Previous Issues

Hardwood Floors E-News

From Hardwood Floors magazine and NWFA

 

Monday, February 11, 2002

Issue 178

Next issue published February 25

Deadline for items February 21

Send news to editors@hardwoodfloorsmag.com

 

NWFA Members Make a Strong Showing at Surfaces 2002

Despite recent world events, the wood flooring industry demonstrated its increasing impact on the floor covering market with a record attendance of 133 NWFA-member companies exhibiting at Surfaces 2002, held in Las Vegas Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Final attendance and booth totals for the show were still unavailable at press time, but NWFA-member exhibitors included:

 

3M Construction & Home Improvement, Abrasive Enterprises Inc., Absolute Coatings, Accra Wood Products, Advanced Adhesive Technology Inc., All American Wood Register, Alto U.S. Inc., Americana Hardwood Flooring, Amorim Industrial Solutions, Anderson Hardwood Floors, Appalachian Flooring Limited, Arcobel USA Corp., Ardex Engineered Cements/The W.W. Henry Company, Artistic Finishes Inc., Authentic Pine Floors Inc., Award Hardwood Floors/Trustor Coatings, Bamboo Hardwoods, Basic Coatings, Berry Wood Products, Best Value Flooring Inc., Boen Hardwood Flooring Inc., BonaKemi USA Inc., Bostik Findley Inc., BR-111 Imports & Exports Inc., Bruce Hardwood Floors, Buell Flooring Group, Cal-Flor Accessory Systems/Unika Australia, Capella Hardwood Flooring, Capitol USA LLC, CBT-USA Inc., Century Flooring Co., Chemcraft International Inc., ChemRex Inc., Colonial Millwork Ltd., Columbia Flooring, Country Wood Flooring Inc., Crain Cutter Company Inc., D & M Bamboo Flooring Co., DBM Import/Export, Delmhorst Instrument Co., DriTac Adhesive Group, Dura Seal/Fabulon, Evergreen Wood Products, Felix Huard Inc., Festool, Floor Style Products, Foresbec Inc., Franklin Intl., Gammapar.

 

        Also, Glitsa American Inc., Global Market Partners, GreenWood Products Co., Grill Works Inc., Hardwood Floors Magazine, Hardwood Industry Products, Harris-Tarkett, Hartco Wood Flooring Co., Historic Floors of Oshkosh, Homerwood Corp., Inland Wood Specialties, Janus Flooring Corp., Johnson Premium Hardwood Flooring, Junckers Hardwood Inc., Kahrs International Inc., Kentucky Wood Floors, Klumpp Coatings, L.R. McCoy & Co. Inc., Lauzon Distinctive Hardwood Flooring, Mannington Mills Inc., Mapei, Margaritelli, Medallion Hardwood Flooring, Mercier Wood Flooring, Mest American/Qingdao Big Artha Wood Working, Mintec Corp., Mirage/Boa-Franc Inc., Model Hardwood Inc., Mohawk Industries, Mullican Flooring, National Hardwood Flooring & Moulding, National Wood Flooring Association, Natural Cork Co. Ltd., Nikzad Import, Noblehouse Floors/Floorco, Nordstar Hardwood Flooring, Nova Distinctive Floors, Old Master Products, Oreck Corp., Owens Flooring Co., Panda Products Inc., Para-Chem Inc., Patina Old World Flooring, PermaGrain Products Inc., Pinnacle Interior Elements Inc., Plancher Mistral Inc., Powernail Company, Precision Technology LLC, Preverco, Primatech Inc., Prochem, Proknee, Pro-Team, Raimondi Tools USA, Rare Earth Hardwoods, Renaissance Old World Flooring Co., Robbins Premium Hardwood Flooring.

 

        In addition, Seneca Millwork Inc., Shaw, Shelman Swiss Hellenic, Smith & Fong Plyboo, Somerset Hardwood Flooring, Spotnails, Sun Paratech Hardwood Flooring, Sunshine Wood Flooring Inc., Synteko, Synthetic Surfaces Inc., Taylor Lumber Inc., TDR Enterprises, Tembec Inc., Tramex Ltd. c/o Black Hawk Sales Inc., Triangle Pacific Flooring Group, TSH Products Sdn Bhd, Universal Flooring, Universal Wood Products, Vintage Hardwood Flooring, Vintage Lumber Co. Inc., WD Flooring, W.F. Taylor Co. Inc., Wagner Electronics, WE Cork Inc., Wicanders Cork, Wood Flooring Intl. Inc., The Woods Co., Zipwall.

