Cellar's Market: Supplying materials for a dry, insulated basement can be a... More
Fortune Brands Inc.--the conglomerate whose home products include such names as Moen faucets, Aristokraft and Kitchen Craft cabinets, Therma-Tru doors and Simonton wndows--announced the planned spin-off of its home and security unit into a separate company will take place Oct. 3. More
The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association urged government agencies to reconsider proposed changes to the loan-to-value ratios for Qualified Residential Mortgages (QRM), arguing that the proposed revisions may prevent otherwise creditworthy consumers from qualifying for mortgages and refinancing on home purchases and renovations. More
Spending on home improvements is expected to remain unpredictable and weak over the next several quarters according to the Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), which was released by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) at Harvard University. More
The Home Depot launched its "First for Pro" program during the first quarter and improved professional satisfaction with the home improvement big-box retailer, according to company officials during today's first quarter earnings conference call. The program, designed to draw in more professional sales with faster service and easier check-out, was first announced during last December's shareholder conference. More
Fortune Brands--the conglomerate whose units include such home product lines as Moen faucets, Aristokraft and Kitchen Craft cabinets, Therma-Tru doors, Simonton windows, and Master Lock secuity products--reported that its Home & Security unit's operating income plummeted 74.6% in the first quarter from the year-earlier period to $5.7 million even though the unit's net sales grew 2.3% to $714.2 million. It also lowered its future growth forecast. More
Veteran LBM exec Don Magruder sees many foreclosed and abandoned properties in the Florida markets where he operates. While he found the properties to be poor physical shape, the paperwork and details regarding the foreclosures were even worse--from missing paperwork to unresponsive bankers. More
Fortune Brands-whose home product lines include Moen faucets, Aristokraft cabinets and Therma-Tru doors-announced that its home and security division posted an operating income of $43.4 million during the fourth quarter of 2010. The income is an $8.3 million increase from the $35.1 million operating income the division posted during the fourth quarter of 2009. More
Veteran LBM exec Don Magruder says recent research on business in his part of Central Florida shows lots of potential Projects are getting killed because banks are refusing to lend money for new-home construction, often for poor reasons. The federal government needs to push bankers back to the lending window, he says. More
