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Dealers Note Their Strengths

A survey of independent dealers finds that 897o believe customers choose them over the big boxes based on a desire for personal, friendly service.

Out of 150 Ace Hardware retail members surveyed nationwide, 837o felt their non-threatening, intimate interiors were another big factor in winning over customer loyalty.

Sixty-three percent said consumers like the fact that items are easy to locate, while 837o saw their neighborhood location as a significant advantage over big box retailers.

Other findinss included:

.79Vo felt their product knowledge gave them an advantage over big box personnel;

. 607o said that their employees know most customers by name;

. only 3'JVo felt that sales and promotions were a major factor in attracting shoppers, and a little more than half (547o\ claim their specialty services were an advantage.

Lumber CEO Admits Theft

The former c.e.o. of the parent company that operated Square Deal

Cal Coast Wholesale Lumber, Inc.

P.O. Box 673" 3150TaylorDr. I]kiah, California 95482

0o7) 468-0141

Fax(7O7) 468-0660

E-Mail - www.calcoast@pacific.net

Lumber Co., Brookings, Or., and Crescent City, Ca., has pleaded guilty to embezzlement and filing a false income tax return, according to the Del Norte Triplicate.

Jeffrey J. Frank, the former c.e.o. of L.C. Bliss Co., confessed in December to embezzling funds from the employee pension plan.

A U.S. Court indictment states that from 1994 to 1997, Frank fraudulently became the president, chairman of the board and c.e.o., in addition to appointing himself trustee of the employee pension plan.

One former employee, Thomas Hansen, said that he had $23,000 in the retirement fund when the money vanished.

The indictment charges that in December 1996, Frank embezzled $193,000 for his own personal use.

Frank reportedly also admitted to filing a false tax return in 1997, that included $63,126 worth of bad debts.

Frank will be sentenced April I 1. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250.000 fine.

Big Boxes Buying More Ads

A sputtering economy usually leads to gutted advertising budgets, yet the big box retailers have so far seen things differently than their peers.

Home Depot and Lowe's increased their advertising budgets, whlle 617o of the top national advertisers reduced their budgets through September of last year.

Compared to 2000, Home Depot increased their 2001 advertising spending 297o, whlle Lowe's saw a rise of 39Vo in their ad budset.

Weyco To Rebuild Trestle

Weyerhaeuser Co. plans to rebuild a Longview, Wa., railroad trestle destroyed by a fire last summer.

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The trestle had been a vital link for Weyerhaeuser, allowing its railroad lines to carry over 63,000 rail cars annually of lumber, chips and other commercial cargo.

Since the fire, the company has used trucks to transport lumber and chips from the its Green Mountain, Wa., sawmill to the Longview mill.

Eight hundred feet of the 76-yearold trestle were destroyed in the blaze last July. It is expected that the rail line will be fully operational by March of this year.

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