C&E Lumber Gompany

1-112" to l2" Diameter in Stock

. Tree Stakes

. Bollards, Light Posts them to it.

Look around your regional trade area, and get your colleagues in the building supply industry together to plan for a battle.

In Santa Rosa, Ca., the Redwood Empire Merchants Association hired an organizer and took on Depot directly. Home Depot took the path of least resistance, and left.

(3) Invest in Your Future. Home Depot spent nearly half a million dollars to win a voter referendum in Toledo, Oh. The citizens opposing the project received little financial help from community businesses. Financial support for community coalitions can be provided in a lowprofile way.

Since Home Depot is investing heavily to put you out of business, consider your investment in community organizing as a downpayment on your future. Competition for market share does not begin once Home Depot opens, it starts before their site plan even reaches town planners.

Home Depot is a hammer aimed at your neighborhood. For people in the lumber industry, this is your battle as much as anyone else's. Home Depot is hoping that you will leave the fight to others. But this is one job that's strictly d-i-y. A Home Depot TV spot I heard recently begins: "Communities aren't made of nails and boards, they're made of people." It is people in your trade area who can helP nail Home Depot shut. If you're skeptical, remember the words of Depot's Arthur Blank: "We have the ability to make a change in the world."

Tile Training Goes Interactive

Custom Building Products, Seal Beach, Ca., has begun using live interactive training programs on the Internet for company seminars.The program allows the tile and stone installation firm to simultaneously train employees in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Philadelphia, Pa., and Vancouver, B.C.

"Now all of our supervisors can receive the same training," said Rob Henderson, director of training. "In the past, we had different presentations for managers at each of our plants. Now, all managers are participating in the same training presentations."

He said the technology could one day be used to educate customers about the firm's products.