 

FSC Certifies Tennessee's State-Owned Forestland

All 158,000 acres of Tennessee's state-owned forestland is being certified under the Forest Stewardship Council as environmentally well-managed. Located in 14 sites across the state, the land represents the first major FSC certification of state land in the South.

 

By the Numbers

Sales of newly built homes hit a record high 900,000 units in 2001, up from 877,000 units in 2000, and sales for the fourth quarter as a whole were up by 3.5 percent from the third quarter of 2001, according to Commerce Department figures recently released. "The market for new homes ended the year on a high note, with a 5.7 percent increase to a 946,000-unit rate in December," said Bruce Smith, NAHB president. "That's the fastest sales pace since March 2001, and signifies a complete rebound to pre-recession activity levels."

 

People News

The Bostik Findley Flooring Group (Middleton, Mass.) has appointed Steven J. Lima technical service manager. Lima, who joined Bostik Findley's Automotive & Industrial Group in 1994 as an applications specialist, has been a technical service manager for the business since 1998. Responsible for expanding and managing technical support within the various flooring segments and assuring the technical accuracy of product information, Lima also will review and assist in the development of all new flooring products.

 

Two years after the creation of Nybron Flooring International Group, Ola Wilhelmsson has decided to retire and step down as CEO for NFI. Stefan Jacobsson has been appointed as Wilhelmsson's successor. Jacobsson previously held CEO positions in several companies, including Puma, Abu Garcia and Tretorn. He will start as CEO for NFI on Feb. 15, operating out of Zürich, Switzerland. NFI is Europe's largest wood flooring group, the company says, controlling the Bauwerk, Kahrs and Marty brands.

 

Heritage Forest Products (Deland, Fla.) has named Tina Boone wood floor specialist, covering the area from Jacksonville, Fla., to Savannah, Ga. The company is a distributor of wood flooring, plywood and lumber. Contact Boone at woodfloorlady@hotmail.com or 866/838-5236.

 

Gene Huntsinger has joined Biltmore Commercial Flooring (Asheville, N.C.) as project manager of the hardwood flooring division. Huntsinger is the former retail manger of Ryerson Hardwood Floors.

 

Manufacturer News

Powernail Company Inc. (Lincolnshire, Ill.) has presented James Duffek with its 2001 Salesmen of the Year Award. Duffek covers Illinois, Iowa, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The Powernail 2001 Sales Representative of the Year Award has been presented to Sam Elliott of Network Agency Sales. Elliott covers Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Texas.

 

The Hardwood Forestry Fund has honored Armstrong Wood Products Inc. (Addison, Texas) with the first Gifford Pinchot Award. The award honors a forest products company that demonstrates a strong corporate commitment to the environment through tree planting, sustainable forest conservation and environmental education.

 

The Kitsap County Public Works has declared TimberGrass LLC (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) a Distinguished Business in the Green. By meeting program criteria in the categories of waste prevention, recycling and buying recycled-content products, the company became a member of the Green Works program. TimberGrass, also an active member of the Business for Social Responsibility's Green Cargo and Green Freight task forces, follows the principles of The Natural Step program, which focuses on applying basic concepts of sustainability to build a company that is environmentally, socially and economically responsible.

 

Lumber Liquidators Inc. (West Roxbury, Mass.), Crossville Porcelain Stone and Mohawk will join forces with national television network DIY-Do It Yourself Network to present its new workshop, "Flooring-Wall to Wall," scheduled to premiere in the second quarter of 2002. The workshop, a five-part miniseries, will take viewers through all aspects of selecting, installing and maintaining new flooring for a home-remodeling project.

