March 10, 2010

OSHA Tells Hundreds of Dealers Their Injury, Illness Rates Outpace National Norm

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reported late yesterday that it has sent letters to about 15,000 workplaces--including 1,000 Lowe's and Home Depots plus nearly 350 pro-oriented LBM operations--telling them their injury and illness rates are considerably higher than the national average.
Story, Plus Map and List of Building Materials Facilities Cited

NLBMDA, Others Seek Delay in EPA Lead Rule

The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association and 11 other associations and institutions joined Monday in urging two Senate committees to seek a delay in the Environmental Protection Agency's Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) rule. They argued the EPA lacks the adequate preparation needed to enforce the change, and that if it did proceed, it could hurt the government's job-creating weatherization and retrofit programs
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April 2 Hearing Date Set for Stock's Bid To Acquire National Home Centers

A federal bankruptcy court has scheduled a hearing April 2 to consider a bid by Stock Building Supply to acquire National Home Centers, the Arkansas-based dealer that entered Chapter 11 last December and that last week reported its net loss for January increased nine-fold to $4.3 million.
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The ProSales 100 Survey Has Arrived!

This year’s ProSales 100 survey is online now, allowing you easier access and a quicker response time. Many of you have received a link to the survey via e-mail. Please follow the link to complete the survey and partake in this valuable yardstick that measures the nation’s premier building materials suppliers. If you haven’t received a link to the survey, please contact Senior Editor Andy Carlo at acarlo@hanleywood.com or at 845-337-4347. Word document versions of the survey are available upon request. ProSales requests that all surveys be completed by March 26. Results of the survey will be published, along with a comprehensive study, in the May issue of ProSales.
Not on This Year's List? Contact Andy To Get a Survey Form

Wood Advocates Aim To Blunt Composites, PVC Growth

Three wood-producing groups are stepping up joint and individual efforts this spring to promote natural wood decks and, they hope, stop market share increases by composite and PVC products. Meanwhile, the owner of General Woodcraft in Connecticut wrote an opinion column for ProSales that in effect dismisses composites, plastics, and even treated wood as optimal decking materials in favor of the tropical hardwood that his company sells.
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Steve Crook's Column

ProSales Asks: Are You Expanding Your Business Lines?

Kimal Lumber Co. of Nokomis, Fla., sees opportunity in this recession. When specialist companies left the market, Kimal started a drywall and metal stud division, partnered with a local cabinet and flooring shop, “and we’re considering getting into roofing,” general manager George Fishtorn says. Among the physical signs of its expansion was a new boom truck, pictured at right and named for company president Al Bavry. All this leads to a question: Have you also expanded into new business lines during this recession? Have you revived a product line that you dropped a few years ago? Tell me.
Tell Us: What Business Lines Have You Taken Up Lately?

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LMC Celebrates 75th Anniversary, Lauds DeCarlo

Lumbermens Merchandising Corporation (LMC) celebrated its 75th anniversary during its annual meeting in Salt Lake City last week and honored its recently retired president and CEO, Tony DeCarlo. John A. Somerville, who succeeded DeCarlo last October, told LMC members that the co-op "will continue to embrace the idea of strength in union" by providing top-level purchasing services that will help the members grow.
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Bison's Loss Deepens in January

Bison Building Materials, the nation's 14th-biggest LBM operation, incurred a net loss of $831,274 in January, its worst single month yet, in part because of stocking costs to replace defective merchandise—a supply of door slabs that delaminated. January's report pushed Bison's total losses to $4.2 million since the Houston-based dealer entered Chapter 11 last June 28.
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Chinese Drywall Update: Builders Burdened by Repair Costs

Legal action continues in the case of defective imported Chinese-made drywall installed in thousands of homes in Florida, Louisiana, Virginia, and other states. The second of several "bellwether" test trials will begin on March 15 in the Louisiana federal courtroom of Judge Eldon Fallon, where cases have been consolidated into a "multi-district litigation" proceeding. (COASTAL CONTRACTOR)
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Ask Your Showroom Managers To Get ProSales’ New Showroom Report, Join Our LinkedIn Group

