NEWS BMIEFS

America's ever-growin g house' weses industry finished up '77 with another record year, $24.4 billion in retail sales manufacturers of housewares had sales totaling $12.8 billion, up from $ I 1 billion the year before

Nearly 1600 manufacturers exhibited at the National Housewares Expo in Chicago last mo., using a record 3590 individual booths enthusiasm at both retail and wholesale was boosted by strong holiday season buying . . a l0 year housewares industry study shows an average 17% annual increase in manufacturers' *ales thru '76

A positive fallout of strong numbers resulted from the housing industry's rip-roaring progress through last year: total new housing starts were 1,986,400, thanks to a surge in Dec. to a dazzling 2,295,000 unit pace on a seasonally adjusted annual basis, best in nearly 5 years .

Dec. wos the 6th consecutive mo. the 2-million mark had been topped, confounding many analysts who had been predicting for months that the housing boom had peaked Dec. starts rose nicely in both the West (27%) & South, declining elsewhere importantly, bldg. permits for future construction wer€ off only 1.8%, indicating continuedstrength...

Single family housing starts in '17 were a record 1,451 ,300, a whopping 73% of the total, just slightly behind the 7 67a singles fig. notched in '76 . multiple unit bldgs were 534P00, a 43% increase over '76; multis are expected to take a bigger % of the market this year

A slowdown in the growth of savings deposits in s&ls. source of most financing for housing, continued in Dec. (latest figs.) plus a move up to 8% in tl:'e prime lending rate (available only to banks' best customers) are seen as negative .factors for hous' ing. . experts currently differ as to whether '78 will be off slightly from '77's tonid bldg. pace or whether a major readjustment is in the works . .

A White Mountain area landmark, the McNary General Store, McNaryAz.. builtto serve Apache Timber Co. workers in l9l7 has closed . the Commerce Dept. expects '78 to be the best year for lumber production since 1926, some 38.8 billion b.f.;

National Building Centers has been renamed Lone Star Building Centers Group by parent company Lone Star Industries, Inc. of Greenwich, Ct., all of the group's operations will be renamed during the next few years, according to Lone Star pres. Robert W. Hutton

J.E. Higgins Lumber, San Francisco, has opened a wholesale lumber yard on Wolverine St.. Sparks. Nv., Schaller Forest Products is a new Redding, Ca., wholesale firm Ole's Home Centers, Rosemead, Ca., has acquired the 4th and last Lin Braok Hardware store, it's in Montclair, Ca.,

Boise Cascade's proposed new retail yard, incorrectly reported here last mo. as being in San Rafael, Ca., is actually slated for Rohnert Park; further difficulties with local officials, though, have prompted B{ officials to threaten a pull out to another location Arcata National has purchased 12,704 acres of Doug fir timberland in No. Ca. from A&M Timber, Aberdeen, Wa.; Arcata has spent

$70 million in the last 4 years to buy 56,000 acres .

Foster Lutnbero Cheyenne, Wy., is celebrating its l5th birthday Lane Stanton Vance Lumber, City of Industry. Ca.. has built 2 new lumber sheds, including provisions to house milling machinery in one of them . all sales from International Paper's Weed, Ca., plant are now being handled from I-P's Portlandoffice...

A last ditch fight by lumber industry forces to stop the Carter administration's bill to add 48,000 acres to Redwood National Park, Humboldt County, Ca.. is going on in the House after recent Senate passage Arcata, Simpson, L-P are the 3 majcrs whose land would be taken; they are requesting increased harvesting in nearby forests

While Congress debates the proposed addition to Redwood National Park, vandals with chainsaws have hacked up and killed a score of bis redwoods, about 55 mi. South of Eureka, Ca.. including some of the walk-thru trees loggers and environmentalists each accuse the other of the damage

A poll sponsored by two major lumber industry groups found 62% of the public wanted to preserve the forest, 28% favored increased timber sales the U.S, Forest Service's new lab at Oregon State, Corvallis, is the largest in the U.S. . Sacramento, Ca., recently ok'd use of the All Weather Wood Foundation...

Profits of building Product mfgrs. were up 27% in '77's 3rd quarter U.S. GYPsum annual sales have broken into the exclusive $l billion rank . more than 1/3rd of all condo housing starts last year were in California new housing accounted far 46% of the 3 billion lbs. of insulation used in '17; about 213rd was fiberglass