French Shows Have A Lot To Offer

Building products retailers who dismiss foreign trade shows as mundane with no application to their business in the U.S. are missing an op- portunity to explore new thinking and innovative products.

The do-it-yourself movement is not limited to America. As technology shrinks the world, people in all countries tend to experience similar trends. For example, France reports renovation gaining an increasing share of the market with a rapidly expanding d-i-y sector, certainly a parallel to the U.S.

Any provincialism on the part of your customers in their acceptance of foreign products for their homes has faded or is fading rapidly. Witness the popularity of the European style kitchen cabinets, appliances and faucets. Perhaps the influx of foreign cars has had an influence, but most Americans associate high fashion and reliabitity with products from Europe.

In many ways merchandising in the European home centers and the abundance of innovative d-i-y products surpass this country. Home automation, or "la domotique," as the French call it, embraces new ma-

For Your Calendar

Quojem - Sept. 22-25,1991

Batimat - Nov. 12-19, 1991

Expobois - March 1992 terials and new uses of spatial dimensions and using new technologies to enhance the comfort and convenience of those living in the house.

All these shows are world class exhibitions held in Paris, France. Quojem deals with d-i-y products and distribution. Batimat covers building and building products and systems. Expobois concentrates on wood, wood products and applications.

Make your ad work harder-use reprints of your ad or articles from Building Products Digest as part of your company's marketing program.

The low cost promotion pieces can be used as direct mail sales tools, trade show handouts, leave behind pieces, product announcements, for staff education, etc.

Cafl for quotes: (714) 852-1990. Buildino ^Produc:ts

Automatic programing of lights, blinds, appliances, watering and security are augmented with a system that monitors the cost of utilities, allowing them to be programed to a particular cost level, contacts with the outside such as armchair shopping and an ability to book and purchase tickets for concerts, plays and sporting events from home. The concept is perhaps ahead of our Smart House.

New materials and changes in traditional materials are an important part of an overseas trade show. For example, considerable progress has been made in synthetic materials for piping, kitchen and bathroom fif tings, joinery and such. Composite materials and fiber reinforced materials also have attracted the attention of builders in Europe.

Building products shows, whether they are held in Spain, England, Scandinavia or France, attract a large and international audience. Batimat, which is held in Paris every two years, grows each year with 607,905 visitors registered at the last event. Attendees came from the Continent. Central and South America, the Orient and North America.

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Obituaries

0.8. "Teddy" Fowler, co-owner. secretary and treasurer of l;owlerTurner Lumber Co., Madisonville. Ky., died June 24, 199l. in Madisonville.

Born in Elk Point. S.l).. she helped found the company in 1954 with her husband and Robert F. Turner Jr., whom they later bought out.

Mrs. Fowler is survived by her widower, Burl, one daughter. two sons and seven grandchildren.

and 24 prospectivc ntenrbers and enrolled lour new ntentbers wilh l0 potcnlial new ntcntbers.

0khhomr YounS l,umbermen held their first annual sunlnler olyntpics at Ronran Nose Resort Park. l:vents for the entire fanrily plus a fanrily cookout wcre offered participants at the July l920 event.

Mid-America l,umbermens Associstion will conduct a West Coast ntill tour Sept. 22-27.

billion pounds in 1995 ... North American Wholesale Lumber Associalion members had 1990 sales of $10.43 billion, a l.loh increase over 1989...

Southem Asoclatbn ilewr ((bntinued./'rom page I 9) rialmcn nnd subc<lntract<lrs. Without thcir prcscnce. thcrc would bc no lien laws. hc said. lllt-22.1 supportcd by IIMMA passed cffective July l. 1991. Now when a lien is filcd. il copy must be sent to cither the owncr or conlrnctor. lll]-528 provides as ol July l, 1991, rcntal companies will have lien rights: ns ol'Jan. l, 1992, licn waivcrs in ndvance o[ furnishing materials will be prohibited: only interim waiver and final lie n waiver can be used; lenders may not coercc suppliers and subcontractors into signing waivers that give up luture rightst lien waivers become effective contingent upon lien claimant recciving payment. lJecause of the sale's success, lhey plan to repeat it in the spring of 1992. lloland-Maloney, Wimsatt llrothers, Lumbermen's Wholesale, Ohio Valley I)istributing and Adams Wholesale were among the companies participating in the June I event.

