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January 13, 2010
Do you use Twitter? Get ProSales’ latest headlines even before they go live on our website’s home page. Just follow ProSales’ editor at http://twitter.com/craiglwebb In this issue...
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Nebraska-Based Builders. Becomes ProSales’ Newest Dealer of the Year
ProSales today named Builders., a diverse Kearney, Neb.-based LBM operation, as its latest Dealer of the Year. Founded in Kearney in 1977 by Myron Andersen, Builders. now consists of building material dealerships in Kearney and Grand Island, Neb., that serve a mix of professional and retail customers, a 100% pro-oriented yard in Denver, a countertop manufacturing facility in Kearney and a truss plant in Grand Island. At a time in which seven out of every eight building material dealers on the ProSales 100 are seeing sales shrink, Builders.' sales rose 12.8% to $44 million in the fiscal year ended last Sept. 30, and it projects another 10% gain in sales this year. Builders is featured as the cover story in ProSales’ January issue.
ProSales also created a video portrait of Builders., conducted by senior editor Andy Carlo. In it, you’ll meet Builders. owner Myron Andersen and see a number of the dealer’s operations.
cover story
Read Profile
Watch Video on Builders
Also in January’s Issue: Stock’s Successors, Vendor-Managed Inventory, Economic Forecasts
ProSales’ first issue of 2010 also includes these features:
• New Digs—Dealers who took over former Stock Building Supply locations are changing how business gets done. Story• Partial Clearing—Expect more building permits to be issued in most major markets this year, but the gains will be far from historic. Story
• Ante Up—ProSales’ latest survey finds dealers cautiously optimistic about their prospects in 2010. Story
• Standards Setters—Consultant Jon Davis tells how to keep standards high at your lumberyard even when morale is low. Story
• Under New Management—While the inventory dips to its lowest levels in recent memory, some dealers are pressing to cut stock costs even further by pushing for vendor managed inventory. Story
• Product Monitor: Decked Out—Sales of decks, both wood and composite, are reviving. And some major innovations are on their way. Story
• Editor's Notes: Any Port in a Storm—After going from bad to worse in 2009, there's comfort in forecasts that we'll go from bad to only slightly less bad in 2010. By Craig Webb. Editorial
• New Dimensions: Your Life and the B List—Even as you stretch your remaining staff — your A Team — to the limit, take the first steps toward rebuilding your workforce, Mike Butts says. Column
• Sell Sheet: The Write Stuff—Rick Davis recommends you boost your sales by embracing two communication tips. Column
• My Yardsticks: Laurie Vance—This dealer executive on California's north coast measures success in part through employee happiness. Profile
ProBuild Names New NE Region President; Former Boss To Focus on Market Development
ProBuild Holdings, the nation's largest LBM dealer, has appointed Russ Kathrein to the position of President of ProBuild's Northeast Region. Kathrein will oversee all aspects of ProBuild's business in the 16-state region. Kathrein will report directly to ProBuild president of market development Joseph Todd, who formerly held the Northeast Region presidency as well.
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Sponsor Video
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The 2009 ProSales Dealer of the Year Senior Editor, Andy Carlo, meets with Myron Andersen who was named the 2009 ProSales Dealer of the Year. Click here to watch. |
Rader's Edge: 10 Ways To Win in 2010
The best advice often sounds so much like common sense you can slap yourself for not doing it already. In his latest columnist, Chris Rader gives 10 such ideas and strategies to boost profits and make your customers and vendors happy.
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Is That Key Worker a Superstar or Tyrant? How To Spot the Difference
LBM finance expert Chris Cook thought he had a star on his team back when he coached a high school basketball team. He quickly learned otherwise. You might be facing the same situation at your lumberyard.
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ProSales Launches Showroom e-Newsletter
ProSales has launched a new e-newsletter for showroom managers and buyers at America's pro-oriented building material dealers. Each month, we'll bring you news and ideas designed to help you boost sales and get the most from your showroom operation.
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WebbThreads
• ProSales columnist Mike Butts has been named Stock Building Supply’s new director of installed sales. Butts is a longtime consultant. Previously, he was installed sales director for United Building Centers and a lumber association official. Stock also appointed Pete Hagenberger, a 23-year veteran of the company as its director of manufacturing.
• Tony DeCarlo, who retired Dec. 31 after 19 years as president of Lumbermens Merchandising Corp., has formed a consulting company, A.J. DeCarlo & Associates.
• Ten dealers spoke with Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., about a potential “Cash for Caulkers” program, the Northwestern Lumber Association (NLA) reported. Dan Fesler, chairman of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association, led the contingent. Dorgan “said he will make sure this is a plan not just for big-box retailers,” NLA reported.
• Siewers Lumber and Millwork recently was featured in an article by its hometown newspaper, the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch. The story said a solid tradition has helped the veteran dealer through hard times. Story
• Builder named ProBuild one of its 10 companies to watch in 2010. Story
• The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) has released a new set of forest management standards. More than 180 million acres of North American forest lands currently abide by SFI guidelines. Details
• Beazer Homes USA has expanded the number of “green” features that it includes as standard in its homes. Starting this month, every new home built by Beazer will include additional air sealing and framing techniques that allow for more insulation in the homes, denser insulation within walls and attic spaces, and energy-efficient low-e windows in every house at no additional cost to consumers. Story
• The Home Depot more than tripled to $1 million a scholarship fund it established in 2009 to support students attending professional building and construction trade schools. Story
• Home Value Interiors, the Fridley, Minn.-based retailer that built the fortune and public persona of businessman and former U.S. Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, is closing its doors for good. Story
Industry/Product Briefs
• Versatex Trimboards and FastenMaster have developed the Cortex Concealed Fastening System. A combined setting tool and drive bit countersinks the fastener into Versatex’s PVC trim.• Enduris added ironwood to its cellular PVC decking line. The new darker colo extends its Endeck line of low-maintenance decking.
• FehrMark has become the distributor of SunDeck Bamboo Decking and dimensional lumber in the mid-Atlantic region.
• CertainTeed Gypsum has become the exclusive sales representative for Green Glue noise-proofing products.
• Weyerhaeuser introduced Pro Series Lumber. “Weyerhaeuser's proprietary technology and quality control checks remove boards that have a greater tendency to eventually crook, twist or bow,” the company said. “The result is labor and material cost savings in the lumberyard and on the jobsite from reduced need to cull through piles of boards.”
Do you have a question, a tip, or a sage piece of wisdom? Feel free to contact ProSales' editor, Craig Webb, at cwebb@hanleywood.com.
And don't forget you can find previous ProSales Business Updates online!
PROSALES Business Update: a weekly e-mail newsletter with industry news for America's pro-focused building materials dealers.
To make sure you continue to receive our e-mails in your inbox (not in your bulk or junk folders), please add prosalesbusinessupdate@psl-media.com to your address book or safe sender list.
Hot Products
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