NEWS BRIEFS

Sunbelt Co., Greenville, S.C., has acquired Stegall Builder Mart's Marshville, N.C., store as its second Grffin Lumber Co. location, Frank Sikes mgr.; Stegall and Griffin both have sites in Monroe, N.C. ... Mill Creek Lumber & Supply, Ttrlsa Ok., is opening a 30,000 sq. ft. design center in South Ttrlsa

Ocean Builders Supply, Chincoteague, Va., has closed ... Smith Phillips Lunber, WinstonSalem, N.C., is remodeling, adding a 15,000 sq. ft. door & window center ... McGinnes Lumber has opened a Brooksville, Fl., satellite yard

B ui.lde r s M arket, Knoxville, Tn., has moved to a new 30,000 sq. ft. building in Farragut, Tn. ... Henson Timber Products Supply, Forest City, N.C., is adding a 1,500 sq. ft. carpenter shop and 6,500 sq. ft. lumber shed ... Home Quarters Warehouse conducted a two-day "mass hire" to fill 200 positions at its HQ Plus store to open this month in Norfolk" Va.

Scotty's plans a 40,000 sq. ft. location in Bartow, Fl.; will soon open a 75,700 sq. ft. store in Lakeland, Fl.; held grand openings for newly remodeled Okeechobee and Lake City, Fl., units; closed its full-line store in Macon, Ga. (the small hardware store remains open), and will move its Punta Gorda, Fl., location to a slightly larger,60,000 sq. ft. building; gen. mgr. Ernie Hansen anticipates an Aug.21 opening

Inwe's Cos. has acqire.d 21.4 acres in Vonore, Tn., to build a 60,000 sq. ft. lumber reload center; opened a new store in Monroe, N.C.; added 20,0001 sq. ft. to its garden center at Asheville, N.C.; broke ground for a 85,000 sq. ft. replacement superstore in

Morehead City, N.C., to open in late summer; plans a 150,000 sq. ft. superstore in Cartersville, Ga., and a 163,417 sq. ft. store in Gul&ort, Ms., and closed a small, older store in Prattville, Al., and a contractor yard in Charlottesville, Va....

Builderway, Greenville, S.C., added a satellite yard in Vlraynesville, N.C. (Chuck Truex mgr.), to support its Asheville, N.C., location ... Taylor's Do-it Center closed its Virginia Beach Blvd., Virginia Beach, Va., store and opened a new store on General Booth Blvd., with a March 4 grand opening

Home Depot opened replacement stores in Dallas, Tx., and St. Petersburg, Fl., a new store in Gastonia, N.C., and its first of three locations planned this year in Birmingham, Al.; Depot submitted plans for a new 162,688 sq. ft. store in Jacksonville, Fl., and will build a 135,000 sq. ft. Expo Design Center, its 4th, this fall in Dallas...

E.L. Spencer Lumber Co. opened a new millwork shop, Auburn Millwork, Auburn, Al. Guthrie Lumber Sales, Austin, Tx., added a Prosper, Tx., distribution center ...

Combs Co., Irxington, Ky., has taken on the name of parent Hwtig Sasft & Door Vistawall Architectural P roducts, Dallas, Tx., opened a 15,000 sq. ft. DC in Tampa Fl.

Anniversaries: Dallas Vrlnlesale Builders Supply, Inc., 4oth; Lumbertnan's Unde rv, riting Allianrce, BocaRaton, Fl., 90th

Chemical Specialties Inc., Charlotte, N.C., has acquired P o I eC are I ndustri e s, Conyers,

Ga., now known as the PoleCare Div. of CSI headed by David Eggleston ... Shemtin-Williams Co. has purchased all outstanding shares of FLR Paints, Inc., Bradenton, Fl., from the Caruso family...

Little Giant Pump Co., Oklahoma City, Ok., has acquired an 85,000 sq. ft. bnitding adjacent to is manufacuring plant to use as a shipping facility ABTco will constnrct a $5 million chipping installation at its Roaring River, N.C., siding plant

Wood Treaters, fzc., Rocky Point, N.C., has changed its name to Tiu* Fab, Inc., Tom Lippincott pr€s. Langboard /nc., Quitman, Ga., has installed a new paint booth, log handling system and side trim saws

R.E. Prince Lumber Co., Shuqualak, Ms., suffered a $2 million welding fire that destr,oyed its sawmill; due to insufficient insurance coverage, pres. W.H. McCann may not be able to rebuild ... Bois-Asi/ de Montdal Inc. has moved its USA wholesale lumber sales office frorn Needharn, Ma, to Naples, Ft.

G eoryia- Pacifrc has Seryorarily closed or cut back qerations at 2l southern pine sawmills in the South (see story p.20) and will spend about $20 million to upgnde its Et Dorado, Ar.,lumber mill to raisc log yields and lower production costs; G-P has reopened the forrner Roxboro, N.C., Arrowood plant, converting it to LVL and wood l-beam production and nearty tripling capacity ...

Willamette Industries plans to increase the capacity of its Malv€,m, Ar., MDFplmtby about 30% ... Weyerhaeuser Co. sold 60,000 acres of timber for nearly $20 million to John Hancock MwualLife htsurancc Co.

Housing starts in Jan. (latest figures) fell 9.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.38 million; single-family starb plummeted 12.3% to the lowest levels since June 1993; stara fell in all regions, including an 8.6% drop in the South.

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