IIMMA will conduct a semintr in thc fall to tull)'cxplain the lien law changes.

Kentucky l,umber & lfuilding Material Dealers Association reports selling $43,000 worth of merchandise at its first annual auction in Louisville.

M ississippi Building M aterial Dealers Association executive director Willianr Lee Russell reports that business is looking great and that he has found a positive outlook and attitude anrong the dealers he has visited. "l ant convinced that with a good positive attitude, a better econonry and a break in the weather, all of us can and will have a fantastic last six ntonths this year," he says.

At the tinle of this report, Russell had visited 78 firnrs, 54 current nrenrbers

Visits to Weyerhaeuser's (ireen Mountain location, llanel Luntber Co., Ochoco Luntber Co. and I)AW l'-orest Products Co. are planned. In addition, participants will visit Mount St. Helen's to observe the progress of the I 8 ntillion lrees planted since the eruption. Other stops: Bonneville l)ant, a fish hatchery and Tinrberline Lodge on Mount l{ood, Portland, Or. lnfornration is available front Nancy Nolf at 800-747-6529.

Bosses' Salaries Mostly Up

Annual pay for some of the top U.S. forest products companies' chief executives climbed 6.70lo last year, though there were pay cuts as well as raises at the lumber-related giants, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Pay (including salary, bonus and long-term compensation) in 1990: John B. Fery, Boise Cascade, $693,000 (down 320lo from 1989); Andrew C. Sigler, Champion International, $1.24 million (+loln); T. Marshall Hahn Jr., Georgia-Pacific, $1.5 million Gl2o/o); John A. Ceorges, International Paper, $2.03 million (*l0o/o); Harry A. Merlo, Louisiana-Pacific, $2.06 million (*l3olo); Roger W. Stone, Stone Container, $1.36 million (n.a.); John A. Luke, Westvaco, $983,000 (*40/o); George H. Weyerhaeuser, Weyerhaeuser, $1.105 million (*40/o)l William Swindells, willamette Industries. $554.200 (*70/d.

News Briefs

(Continued from Page 16)

Kitchen Cabinet ManuJ'acturers Association members' sales have decreased I I .80/o this year

. demand for plastics in construction markets is projected to increase 3.60lo annuallv to 14.5

Contributions: Lowcis, Boone, N.C., $5,000 to the Watauga Hospital Foundatiotr regional cancer center: tJ4 Lumber, Falnlouth, Va., and Lowc"s, l'redericksburg, Vo., rebar and ties for Ferry Farm, (ieorge Washington's boyhood honre. , Country Living's June issue featured an 1870 saltbox home in Fredericksburg, Va., with a southern pine shake roof. the work of the Southern Pine Markclitrl4 Council and Superior Shakes ol'Texas. .

Hardwood .llooring shipnrents for residential use junrped from 69.91 bf per housing start in 1985 to 172.04 in 1990, not including plank or parquet flooring.

ly'li Chances are, we're in your own backyard!,r"'fir".r

In fact, we're right down the road, too.

So when you need fast, etficient service for your litt trucks... or need to expand with new equipment...

Call the people who know them best:

We'll see to it that productivity is stacked in vour favor.

More for less than you think. STEWART & STEVENSON

Northern Texas 214-631-8218

Southern Texas 713-671-6300

DEEP SOUTH EQUIPMENT WRENN HANDLING BRUNGART

Mississippi. 601-939-9655

Southern Louisiana

.. 504-254-2700

Northern Louisiana

.. 3t8-226-1640

Georgia .404-987-7666

East Tennessee & North Carolina. 704-588-1300 South Carolina. 803-796-7300

EQUIPMENT

Alabama. 205-951-1302

Florida 813-623-6700

BGM EQUIPMENT SALES

Kentucky. 502-774-4471

PHILLIPS MACHINERY

Oklahoma. 918-836-8851