Brandywine International Hardwood Launches
Following the demise of
Wood Flooring International Inc., several WFI veterans have launched
Brandywine International Hardwood LLC (Burlington, N.J.). The new company has acquired the exclusive rights to all brands, Web sites and trademarks of WFI Inc., including the residential-focused WFI brand, the commercial-focused Wood Floor Resource Group and all other WFI brands and programs.
The new company includes President John Himes (previously president of WFI), COO/CFO Mike Tucker (previously COO at WFI), Wood Floor Resource Group Vice President Andy Gallo (previously vice president of sales at Wood Floor Resource Group) and 10 additional former WFI staff. WFI founder and CEO William Jopling will join Brandywine as CEO after WFI’s voluntary liquidation has concluded, which is expected to be in late January or early February.
Brandywine was officially formed on November 8. "We knew we had to swing into action immediately, because the shelf life for a product line in jeopardy is extremely short these days," Himes said. "When we were able to secure and buy all the brands, all the Web sites and all the collection names from WFI and the bank, that made it perfect," he explained, adding that all WFI displays and samples can remain in place. Nearly all of the former WFI distributors are now Brandywine distributors. "Securing continuity of the product was the first goal, but the continuity of the brands and brand names was the thing that really makes it easy for those distributors," Himes said.
Himes anticipates a tough year for wood flooring in 2008 and possibly 2009, but, "We’ve got great suppliers and great customers, and the employees we’ve been able to keep on with the organization are just magnificent. With all those things together, it just deserves a chance, and it deserves to work," he said.
The new company can be reached at 856/764-2501 or visited online at www.wflooring.com or www.woodfloorrg.com.
Lefkowitz Leads New Northeast Distributorship
A new distributorship,
All State Flooring (Clifton, N.J.), has opened with
Joel Lefkowitz at the helm as president. Lefkowitz was most recently CEO of Hoboken Wood Floors, which closed suddenly on November 5. One of the first manufacturers to be distributed by All State Flooring is
Mullican Flooring (Johnson City, Tenn.). All State will distribute Mullican products in the New York metropolitan area, New Jersey and Fairfield, Conn. "Working with Mullican is like working in a family environment again," Lefkowitz said in a statement. "The people are very understanding and cooperative - great team players. We feel we’re all on the same team, trying to accomplish the same goal, and that is to give excellent service and build a good, profitable business."
ArborCraft to Revive Harris Brand in Wholesale Channel
ArborCraft (Johnson City, Tenn.), the company created when private investment group
New Stream Capital (Ridgefield, Conn.) acquired the North American prefinished wood operations of
Tarkett International (Nanterre Cedex, France) on November 19, plans to reestablish the Harris brand in the wholesale channel, said
Matt Galvez, CEO of ArborCraft. "We think there’s a great opportunity for a manufacturer in that channel," Galvez said, noting that, because of the status of the U.S. dollar, he believes the company will also be successful selling its products offshore. Galvez said that so far the response to the revival of the Harris brand has been positive. "It’s hard for distributors who have to compete with the big-box stores, with the private-label brands," Galvez said. "One way for distributors to compete effectively for customers ... is with a brand that they’re familiar with, and that’s what distributors did with Harris for 105 years," Galvez said.
"One of our really big drives for next year is a major refocus on our distributors," said Wendy McIlquham, marketing director of ArborCraft, noting the company will sell the Harris brand only through distributors and retailers, while the FloorCraft brand will be available at big-box stores.
Distributor News
TRB Flooring Company (Holly Ridge, N.C.) has selected
Carolina Sales Associates (Charlotte, N.C.) as a distributor for North Carolina and South Carolina. For more information, call 910/329-1642.
The Wood Floor Depot (Galax, Va.) is looking for distributors for its Final Touch Hardwood Floor Filler. The company also offers private-label filler. For more information, call 866/683-0209 or visit www.finaltouchwoodfiller.com.
Columbia Flooring (Danville, Va.) has added Michael Halebian & Co. Inc. (Carlstadt, N.J.) as a distributor for New York City and surrounding areas, New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania.
Samy Santa Flooring Depot (Duluth, Ga.) has added a new 10,000-square-foot pro shop located at 320 Thornton Road, Suite 106, Atlanta, GA, 30122. Samy Santa has also been selected as a distributor for Lenmar, Absolute Coatings, Timber Creek, Howell Flooring and BLC’s prefinished hardwood floors. For more information, call 770/948-3321.
Capitol and Premium Wood Floors (Totowa, N.J.) held a "Super Sunday" for its customers on December 2. The event kicked off with a keynote address from Richard Poirier of Dimension International (Loretteville, Quebec), followed by demonstrations and seminars by manufacturers including 3M, Absolute Coatings, Aerosmith Fastening Systems, Basic Coatings, BonaKemi USA, Bostik, Delmhorst Instruments, Galaxy Floor Sanding Machines, Graf Brothers, Missouri Hardwood Flooring, Powernail Company, ProTeam, Smith Flooring, Somerset Wood Products Inc., Stuart Hardwood Flooring, T.C. Dunham’s, Timbermate, Woodwise/Design Hardwood Products and UA Wood Floors.
