Western Red Cedar Lumber Association

Get Wlth The Program.. . Please

ll, HEN the federal government first became UU involved with the sale of pressure treated Iumber through the Consumer Awareness Program (CAP), manufacturers and wholesalers as groups quickly came into compliance with its regulations. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for all retailers.

A provision in the voluntary CAP program is inclusion of Consumer Information Sheets with pressure treated lumber invoices and loads. These sheets are divided into three sections: consumer information, use site precautions and handling precautions. Their design and layout follow a set form approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Despite initial concern that CAP would cause fear and loathing and reduce sales of treated lumber. such has not been the case to our know- ledge. Like so many federal finger wagglings, this has produced a consumer reaction that can best be called negligible.

So far so good. But, as it is a voluntary industry program! government said it would keep hands off only if all parties complied. Which is why it is essential for retailers to get with the program and use the Consumer Information Sheets as prescribed. Otherwise there is a strong likelihood that the federalgovernment - eagerly no doubt - will step in and transform the present voluntary program into one more cumbersome, expensive and time-consuming exercise in complying with federal law.

The solution is simple. Associations and suppliers have all the information needed to quickly and easily bring companies into compliance. Now it's up to the retailers to use it.

Home Depot Limits Expansion

Should a store considering expansion enter new markets or concentrate on regions in which it is already established?

The Home Depot strategy is entering only a few new markets each year, concentrating the majority of

Summer Marketing Promotions

Marketing ideas for curing the summer doldrums include having one of your employees telePhone real estate firms and the local Welcome Wagon representative for a list of residences recently sold and occupied.

Then, suggests the Lumbermen's Association of Texas, "target a welcome letter to them and list anY special items you have which a new home buyer might need to helP settle in." You also could offer them a d-i-y plansheet such as the one for a garden gazebo available from the Western Wood Products Association.

Along the same line, LAT recommends procuring a list of city residents currently listing their homes for sale. A letter explaining current tax rules for fixing up homes in anticipation of a sale can be sent to these homeowners along with a reminder that the store can suPPlY anY materials they may need.

After a customer sells a home, you can suggest that he recommend your store to the new owner since you can provide information about paint colors and other materials used in the fix-up.

Sheathing Market ls Bright

The future looks bright for residential sheathing products. Despite predicted drops in housing over the next several years, there will still be a demand for over 9 billion square feet of material.

Data from annual builder surveys show a growing sheathing usage since 1983, reaching a high of 9.6 billion square feet in 1986.

Although plywood is the major structural sheathing for house construction, waferboard and oriented strand board (OSB) have been increasing their market share for floor and roof applications.

new stores on filling in regions in which it has already established itself. To control the hazards oftoo rapid growth, management has a policy of limiting increasing stores by no more than 250/o each year.

A concentration strategy makes better use of marketing money, according to Ronald M. Brill, senior vice president and chief financial officer, because existing stores benefit from advertising dollars spent on promoting new stores.

But, says Bernard Marcus, chairman and ceo. "the maior reason The

Home Depot adds more stores to a region is to relieve the sales load on existing stores."

". we want to have an environment where the customer is treated properly," he said. "We get verY upset when we go into a store and we see tremendous lines at the registers. We get very upset when we see People waiting around to be helped because our people are inundated with customers. We're unlike other retailers. We don't want to squeeze every dime of sale out of everY store. "