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HARRY MENDENHAI.T execulive vice president

Lumber Merchonls Associotion of Northern Coliforniq

4546 El Conlno RGl, Sult. 0 lor Aftor, Co, 91022 (4151 t/al-1617

T umber Merchants Association of I-r Northern California and the Lumber Association of Southern California have joined forces to cosponsor a top quality Money Management Seminar developed by National Lumber and Buildins Materials Dealers Association. The seirinar will be conducted at the Golden Tee Hotel, Morro Bay, March l3-14. Registrations indicate the seminar will be a sell out.

Meetings established a close rapport between the two associations and d ieeling that the two California associations could join forces in presenting programs for the dealers such as the Money Management Seminar. It was felt that meetings between presidents of the five Western associations served by this. magazine would assist in bringing the Western associations closer together in common goa1s. A tentative April meeting has been planned.

For those of you interested (and you should be) in meetins with your Congressman in his office, National will hold I Conference with Congress Meeting on April 29 and May l. It rs lmportant that as many dealers from the Western states as p.ossible attend and spend the day visiting with their Congressional representatives. We, o1 the West coast, have a long-way to travel but we also have a lot at stake and should make our views known to our representatives in Washington. When you visit y.ou.r Congressman in his office you have h-is ear. If you've travelled that far he will listen. You are urged to participate and j.oin your local associa.tion representativ-es for this imiortant industry dealer gathering. Ifyou have not had the opior- tunity to visit your Congressman in his office you will finci iuch a session is most interesting and educational.

Periodically we in the association management business find it necessary to urge you to join your local trade association. Those of you reading this column who are not members of one of the five Western states lumber and buildine material dealers associations are not carrying your share of th; burden. The old adage that the dues ioubay to your association. is rent for the space you occupy in your in'dustry has never been more true. It is becoming more costly to fight the bureaucratic encroachment into [rivate enterprisel (The government now insists that we cease from usins niivate enterprise and use free enterprise). Those ofyou no-t'belonging to your own trade association are on the iosing end.

Are you sitting back as an individual groaning about the increasing ad^m-inistrative burden placed upori you by the government? You should be joinin-g forces with 6ther dealers in attempting to curb some olthe legislation being forced upon us. The trade association needs youl support buimore im[or- tantly you need the trade association even more. Mavbe vou won't readily admit this fact but if you think of the pioblims tackled and resolved by associations, it doesn't take long for your eyes to open. Don't be a Free Loading Freddy.

How do you keep informed ofthe changes in law that affect you? Are you aware of the requirement to post a "Banned Hazardous Substances and Items" sign in voui store? There is a penalty for violation that is probably moie than the dues you would pay to your association. Do you have the latest OSI-IA requirements? Again the fines you niay pay may be more than dues.

Higgins New IBM GomPuter

When J. E. Higgins opened his San Francisco lumber yard back rn 1883 , all records were.kept in neatly hand lettered ledgers. These carefully entered notations recorded the sales of selected hardwoods and other lumber used by those early day Bay Area builders.

A lot of changes have occurred since the turn of the century in the lumber business and Higgins has always been right up among the leaders.

Their most recent advancement is the installation of an IBM System 3, Model 6 computer in'Higgins' Union City office, according to Jack M. Higgins, v.p. and grandson of the founder.

Two Higgins office employees attended an IBM training school to learn how to efficiently use the new computer, which will initially be used for inventory control. Eventually, it will also take over all phases of the firm's accounting procedures for the three yards that service Higgins' customers throughout Northern California.

Joe Long is the new programmer, while Pauline Ewart will be the operator.

"We've installed the System 3 in order to provide better and faster service for our customers," Higgins observed.

Higgins Lumber has a long record of "A Lumber For Every Purpose."

The new computer will help speed up the delivery.

1M Sales Manuals

For more than 15 years, North American Wholesale Lumber Assn. has provided sales training manuals to the forest products industry. The current one, "There Is a Better WaY to Sell Lumber." in a fourth revised edition is now into its second printing, and sales have passed the 1000 mark.

It is actually 15 manuals in one that cover sales principles one by one with pertinent examples derived exclusively from actual lumber and plywood sales efforts.

The l5 separate, indexed texts also have sections to be utilized by sales managers to oversee training of new personnel. Sales training programs can be implemented over varying degrees of time periods so that the needs of individual firms can be met.

Price is $25. with discounts for multiple copy orders, Write the NAWLA Western office, 611 Terminal Sales Bldg., Portland, Or .97205.

PANEL DISCUSSION - Evans Producls Company executives examine samples of prefinished wall paneling, among hundreds of items being stocked in firm's new 30,000 sq. ft. building materials distribution center on a S-acre site at Beaverton, Or. Ernest F. Warns (lefl) building materials group v.p. is in charge of warehouse operations. With him is Bruce W. Mallery, mgr. of the new center.

Transformation

(Continued from pageu) was best adapted to their market.

To get a good clean look to the store, they opted for 41b' hi$t gondolas, pegboard panels of various colors around the walls, clean white ceilings and department and gondola numbering signs that they made themselves.

The numbered signs are about a foot square and are in the shape ofa house, outlined in wood painted white, with the middle in roughsawn wood with an inexpensive styrofoam number mounted on the roughsawn wood. Costing a fraction of what such signs can run, it is a modern and effective bit of signing.

