Home Depot Adding Three Stores In Chile

Home Depot will open its first store outside Nortl'r America early next year in Santiago, Chile.

By 2000, Home Depot, working jointly with S.A.C.I. Falabclla, thc country's largest dcpartment storc chain, expects to open thrce stores, having selected two sites in Santiago and a third outside the city.

Home Depot, which will own 67olc of the venture, selccted Chile because of its stable government and economy and growing middle class. Last year, foreign investment in Chile skyrockeled 42Vo to $6. l7 billion.

Depot will develop a base of Latin American hardware suppliers and :r manascment team of- its own ancl

Chilean ernployccs, rvhile Falabclla will provide colnputcr svslcn)s. ii credit carcl operation, wtrehouscs and a lleet ol'trucks.

Although callcd Home Depots and staffed by employecs wearing tlrc trademark orange aprons, thc storcs could diff'er drastically insidc. sincc.

Ibr instance, Chilean homes usc morc bricks and stccl than wood.

As general lnanagcr of its Chilcan operations, Home Dcpot hircd Julio Campos. forrlerl,v un exccutive fbr Sodirnac, which doninatcs tlte Chilean honre improvement markct with more than.10 storcs up to 100.000 sc1. ft. and f'eatr.rring drivcthrr.r lumberyards.

Remodeling To Grow Steadily Over Next Decade

the stult ol thc decadc r.vhich continue to adcl to thc inclustrv's steucly growth, but run counter to the market forces prcvailing in thc 1980s. First, the mar-kct sharc of inrpr-ovcrncnts (adclitions, altcrations and ma.jor replaccnrcnts) has hcen nsing, l'r'orn 521 in 1990 to 6.17 in l9c)-5.

Sccond, thc grorvth in total remodeling cxpenditures since I9c) I can bc tracerl to activitv in orvncr-occupiccl propcrties.

Sawmill Sales Restructured

Hampton Lumber Salcs Co. Itas restructurcd the lurnber sales rcsponsibilities for the southern snrvnrill opcrations o1' ['r-ccision I-urrbcr Co.. Pollok. Tx.; Vance Lumbcr Co., Vancc, Al.; Ce ntret'illc Lumber Co.. Centrcville. Al., and Centrcvillc trcatin-u plant.

Hiinrpton's Portland, Or.. sales o1f'rcc u'ill handlc national account salcs by both rail ancl truck shipments, u'hilc its southern officc in Ce ntrcville wrll handlc regional sales to Alabama and Texas markets.

5(k trorn 199-5's $ i 12.6 billion to

The remodeling market will grorv saicl National Associiltion of Homc steadily over the next l0 years as thc Buildels cxccutive vicc prcsidcnt annual dollar volume spent on Kcnt Colton. "lt is expccted to surmaintenance and improvetnents 1rl pass ncw construction after 20()5." existing homes and apartrnents is Hc said renodcling activity' clirnbecl expected to rise 5% annually.

"By the year 2005, the rcmodeling $l 18.6 billion in 1996. market will rcach zrbout $ I t30 billion," T',vo trends har,e persistcd sincc

Sure-Wood Forest Products

Cornbincd, thc three rnills annually pnrclucc 120 million bcl. li. o1'souther.n yellow pinc.