People News
Christiaan Wienbock has been appointed president and CEO of
Scandian Industries (Virginia Beach, Va.), the parent company of
Scandian Wood Floors. Acting president and CEO
Paulo Scandian will direct the newly created board of directors.
WTM Exotic Wood Flooring (Pittsburgh, Pa.) has hired Stacey Fortuna as outside sales representative. She has more than 15 years’ experience in the flooring industry. Fortuna can be contacted at 412/696-9010 or at [email protected].
Samy Santa Flooring Depot has hired several new employees. Bryan Day heads operations and sales. He has 12 years’ experience, having previously worked for Hoboken Wood Floors. Day can be reached at 404/226-5686 or [email protected]. Jon Tatum is contractor specialist with 12 years of experience, and previously had his own flooring company. He can be reached at [email protected]. Paul Thompson is sales specialist. Thompson previously worked at Hoboken and Rubin Brothers, bringing 27 years’ experience. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Betty Ford is pro shop manager responsible for both the Duluth and Atlanta locations. Ford previously worked at Hoboken and has 18 years of experience. She can be contacted at 770/948-3321 or [email protected]. Pamela Rosenzweig leads customer service/marketing. Rosenzweig has 25 years’ experience, most recently with Marble Systems Inc. and Hoboken. She can be contacted at 770/948-3321 or [email protected].
Vecoplan LLC (Arcdale, N.C.), manufacturer of wood grinders and shredders, has promoted Jason Herndon from senior service technician to technical support manager.
Mark Your Calendar
The NWFA will hold its Wood Flooring Inspector School March 10-13 at its training facility in St. Louis. For more information, e-mail
[email protected] or visit
www.nwfa.org.
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) will host a one-day seminar, "Gaining a Competitive Advantage: Insights for Smaller-Sized and Startup Hardwood Manufacturers," at three locations in 2008: Princeton, W.Va., January 16; Ashville, N.C., March 24; and Williamsport, Pa., April 4. For more information, contact Ronda Oglesby at 301/430-6262 or at [email protected].
By the Numbers
New residential sales of single-family houses in October 2007 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 728,000 units, according to the
U.S. Commerce Department. This is 1.7 percent above the revised September rate of 716,000 units but is 23.5 percent below the October 2006 estimate of 952,000 units.
Remodeling activity held up well during the third quarter of 2007, according to the NAHB ’s Remodeling Market Index (RMI). Current market conditions increased slightly from 44.8 to 46.2. The future expectations measure was down slightly, at 43.3 from 44.6 in the second quarter.
Construction Outlook
FMI Corporation, a consulting firm to the construction industry, has released its "Construction Outlook: Fourth Quarter 2007." For more information, contact
Candace Robertson at 919/785-9359 or
[email protected].
In Memoriam
Lyle D. Middleton, founder and former owner of
Basic Coatings (Toledo, Ohio), passed away on December 1 after battling Parkinson’s disease for more than 10 years. He served as president and CEO of Basic Coatings’ parent company,
The Atlas Companies, in Des Moines until, due to health challenges, he transitioned to semi-retirement status in the late 1990s. "Lyle was one of those unique people who believed in other people. He was a true entrepreneur and true venture capitalist," says
Mike Sundell, former president of Basic Coatings. "He started things himself, but he wanted to be the man behind it, not in front of it; he let us run it. He was a tremendous person to work for." Middleton’s concern for others extended beyond his businesses; he and his wife Joan were also involved in many philanthropic causes and established the Lyle and Joan Middleton Center for Children’s Rights at Drake University’s Legal Clinic in Des Moines, as well as the Urban Education Program at Drake’s School of Education.
Correction
The previous issue of
Hardwood Floors’ E-news incorrectly stated that salesperson
Dan Harrison of
Kelly-Goodwin Company (Tukwila, Wash.) covered southern Oregon. In fact, he covers areas south of Portland, as well as the greater Salem area.
NWFA Member Services
The NWFA, in conjunction with the
National Association of Floor Covering Distributors, has released an Industry Futures White Paper. The report provides an update to the original Industry Futures White Paper that was published by
Indian River Consulting Group in 2002. The report provides an economic outlook for the industry, indicating that most companies are experiencing high-profile, single-digit to low-double-digit revenue declines. Some are doing much worse, and the report provides some analysis into the causes. The report also analyzes channel relationships, provides messages from distributors to their suppliers, discusses market segment positioning and revisits the 2002 white paper to see how the predictions of five years ago have played out. The 2007 Industry Futures White Paper can be downloaded at
www.nwfa.org. Click on the "What’s New" link on the right-hand side of the home page. For more informatio n, contact the NWFA at 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international) or by e-mail at
[email protected].