A primary consideration in the design of the new store was the blending of the old concepts of individual service with the new ideas in customer self-service. To this end they placed a customer service counter up front and to the right of the front entrance doors. They attempt to individually greet each customer, at least until it gets too busy, and discover whether they want help or just wish to be left alone to browse.

Advertising is an essential part of their drive to increase the cash side of the business. They regularly advertise in both the los Angeles Times'Orange County edition and in their local paper, often using one-third page ads. Their service, background and knowledge are properly stressed as a definite plus for the customer. Prices are in line with the formidable competition in their immediate area.lt includes two Handyman stores, an Angels, Coopers, Build 'n Save, National Lumber and Linbrook Hardware, all within three miles. "We've benefitted from our competition, it builds traffic," Eyer says.

Their experience has been that "most people are not price conscious, as long as you are in the ballpark, they're more interested that we can tell them how to do the iob thev want to do," Don Eyer says.

The construction department employs five fulltime craftsmen, including a cabinet maker for their full service cabinet shop. In all, the firm has 19 employees.

It is structured into l8 departments, with all billing, estimates, monthly print-out on accounts receivable and gross margin on charge tickets done on their Burroughs L2000 computer: which they find adequate to its present tasks. A possibility for the future is one of the new magnetic tape registers for inventory control.

Final figures for 1974 showed the following breakdown in business: hardwarc, | 5.17o'. paint, 3.6%'. power tools, I .1%l plumbing,5 .2%'. electrical,3 .l%: lumber, 3 5 .3% : moulding, 2.3% : mason supplies, | .3%: plywood, 9 .57o: paneling, 1.8%'. sash and doors,5.8%, roofing, 4 .87o :building materials, 7 .5% : garden,O.5Vo. The remaining3.l% fall into miscellaneous categories. Their annual gross was in excess of $ 1 .5 million.

They are extremely safety conscious and are ever alert to anything that might cause injury to employees or customers. They were recently repositioning some fender washers on a pegboard display, fearful that an over eager child might fall against them, causing injury to his eyes.

"Good employees, good service, being close to and watching the business and the trends in the industry" are factors credited by Eyer with being responsible for their continued growth.

(Please turn to page2v)

Pressure-Treated Lumber

Build beoutiful, permonenl potios

When you build outdoors, use Outdoor Wood. It needn't be stained or painted. It isn't bothered by termites. Won't rot. And stays beautiful for keeps.

This deck was built with Wolmanizedn'lumber the Outdoor Wood. It's ordinary wood-pressure-treated withWolmano preservative chemicals to keep it handsome, sturdy, and worry-free for dozens of years-

Considering how long Outdoor Wood lasts, it's relatively inexpensive. Use Outdoor Wood for your next project. And be sure to specify a high-grade #2or preferably #l grade of wood. They will give your structures the appearance and shape-holding qualities you expect.

210 S. Avalon Blvd. I

(Continued from page zz)

Employee qualifications includes, incidentally, "short hair, no beard and an interest in work."

The massive amounts of hardwork put into Plains Lumber by Eyer, a selfconfessed "workaholic" who admits he has never learned to relax. is a vital

W6.tern Lumber and Building Mate.ial3 MERCHANT part of their success. He works from 7 a.m. - 6 p.m. and is most happy if he can spend his evenings selling or quoting remodeling jobs for the construction division.

What little spare time he has goes to the Lions, Boys Club and the Garden Grove Community Church. Every other Wednesday, from midnight to 4 a.m. (!), he mans a telephone hot line for the churih, fielding questions from distraught callers from all over the U.S. who see the church's Rev. Schuller on national tv and respond to his message to call if they need help or counsel.

Some of the calls are from drunks ("I just sit and work on job estimates and let 'em talk," smiles Don) but some callers need the common sense

(Please turn to page 42 )

PAST PRESIDENT'S nite at Btack Bart Club's recent meeting al member Ed Hanson's new home was another successful gathering for the Ukiah, Ca., organization. Present & accounted for were (1) Bill Openshaw, Dave Jones. (2) Med Tanner. (3) Joe Bowman, Gary Gamble. (4) Mike Edgar, Ed Hamson. (5) Jack Powell, lhis year's president; Jim Jones, Supreme Nine. (6) Bob Jensen, Maynard Stubberfield; Cordes Langley in background. (7) Louie Loosely, Harrv Ford.

Credit Precautions

f F you are unable to approve credit I for an order, be careful how you do it, advises the Montana Building Material Dealers Assn.

You might say: "The information we have does not meet our reouirements for opening an account at this time, but if you will submit additional information such as a balance sheet or financial statement, we will give it further consideration." If you have checked with the Credit Bureau, and the customer asks if you did, you could reply, "Yes, we did, but we still don't have sufficient information to warrant opening an account." If he insists on knowing his Credit Bureau record. tell him, "We can't divulge this information given to us in confidence."

Here are some "don'ts" to remember:

. DONT show the applicant his credit report

DON'T tell the applicant that the credit bureau or any particular creditor said his payment record was no good.

DON'T tell the applicant that other sellers indicate unsatisfactory experience.

DON'T tell the applicant that his record can be improved if he will call the credit bureau; bureaus normally won't change records but will verify information.

Train your credit extenders to be careful along these lines. Wrong statements can turn out to be rather expensive.

Famowood

is the PR0FESSI0I{AI'S Att PURP0SE PLASTIC

Boat builders, furniture makers, cabinet makers, etc. have found it the one suie answer to correcting wood defects, filling wood cracks, gouges, covering countersunk nails and screws.

Can