Send résumés to UFloor Systems Inc., 6008 High Point Road, Greensboro, NC 27407. For more information, call 336/454-7000; or visit www.ufloorsystems.com.

Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. (High Point, N.C.) is looking for independent sales representatives in the U.S. with knowledge and understanding of the hardwood flooring industry. For more information, contact Lou Jones by phone at 248/637-0443 or by fax at 248/649-6529.

Vintage Building Products (Whitmire, S.C.), a deconstruction company and reclaimed flooring manufacturer, is looking for salespeople with experience in selling large quantities of solid and engineered flooring, as well as knowledge of millwork sales. Résumés and inquiries should be sent to [email protected].

Caliber Flooring (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.), a distributor of hardwood flooring, is seeking several nationwide outside sales representatives with knowledge of the hardwood flooring industry. Résumés should be sent to [email protected] or faxed to 909/758-8711.

Clear Lake Lumber (Spartansburg, Pa.) is seeking regional strategic account representatives for the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, Midwest, Central, Southeast, Mountain, South, Northwest and Southwest regions. Ideal candidates will have experience in the hard surface floor covering industry selling to independent dealers. A four-year degree is necessary. Résumés should be mailed to Jennifer Anderson, Clear Lake Lumber, 409 Main St., P.O. Box 129, Spartansburg, PA 16434; or e-mailed to [email protected].

A flooring company in Los Angeles is looking for a salesperson. Candidates should have previous flooring sales experience and computer knowledge. For more information, e-mail Anna at [email protected] or visit www.specialflooring.com.

Several companies in the hardwood flooring industry have been targeted in a scam involving Internet Relay, a free service that allows hearing and speech-impaired people to communicate over the phone by typing in information that is read by an operator. In a typical scenario, a company receives a call from the Relay service and the caller requests a large order of product, implying that it’s urgent. The credit cards, checks or money orders the person uses to pay are fraudulent. Most of the calls are actually originating in Nigeria. For more information, visit www.stoprelayabuse.com/Nigerian.fraud.0.html. The 2007 U.S. Economic Census will be mailed out to businesses in December. This mandatory survey is the nation’s most comprehensive measure of business and industry and is taken every five years. In the previous issue of Hardwood Floors’ E-News, the Golden State Flooring (South San Francisco, Calif.) showroom opening should have been listed as the San Jose, Calif., branch, not the South San Francisco branch. Have you ordered your customized copy of the NWFA’s 30-second television ad yet? For just $75, you can receive a copy of this professionally produced ad featuring your company contact information. To view the ad, visit www.nwfa.org and click on the "Watch Our 30 Second Television Ad" link. 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) or by e-mail at [email protected].