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Brian Greber has been promoted to v.p. of sales & marketing for the southern lumber and plywood division of Weyerhaeuser Co., Hot Springs, Ar., succeeding Bruce Tate, who has retired.

Eric Vieria is gen. mgr. of the new Lowe's store in East Manatee. Fl.. while James Baker heads the new Guntersville. Al.. location.

Frank Fernandez has been named executive v.p., secretary and general counsel for Home Depot, Atlanta, Ga. Dick Hammill, senior v.p.-marketing, is retiring June 1 after 13 years with the company. New store mgrs. include: Tony White, west Oklahoma City, Ok.; Ken Pridemore, Live Oak (San Antonio), Tx., and Steve Bailey, Oak Ridge, Tn.

Brooke Edwards was named the December 2000 employee of the month at Lowe's. Vero Beach. Fl.

Mark Eggert has been appointed director of sales and marketing for Hurd Millwork Co., Inc.

Mark Allen, ex-Texas Wholesale Building Materials, is new to sales at Harris & Gee Millwork Sales Co., Nassau Bay, Tx., covering N. Tx., N. La., Ar., and Ok.

Melissa Miranda has been named marketing mgr. of the Southern Forest Products Association, Kenner, La.

Brian Cochran was named mgr. trainee of 84 Lumber Co., Haymarket, Va.

Greg Nowell, ex-Louisiana-Pacific Corp., is now with Industrial Sales, TuscaIoosa, Al.

Brian Schnabel, chief operating officer, has resigned from Tru Serv Corp. to join Newell Rubbermaid. Rob Liebgott has been promoted to TruServ's senior v.p.-sales, marketing, advertising and merchandising, succeeding Tom Fillpski and Frank Rothing, who have left the firm. Other promotions: Bill Godwin, senior v.p. of supply chain and business segments, and Michael Rosen, senior v.p.-logistics. Pamela Lieberman is now chief financial officer.

Dr. Bob Smith has been appointed director of the Center for Forest Products Marketing and Management at Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg, Va., succeeding Dr. Robert Bush who is now associate dean for research in the College of Natural Resources.

Maharaj Muthoo was named executive director of the Forest Stewardship Council.

Gary Farber was appointed ceo of Dunn Corp., Daytona Beach, F1., succeeding Sam Dunn, who remains president.

Jim Sobeck, president and ceo, Channelinx, Greenville, S.C., has been named chairman, succeeding Clarence Bauknight, 65, who has retired. Though Sobeck remains ceo. a new president will be named in the future.

Lindsay Crawford, v.p. of operations, Martco Partnership, Alexandria, La., has been appointed a trustee of APAThe Engineered Wood Association.

Richard "Dick" Fitzgerald, ex-Peachtree Door & Windows, has been named v.p. of sales and marketing for Nichiha Wall Systems, Atlanta, Ga.

Jim Tipton, president, Handy Hardware Wholesale, Houston, Tx., has been given the Lifetime Achievement Award by ProGroup.

Ursula L. Rogers has joined the Architectural Woodwork Institute, Reston, Va., as certification/membership coordinator. Rachel C. Fox is now administration asst. and receptionist.

Molly Boldt is new to the hardware department of Mungus-Fungus Forest Products, Climax, Nv., report owners Hugh Mungus and Freddy Fungus.

Depot Sprucing Up Stores

After more than 20 years as a "working warehouse" complete with wooden pallets in its aisles and beeping forklifts zigzagging the floors, Home Depot stores are getting a makeover, all under the watchful eyes of shoppers and Wall Street.

Mindful of injuries from fallen merchandise and customer complaints about cluttered aisles and uneven service, the chain launched its Service Performance Improvement program last year in six stores in Salt Lake City, Ut., and Florida.

The program, which has since been expanded to an additional 42 stores in the Atlanta region, prohibits employees from stocking shelves and running forklifts between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., the busiest shopping hours. The rules also apply to the roughly 100 Depot stores that operate 24 hours, although some smaller sales volume units can inventory until l0 a.m., and forklifts can still be used to fulfill a customer's needs.

