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Nevada Newcomer

(Continued from page 9 )' onto their business cards. Like most logical, simple systems designed to avoid confusion, it works pretty well.

All bidding on jobs is shared by Mr. "B" and Mr. "C".

Shingles, shakes, lumber and plywood make up much of their inventory, with the bulk of sales in exterior packages for home builders. They also handle interior packages, which include such items as windows, doors, moulding, paneling and bathroom accessories. The store carries a small stock of electrical items as a customer convenience and the paint line is completely in Glidden.

Doors, moulding and hardware are all purchased from manufacturers with the rest of the buying done mostly from wholesalers in Northern Nevada and Northern California. Their trade area covers the scenic South and North shore areas of Lake Tahoe, continuing North to Susanville, Ca. (about 100 miles from Sparks) and East to the Fallon, Nv. area. A large part of the business is done in the Reno-Sparks metro area.

There are four lift trucks in the yard to load six other trucks ofvarying descriptions used to deliver materials and handle other company business. They make no charge for local deliveries, but to cover their costs in out of town deliveries, a charge based on mileage is added.

A major change instituted by management over the first few years of B & C's corporate life has been an ever stricter tightening of credit. Both owners spend an appreciable part of each day keeping on top of the credit situation. "We have some customers who are notoriously slow, so we keep after them," notes Bill Blackwell.

Bill Ceccarelli recalls that in the bad old days of mid-1974 to the summer of 197 5 , "there was practically no business and what you did get, you had to be very careful about." Today's credit policy rs 2%, lOth prox.

The Reno-Sparks area has heen growing rapidly the last few years and continuing growth is widely foreseen for the next few years. Not surprisingly, the competition among wood products and building materials suppliers is fierce and B & C has plenty of competition. Included are Wickes, Nevada Wholesale, Vaughn Materials, Charles

C. Meek,

Copeland Lumber and Diamond National. Last Fall, a new unit of 84 Lumber Co. (see The Merchant, Jan. p. 34) opened a few blocks away. While it is determinedly consumer oriented (no trucks, no delivery, no credit and no credit cards) it is, nonetheless, another slice out of the pie all must share.

As well-seasoned veterans in the Iocal lumber and building materials field, both Blackwell and Ceccarelli are braced for some interesting years ahead. Future plans include stepping up advertising to build more walk-in traffic. Presently, what advertising they do is in community bulletins, fire and police department publications and some radio.

Having survived the economic whip lash of the past four-five years, B & C is now well structured to take a meaningful role in the greater building of the wide area they serve.

Lumber Costs of Homes

Lumber prices closely parallel housing starts, according to the Southern Forest Products Assn. So prices for lumber and wood products have been rising as homebuilding activity stepped up in the past months.

Yet wood products account for only 30% of the actual construction cost of the average new single-family detached home, and only 15% of the final selling price. (see Editorial, p.6) Moreover, price increases for wood products since 1970 have added about $1,400 to the cost of the average house. Compare that to increases of $4,600 for land, $3,400 for financing, $2,600 for overhead and profit, and $2,200 for miscellaneous costs other than labor and materials durine the same period.

Plant Design

(Continued from pag 12) struction economies over alternative use of pre-fab steel or tilt-up concrete.

In the open-span design the poles can be placed at almost any desired separation to allow for unhampered movement of palletized loads, according to Leon R. Durham, founder-owner of Treated Pole Builders.

More than 50,000 sq. ft. of space is provided in a cluster of new structures, U-shaped in layout, flanking a central 1.5 acre marshaling yard. An office center offers an additional 3000 sq. ft. for administrative use.

Sun as well as rain is considered

Fred C. HOLMES

TUfiIBER COiIPANY harmful to wood in Southern California's semi-tropical climate, Gaylord pointed out, and for this reason the buildings were designed with unusually wide eaves.

Special attention was given to preparing the site for elimination of "soft spots," which hamper or slow vehicular movement. A paving capable of supporting an axle load of 40,000 lbs. was attained by preparing an 8" layer of cement-treated soil under 3" of surface asphalt.

Twin 100' x 160' storage structures use 100' laminated beams to create an unimpeded center aisle operation, while two other buildings make use of an umbrella-design center row of poles, allowing feeding from both sides.

As many as six railroad cars, each with a capacity of up to 40,000 b.f., can be unloaded at the plant at one time, each car being serviced by a storage area immediately adjacent to the spur, according to Gaylord.

Koppers, developers of the Cellon pressure treating process, is one of America's leading industrial corporations, with annual sales in excess of $ I billion. Headquartered in Pittsburg, it serves a world-wide market with a broad diversity of products and services in manufacturing, engineering and construction. The company, founded more than half a century ago, maintains manufacturing facilities in 32 states, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and South and Central America, with marketing operations in 67 foreign lands.

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