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Willlaans Brotlwrs, A0ant& Ga., opened e new 70,000 sq. ft. rloor, wlndow & mlllwork shoo Seot. l. ChuckMooney mgr. Iiechingei wlll close stores ln Norfolk and Virglnta Beach, Va., withln the monfh (see story p.24) ...

Scotty's, Cape Coral, Fl., has expanded to 38,000 sq.tt. ... MidSouth Lumber, Bowltng Green, Ky., has purchased Rogers Lumber, Bowllng Green, ftom Robert Hunt

Builders Square, San Antonlo, Tx., has completed an extenslve renovatlon of its Crossroads Blvd. store and opened a new store on U.S. Hwy. 281 in addition to scheduling replacement locations for two other stores ...

Iawe's, which will open a new unit in Manassas, Va., this fall, has stores under construcdon in Danville, Va., Summerville, S.C., Paintsville, Ky., Rock Hill, Lincolnton and RoctCngham, N.C. Woodbridge and West Richmond, Va., Columbia , West Columbia, Anderson and Florence, S.C., and East Asheville, N.C., relocation stores opened ... Lebanon, T[., and Midlothian Pike, Va., units closed ... a site is under consideration in West Ashley, S.C.

Home Depot is buying 21.2 acres in Vinings, Ga., for t demonstration store and office space a Decatur, Ga., Depot will open in Nov.; a Rock Hill, S.C., unit and a Tampa, Fl., relocation site opened with a Merritt Island, Fl., redevelopment district store possible construction has started on a new Pensacola, Fl., unit...

IQthy & MarJoe Grlm, owners of Faimiew Lttnber Co., Falrvlew, Ok., acquired Fairview Coast to Coast,rtore from JoAnn Gooch, moving lt to a new location on Matn St. ,.. Ace Lumber Co,, Klngflsher, Ok., had a llqutdatlon aucdon tn July

Ridout Lumber Co. opened a new showroom and sales floor ln Batesville, Ar., Randy King mgr. George Keeter changed Cleburne County Lumber Co., Heber Sprlngs, Ar., to Cleburne Comty Building Center

Marietta ltmber Co,, Marleta, Ga., is liquidating its inventory and scaling back operations ... West End bnber Co., Houston, TX., recently lost a warehouse to ffre ...

Anniversari es: Hoo-Hoo International,l00th; vetter, part of sNE Enterprises, a Ply Gem Co., l00th; Iowe's, Charlottesville, Va., 26th; ProfitMaster Cornp uter Systems, /nc., Austin, Tk., 10th

Burns, Morris & Stewart, Nacogdoches, Th., has added an 18,000 sq. ft. warehouse/mfg. fa- cility Timber Tech, San Antonio, Tx., is now a wholesale distibutor of Willamette Glulam Beams .,. Evans Innber Co.,Waverly, Va., eliminated five management positions in a recent restucturing ...

Ize Roy Jordan Redwood l-umber Co. initiated a reload and storage service at its BN-served Houston, Tk.,locuion Triplett Lumber Co., Damascus, Va-, donated a new refrigerator to tllre National Hardwood Lumber Association Inspection School's lunchroom

Phe Forcst ltmbcr, Sotilh&ld, Ml., opened s Grcensboro, N.C., branch managed by Erl Aver ... McShanhnbcr Co., McSlrrn, Al., wlll complete Instslledon of a &op sort€r on the dry slde of the kiln dryer rcxt month ... S&W Wood Products, I treatlng plant, was opened near Savurnah, Ga., by Marshall Wllllams, Jr., and Thomas Sallors, Jr.

ProfitMaster nrow has dlrect purchase order communlcatlons from fts system to HwI, Ace, Handy Hardware Wholesalers, SemiStar and Orgill Bros. ,., Jim Walter Interaational Sales Corp., Tampa, Fl., opened a 5,000 sq. ft. distribution warehouse in Northwest Miaml, Fl., to serve South Fl. and Ladn America

Weyerhaeuser Co. outbid Georgia-Pacific fot $600 mtllion of pulp mills, sawmills and timberland ftom Procter & Ganble, including about 175 acres of Georgia timberland; analysts say tlrls makes Weyerhaeuser the world's largest producer of wood pulp

Hardware Wholesalers, Inc. signed an agreement with Alliance Ro-Na Home,Inc. through Home Hardware Stores Limited, St. Jacobs, Ontario, nd Iz Groupe Ro-Na Dismat, Boucherville, Quebec, to develop purchasing prog[ams with manufacturers and mutual marketing/operation programs ...