ProSales has set up a website to serve as a home for showroom managers to get ideas on LBM showrooms, read relevant news and discuss concerns with other managers. It’s on LinkedIn, a networking site for business professionals. If you already use it, sign in and search for the “ProSales” group, then ask to join. If you’re not yet using LinkedIn, signing up is easy and free. The ProSales group page will be where we post stories, moderate discussions, and relay queries from fellow LBM managers. But please note: This page is for dealers only. Suppliers, distributors, and public relations folks will be denied entrance. That way, we hope the conversations will be focused and you’ll be able to speak freely.
• View March Showroom Report
• Visit ProSales' Group Page on LinkedIn
• How a Colorado Yard's Design Center Seeks To Attract Remodeling and Retail Shoppers
• How To Get Showroom Customers To Go Where You Want? These Pros Have Advice

Why Your Operation Needs the Margin Police

Every facility needs an enforcer who makes sure staffers abide by your yard's rules on pricing margins, veteran Florida LBM dealer Don Magruder says.
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Rader's Edge: Entertain Your Way To Profits

“Have you ever wondered why your competitors continually land business and you are not offered a chance to bid on a job?,” our exclusive website columnist, Chris Rader, asks. “The answer can be as simple as the lack of a good relationship with your customer. To remedy that, I recommend ‘Entertainment Selling,’ particularly a simple and cost-effective tactic I call the Casino Trip, to take price off the table.”
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WebbThreads

• The Lumbermen’s Association of Texas and Louisiana has named John Jones of Cassity Jones Lumber, Longview, Texas, as its Lumber Dealer of the Year and Bobby Crowley of Richardson Timbers in Dallas as its Associate Member Representative of the Year. They’ll be honored at LAT’s annual meeting next month in San Antonio. Robert Archer, owner of Morton Lumber in Borger, Texas, and Triple A Lumber in Amarillo, Texas, will become president.
• Ring's End Lumber has opened its ninth store, a 10,000-square-foot paint and design center in a shopping complex in Norwalk, Conn. Story
• Stock Building Supply hired Nigel Stobart as vice president of sales. Stobart was formerly senior vice president and chief operating office for Wire One Communications. Stobart replaces Sean Smith, who left Stock last November. Story
• ProBuild will open new locations in Orem, Utah, and Winchester, Va. , the nation's biggest LBM operation announced. Story. In addition, ProBuild named former Building Materials Holding Corp. executive Michael Mahre as its new senior vice president of corporate development. Mahre was previously CEO of Select Build, the construction services arm of BMHC. Story
• After 34 years in Boston, the Northeastern Retail Lumber Association is moving its 2011 EXPO to MGM Grand Foxwoods in Connecticut.
• I.N.R. Beatty Lumber has closed its Beecher, Ill., facility, a local newspaper reported. (See ProSales' lists of facility closures and openings.)
• The Sustainable Forestry Initiative program now has 2,000 chain-of-custody certified locations, SFI announced.

• Wolf will distribute Propex Operating Co.’s Opus Roof Blanket, a recently released new type of roof underlayment.
• TimberTech expanded its CONCEALoc hidden fastening system to include an L-bracket, router bit, replacement screws and gun pail.
• The American Rental Association formed an alliance with True Value to expand rental services and member benefits to co-operative’s retailers.
• Bilco’s Ultra Series Basement Door now features factory-installed hardware to reduce installation time. Brackets required for the assembly are now supplied on the individual door panels.
• AZEK Deck has launched a TV ad campaign shows off the company’s new, deeper colors.
• Kwikset introduced the SmartCode Lever, which opens when you input a personalized code.
• Railing Dynamics released its new Endurance vinyl clad aluminum Hand Rail.
• Nichiha added a new block panel selection to its line. The Nichiha EmpireBlock is made of fiber cement but looks like precast concrete.
• Enduris announced that three styles of its vinyl fencing meet Miami Dade County wind load requirements.
• Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. introduced several new products: two utility knives, a Rasping Jab Saw, and an 11-in-1 screwdriver
• National Gypsum introduced its first ready-mixed joint compound designed to reduce airborne dust by more than 60%.
• Versatex launched a new website to help explain its green policies and strategies.
• Osmose received a patent for its micronized copper technology for wood preservation.
• CertainTeed introduced four new decking and railing products through a distribution agreement with Fiberon: EverNew PT and EverNew 20 decking along with EverNew Spectrum and EverNew 20 railing.
• Liquid Nails Adhesive announced the availability of a new line of extreme temperature Subfloor and Deck Construction Adhesives.
• Advanced Environmental Recycling Technologies (A.E.R.T.) opened a new, polyethylene plastic film and packaging waste recycling facility in Watts, Okla.

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