Issue Date:12/8/2008
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Issue Date:12/8/2008
UFloor Systems Inc. has relocated its corporate headquarters to Aurora, Colo., from Greensboro, N.C. The company recently held a grand opening and open house at the new 12,000-square-foot facility, from which all of the company's warehousing and business activities now take place. The new location has a product training center, product testing lab and machine parts and repair facility. The address is 14705 E. 33rd Place, Aurora, CO 80011. For more information, contact Mike Hodges at 720/374-4810 or [email protected].
U.S. Plank Flooring (West Portsmouth, Ohio) has been liquidated. An auction was held, and all of the business' assets were repossessed by its lender, according to a former U.S. Plank employee. Two of the company's distributors said their final dealings with the company were at the end of August. U.S. Plank representatives did not respond to inquiries for further comment.
Distributor News Crown Wood Floors & Supplies (Green Island, N.Y.) held a meet-and-greet event Nov. 20. About 100 contractors and guests were given tours of the company's new showroom and warehouse. Vendors on hand included Dura Seal, Basic Coatings, Glitsa American Inc., TC Dunham Paint & Coatings Inc., Norton Abrasives, Primatech Inc., Powernail Company Inc., Stanley Bostitch, Ideal Stair, Satin Finish Hardwood Flooring Ltd., Absolute Coatings Inc. and Bernie Tucker.
Van Millwork (Bellingham, Mass.) is now a distributor for Bruce Hardwood Flooring, Stuart Flooring Corp., Hawa Bamboo Flooring and BR-111 in the New England area.
Salesmaster Associates Inc. (Deer Park, N.Y.) has broken ground on a 40,000-square-foot distribution center in Chicopee, Mass., that will double the company's New England warehouse capacity. The company plans to have the facility operational by March 2009. The company's other distribution sites include Albany, N.Y., Woburn, Mass., Hartford, Conn., and Deer Park, N.Y.
Retailer News iFloor (Tukwila, Wash.) filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Thursday and closed some of its 36 stores Friday. Store employees first learned of the proceedings Wednesday. Several employees, who did not want to be named, said they were still working Thursday to ensure customers could pick up products for which they had already paid. The Seattle Times reported iFloor's estimated assets at $1 million to $10 million and liabilities between $10 million and $50 million, and also reported that the company eliminated 90 of its 150 employees. iFloor has until Dec. 19 to fully disclose its financial liabilities, however, the initial filing lists 20 creditors to which it owes more than $100,000, including Google, which is owed $386,000. Calls to iFloor's corporate headquarters were not returned.
By the Numbers Sales of new single-family homes were down 5.3 percent in October, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, and were 40.1 percent below the October 2007 rate. Sales reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 433,000, failing to surpass the revised September figure of 457,000. The median sales price for new homes sold in October was $218,000, while the average price was $272,300. Currently, the U.S. has an 11.1-month housing supply, with an estima ted 381,000 new homes available. In addition, October private residential construction spending fell 3.5 percent to $338.8 billion. In light of the most recent statistics, National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Sandy Dunn called on Congress to pass an economic stimulus package to "spur home buying and stem the tide of foreclosures."
Existing home sales fell 3.1 percent in October to a rate of 4.98 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This figure is 1.6 percent below the 5.06 million rate from October 2007. The median existing single-family home price was $181,800 in October, according to the NAR. This figure is down 11.2 percent from October 2007. Also, sales of existing single-family homes fell 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.43 million in October.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 10-city, 20-city and national home price indices all continued to decline through the third quarter of 2008. The U.S. National Home Price Index — which analyzes home values in all nine U.S. census divisions — declined 16.6 percent, while the 10-city and 20-city price indices declined 18.6 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively. These three indices and 13 of the 20 metro areas analyzed all reached record decline rates. Home prices are now comparable to 2004 figures.
On the Web Birch Creek Millwork Inc. (Terreton, Idaho) launched a new Web site at www.texturewood.com. It features product listings, a photo gallery and customer support features.
Mark Your Calendar The NWFA will hold an Intermediate Installation and Sand & Finish School Jan. 21-23 at its training facility in St. Louis. For more information, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.nwfa.org.
Job Watch Horizon Prefinished Mouldings Inc. (Bathurst, New Brunswick) is seeking a sales agent to represent Ontario and western Canada. Interested individuals should reply in confidence to: Horizon Prefinished Mouldings Inc., 1763 Miramichi Ave., Bathurst, NB E2A 1Y6; 888/708-2322 (toll free); 866/567-0860 (fax); or [email protected].
Dick Olesen, a wood flooring inspector and installer with more than 30 years of professional experience, is seeking employment in senior-level operations or training development in the Columbia, Mo., or St. Louis areas. Olesen can be reached at 573/289-4181 or 573/446-1151 (fax).
NWFA Member Services Managing your company's accounts receivables is one the easiest ways to improve your bottom line during a tough economy. NWFA members can improve their company's cash flow with CrossCheck Inc., a payment approval financial management service. With CrossCheck, NWFA members can reduce delinquent accounts and significantly decrease the occurrence of account write-offs. For more information, contact CrossCheck's Erin Keys at 707/586-0551 or [email protected].