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Scotty's has purchased singleunit, 10,000-sq. ft. Arrington True Value Hardware, Chiefland, Fl., the chain's first acquisition but reportedly not its last the company remodeled its Orange Park, Fl., unit and opened a new hardware store in Avon Park, Fl., with plans to add 13 hardware stores and 7 full-line stores in 1999 ...

Lummus Supply Co., Atlanta, Ga., agreed to acquire Parks Lumber and Building Supply, Murrayville, Ga.; J.C. Perry, mgr. of Lummus' Acworth yard, will manage the new Munayville location

Ply Marts, Inc. added lumber branches in Lake Oconee and Cartersville, Ga., and a new division, Easy Living Systems, Chattanoog4 Tn.

Capps Home Building Center, Moneta, Va., has relocated to a larger location in Stone Mountain, Va....

Homes Quarters Warehouse is remodeling 47 Builders Square/ H echinger's/HQ stores, including 23 in Tx., under the HQ name ...

Lowe's Cos. opened new stores in Morehead City, N.C., Andy Leggette, store mgr., and South Lexington, Ky., plus a 150,000-sq. ft. replacement store in Dothan, Al., Jeff Blocker, store mgr., while closing a smaller unit in Kinston, N.C., after determining the market was too small to support a superstore Lowe's anticipates closing its purchase of Renton, Wa.based chain Eagle Hardware & Garden late in the first quarter ...

Lowe's will open a 150,000-sq. ft. replacement store in Lumberton, N.C., in the fall; broke ground for a 150,000-sq. ft. unit in Wilkesboro, N.C.; plans a 160,000-sq. ft. superstore in Richmond, Va.; is seeking rezon- ing to build in Cookeville, Tn., and is considering sites in San Antonio, Tx. Lowe's Charitable Foundation donated $7,500 to "Christmas in Wilkes," which provides gifts and clothing for needy children ...

Home Depot opens new locations Feb. l1 in Decatur, Al.; Copperfield, Tx., and McAllen/ Pharr, Tx., and Feb. 18 in North Knoxville, Tn. the chain plans a spring opening in Gainesville, Ga.; reportedly is considering sites in Summerville, S.C., and abandoned efforts to secure a Cave Spring, Va., site for a 130,000-sq. ft. store, although it still is determined to open a second store in the Roanoke Valley ...

Home Depot has purchased the leases for six former Builders Square units in South Florida; Delray Beach and Lantana will reopen in early March, and Pinecrest (Miami) and Coral Springs in the summer, while the other 2 sites will be leased out ...

Pelican Cas., Conway, S.C., completed its merger with BSL Haldings, Dallas, Tx.

McCoy's Building Supply Centers is remodeling its Tomball (Houston), Tx., store, expanding it from 18,0OO ro 20,000 sq. ft.

Wrorrsru:rs/thrurrcrunEns

Willamette Industries has completed construction of an I-joist and LVL plant in Simsboro, La. ,..

TruServ Corp. plans to close its Greenville, S.C., DC in July

Camden Hardwood Products, Camden, Tn., has purchased the kiln and yard processing facilities of Camden Hardwood Co.

Louisiana-Pacific Corp. has relocated its New Waverly, Tx., lumber sales location to Conroe.

Tx., and plans to reopen its Urania, La., plywood plant shut down Nov. 25 ... L-P agreed to pay about $225 million for ABT Building Products Corp, Neenah, Wi., producer of paneling, exterior hardboard and vinyl sidings and accessories, plastic mouldings and specialty building products

Plum Creek Timber Co., L.P. has sold approximately 4,75O acres to the Nature Conservancy of Louisiana for $8.7 million; th-e tract will become part of the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge...

Morgan Products, Ltd., Williamsburg, Va., agreed to buy millwork distributor ADAM Wholesalers, Inc., Cincinnati, Oh.

Deltic Timber, El Dorado, Ar., plans to repurchase up to $10 million of its common stock...

Thermoview Industries, Louisville, Ky., acquired fellow vinyl window producer Thomas Construction, St. Louis, Mo.

Nascor Inc. has signed its 16th I-joist mfg. licensee, James Jones & Sons of Scotland ...

Spruce Computer Systems, Inc. has acquiredAnasys, Inc. ...

Do it Best Corp. opened a Southeast regional LBM office in Lexington, S.C., serving Fl., Ga., N.C. and S.C., overseen by Tom Molloy, Eastern lumber & building products sales mgr.

MacMillan Bloedel upped its ownership in the Eagle Forest Products Ltd. OSB mill in Miramichi, New Brunswick, to nearly 90Vo, baying out partners Temple -l nland F ore st P roducts, Chatham Forest Products and Stone & Webster Canada for about $30 million...

Magla Products, Inc. is now marketing its entire line of work gloves under the Stanley name

K imb erly -C lark Co rp., Dallas, Tx., agreed to sell its Southeast timberlands and related chip, pole and mulch businesses, including

529,000 acres in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee, to investment firm Southstar Timber Resources, LLC; as part of the deal, Southstar will then supply wood to Kimberly-Clark's Mobile, Al., pulp mill until the facility permanently closes in September...

National Gypsum Co., Charlotte, N.C., agreed to purchase Unifix Inc.'s cement backboard business, with plants in Green Cove Springs (Jacksonville), Fl., and Bromont, Quebec, Canada

Westlake Group, Houston, Tx., has sold the assets and inventory of Westech Building Products' siding business to Kaycan

Cooper Industries, Inc., Houston, Tx., plans to cut 1,000 jobs (3.6Vo of its workforce) and close 12 of its 110 plants, consolidating operations in lower-cost facilities, such as in Mexico

Cooper has acquired Mexico City tool manufacturers Diss/an Co. de Mexico, S.A. de C.V., and Metromex, S.A. de C.V., plus the remaining 5l%o-interest from its joint venture partners in Columbian file and saw blade maker Empresa Andina de Herramientas, S.A....

Nanral Cork Ltd. Co., Augusta, Ga., has enlisted Bostik as exclusive distributor of its sound control underlayments

Melpa, Inc. and Alfit have merged their North American drawer system operations into Melpa-Alfit, High Point, N.C. ...

MacMillan Bloedel, Pine Hill, Al., donated $20,000 worth of lumber and plywood to help rebuilding efforts in Honduras following Hurricane Mitch; Southeast Wo od P re s e rving/Georgia- P ac ffic contributed treating services

Anniversaries: Ames Lawn & Garden Tools, 225th Lofland Co., Dallas, Tx.,65th ... Peachtree Doors and Windows, Norcross, Ga., 40th Richard Landry Lumber Sales, Inc., Alexandria, La.,25th...

Housing starts in Dec. (latest figs.) climbed 3Vo to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.72 million ... single family starts slipped l%o to 1.357 million; multifamily starts were at a rate of 4O,000 for 2-4 units and 323,000 for 5+ units ... permits jumped 47o to an annual rate of 1.723 million a preliminary estimate of 1,615,600 housing starts for 1998 is lUVo over 1997's 1,474,000.

Remodeling Keeps Rising

The remodeling industry should reach $135 billion in 1999, up $5 billion from 1998 and $10 billion from 1997 , predicts the National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

The association expects remodeling to hold strong well into the next millennium. "An increase in the number of people owning their own homes, a shift in population, an aging housing stock and a healthy economy all add up to a strong future for the remodeling industry," says NARI president Andrew Gateriewictz.