KNSW Acquisition Co.n LP., an affiliate of Kohlberg & Co., New York, N.Y., has acquired a majority interest in Northwestern Steel and. Wire Co., Sterling and Rock Fall, n., and Houston, Tk.

Although housing starts dropped 2.8Vo in July (latest figs.) to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,119,00 new homes, the South increased housing starts 0.47o apartment permits leaped 36.6Vo with permits for home construction increasing 3.7Vo ... economists, who had predicted a moderate improvement, said that housing will probably follow rather than lead the economy back to strength.

Southern Pine Production Up

Although southern pine lumber production has reached a five-year record high and may be poised to make 1992 the brightest year in the industry's 77 year history, the Southern Forest Products Association board of directors has voted to reduce dues.

A cut of 3A Wr thousand board feet was approved. Dues for active members willbe reduced n370Wr Mbf on the frst 3oMMbf.

Over 12 billion board feet of southern pine lumber has been produced annually for a record five years. New forecasts indicate that southern pine lumber production may push 14 billion board feet this year. If forecasts are corect, increased production of at least one billion board feet could generate about $300 million in additional southern pine sales in 1992, compared to 1991.

The unexpected has become routine for the industry. When housing starts dropped to a 46 year low in 1991, southern pine registered its fifth straight year of production over l2billion board feet. While demand for lumber from the western U.S. and

Canada is holding steady or declining, lumber capacity in the South may climb to a projected 16.9 billion board feet by 1996, a 25Vo mqeare.

Many industry observers credit at least part of this growth to the SFPA Marketing Marathon now entering its eighth year. By stimulating more demand for diversified, value-added products, it has reduced dependence on framing lumber for home building. This has helped lift southern pine lumber above the traditional ups and downs of housing stafrs and increased demand from industrial, remodeling and non-residential markets.

Strong Home Center Growth

The total home improvement products market for 1992 will grow 8.87o over 1991, 1Vo in 1993 and 6.7Vo in the next five years culminating with $141 billion in sales in 1996.

A report for the Home Improvement Research Institute projects the consumer market for home improvement products will grow 9.17o in 1992, compared with 5.17o growth projected for total retail sales. Pro- fessional remodeler sales will gain 8.24o and l0.6Vo over the next two years with a five year growth of 7.97o, reaching $47.7 billion in 1996.

Lumber and building materials are projected to grow faster than hardware/tools and paint/supplies lines. Annual average growth rates for the next five years are: hardware, tools and plumbing, 4.9Vo; paint, preservatives and supplies, 5.77o; lumber and building materials, 6.87o, and lawn and garden equipment and supplies, 7Vo.

Total 1991 sales for the home inprovement products market have been revised to $102.3 billion bv the Census Bureau.

Gypsum Product Demand Up

Demand for gypsum wallboard, building plasters and Portland cement retarder will increase over 5% annually to nearly 33 million tons in 1996. U.S. Gypsum, National Gypsum and Georgia-Pacific will account for roughly 707o of total U.S. sales of gypsum products, according to The Freedonia Group, Inc.

Hoover Treated Wood Products announces that a NATIONAL EVALUATION REPORT (NER-4571 has been issued by the National Evaluation Service of the Council of American Building Officials to confirm that PYRO-GUARD Fire Retardant Treated Lumber and Plywood meets requirements of the BOCA, UBC, and SBCCI model building codes.

PYRO-GUARD has a degradation-free track record, a SO-year projected useful life, and is the FrRSf Fire Retardant Treated Wood with: a fhrrd Party KIln Monltorlng ln addltlon to U.L.follow-up servlce a FRf lsbor and materiols replacemeni cott worrantrl

I Code Compliance Report with evalualion of elevated temperalure strlength iesfing for roof oppllcatlons

I Hlgh lemperature slrenglh test results

I Niw York State Smoke foxlclty tesi resuhs