To replenish the shelves, the chain has rearranged schedules and the duties of existing employees so they work early morning or off-hours at night rather than adding new personnel. In addition. all truck deliveries are now conducted during off-hours rather than during daytime.

Such changes comply with new ceo Bob Nardelli's plans to garner more sales from existing stores and rely less on expansion for future sales growth. The changes can also be viewed as an indication that store managers' independence is dwindling in favor of consistency, according to executive vice president of operations Larry Mercer. "There were no rules before," he says, noting that initial SPI results from the first six test stores indicate increases in same store sales and average customer amount.

Results such as these, if replicated nationwide, would certainly be sweet music to Wall Street, which no doubt is hoping the makeover will allow Depot's growth streak to resume after its recent first quarterly earnings decline in 15 years.

The retailer also has assigned 130 safety managers to monitor store operations, has created a safety-officer post and begun securing all topshelf merchandise to a pallet with plastic wrap to keep it from falling.

Depot's Blank To Retire

Home Depot co-founder and cochairman Arthur Blank unexpectedly announced his retirement effective May 30. Claiming he did not want to cast a long shadow over his successor, ceo Bob Nardelli, the former ceo said it was his decision alone to step down, adding that he had "tremendous confidence" in Nardelli.

Blank said, "A clean break made the most sense. I felt zero pressure."

Since co-founding Depot with Bernard Marcus in 1978, Blank, 58, has overseen its growth into the nation's #2 retailer, second to WalMart, with 1,149 stores in the U.S., Canada and Latin America.

When former GE executive Nardelli was named ceo in December, (see Jan., p. 17) some industry analysts expected Blank to remain active in the business for one to two more years. Blank, however, said it was imperative Nardelli be recognized as the sole leader in the organization, an issue not likely with Blank hovering in the background.

"People were spending too much time checking my temperature," Blank said. "Their loyalty and allegiance needs to be to the cuhure of the company, needs to be focused on one per- son as the essential leader, and that needs to be Bob Nardelli."

Nardelli, for his part, wasted little time assuming control, announcing plans to open 200 stores this year, down from the 225 previously planned. Some analysts viewed the shift as a negative sign, while others said it indicates the new boss is committed to cutting costs and boosting the efficiency of existing units.

The future for Marcus is uncertain, as he reaches the mandatory retirement age from the board in May 2002.

Uorres

Thomas Eastburn Addison, Jr., 80, retired owner, Addison Corp., Atlanta, Ga., died Feb. 8 in Atlanta.

A lifelong Atlanta resident and graduate of Emory University and Harvard Business School, he served in the Army during WWII before joining the family business. He ran the firm for years before selling it in 1985, retiring five years later.

He was president of the National Sash & Door Jobbers Association in 1966 and also was chairman of the National Association of Wholesale Distributors.

Ray F. "Duny" Sharp, Jr.,77, retired president, Ray F. Sharp Lumber Co., Memphis, Tn., died from a stroke Feb. 17 in Memphis.

A University of Memphis and Vanderbilt University graduate, he helped launch the family business in 1946 and ran it until he retired a few years ago.

He was chairman of the Lumbermens Clubof Memphis in 1963-

Eron Lonnie Brasher, 89, retired owner, Brasher Hardware, Bruce, Ms., died of heart failure March 3 in Bruce.

He owned the business for 54 years.

Jack Demange, 87, retired owner, A.P. Demange Lumber Co., Charleston, Ms., died ofcancerFeb. 28 in Charleston.

Olcie Berl Fowler, 84, retired coowner of the now-defunct Fowler Turner Lumber Co., Madisonville, Ky., died Feb. l0 in Madisonville.

A lifetime resident of Madisonville and graduate of the University of Kentucky, he was a captain in the U.S. Army during WWII and co-founded Fowler Turner Lumber in 1954 with the late Bob Turner. He operated the firm for over 40 years.

Lewis Mack, 72, founder, Lewis Mack Sales Co., Charlotte, N.C., died Feb. 17.

A native of Cramerton, N.C., he graduated from Appalachian State Teachers College and served in the U.S. Army prior to operating his business for 3l years.