 

Back to School

The NWFA has announced its 2002 schedule for Factory Finished Wood Flooring Installation Schools. Designed to meet the needs of all skill levels, these schools will focus on providing hands-on training in the installation, maintenance and repair of different kinds of factory-finished products, including solid strip and engineered strip, as well as floating floors and parquet. Other installation methods to be addressed include nailing/stapling, gluing and floating.

 

The 2002 schedule is as follows:

        April 3-4       Fresno, Calif.

        May 15-16       Chicago, Ill.

        June 5-6        Houston, Texas

        Aug. 7-8        Philadelphia, Pa.

        Sept. 10-11     New Orleans, La.

        Oct. 16-17      Atlanta, Ga.

NWFA members can attend any session for $350, and non-members for $450. For more information, contact NWFA at 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/391-5161 (local and international).

 

Aacer Flooring (Peshtigo, Wis.) is holding its second annual gym floor sales and installation school March 19-21 in Green Bay, Wis. Topics to be covered include bid submittals, architect calls, specification changes, proper paperwork, slab prep, subfloor system installation, maple installation, and sanding and finishing. The school is for business owners, sales personnel and installers. For more information, contact Carmen at 877/582-1181.

 

Mark Your Calendar

The Forest Leadership Forum: Collaborative Pathways to Responsible Trade is scheduled for April 25-27, 2002, at the Cobb Galleria in Atlanta, Ga. Environmentalists, members of the forest products industry, retailers and buyers from around the world will highlight shared values and opportunities to promote trade in responsible forest products. For more information, contact the Certified Forest Products Council at 503/224-2205 or www.forestleadershipforum.org.

 

The National Association of Floor Covering Distributors (Chicago, Ill.) has announced its 2002 educational teleconference schedule. The first teleconference will be held Feb. 22 from noon to 1 p.m. EST and the topic will be "Managing the Impenetrable Account: How to Succeed with the Most Difficult Customers." The second will be held on March 22 at the same time and the topic will be "Mastering Your Most Powerful Sales Tool-Part 1: Using Questions to Better Understand Your Customers." More future seminars are planned for April 19, May 17 and June 21. The cost is $125 for NAFCD members and $225 for non-members (each additional location or phone line is $50 for members and $99 for non-members). For more information, contact the NAFCD at 312/321-6836, e-mail info@nafcd.org or visit www.nafcd.org.

 

Job Watch

National Hardwood Flooring and Moulding (Van Nuys, Calif.) is looking for a sales representative to take on the company's in-house flooring brand, Castle Hardwood Flooring. Interested candidates should send a résumé to 818/716-5665, e-mail info@nationalhardwood.com or visit National Hardwood Flooring's Web site at www.nationalhardwood.com.

 

Sunshine Wood Flooring Inc. (Flushing, N.Y.), a manufacturer of hardwood and bamboo flooring, is looking to hire a salesperson to cover the northeastern United States. Candidates must be self-motivated and have at least three to five years of experience in the hardwood flooring industry. Interested candidates should fax a résumé to 718/321-2660, e-mail sunshinefloor@yahoo.com or visit Sunshine's booth at the NWFA Wood Flooring Expo in April.

 

A national distributor is looking to hire independent sales representatives with a background in commercial and/or residential hardwood flooring sales. Interested candidates should have at least three years of experience with unfinished, prefinished and engineered flooring products. They must have contacts with commercial and/or residential builders, developers and architects, and they need to be ambitious salespeople with an excellent track record. Job incentives include a strong commission rate with a growing company. Interested candidates should send a résumé to Sales Representatives Applications, 7660 Fay Avenue # H253, La Jolla, CA 92037, e-mail ahfsurf@aol.com or call 888/781-3383.

 

Alan Blake is seeking a position as a sales manager. He was most recently national sales manager for the flooring division of Franklin International and was previously national wood floor sales manager for LDBrinkman/

 

Beaulieu Hard Surfaces. Blake may be reached at 303/432-2943 (office), 303/619-4685 (cell), 303/432-2945 (fax) or woodyalan1@aol.com.

 

NWFA Member Services

Mutual of America has joined the NWFA's Affinity Benefits Programs for members. To find a retirement plan that not only meets employees' needs, but also fits the company's budget, contact Mutual of America at 800/468-3785.