Hardwood Flooring

by l)ave Ferrari President Virginia Hardu'ood ('o.

IA S WE complete the first hall of lFI985, I believe we can all basically agree that although 1984 rvas a good year for hardwood flooring sales, the chances for a repeat success this year are excellent indeed.

With this thought in mind, I uould like to again cover some of thc suggestions made in the past that I cleem most important to building material yards and home ccntcrs for maintaining and increasing the sale of hardrvood flooring to d-i-yers.

The strongest selling point of hardwood flooring is the beauty of the product. I cannot stress too strongly the importance of keeping your hardwood floor displays in tip top shape. Keep them clean and polished. There is sometimes a tendancy to cut down on the normal maintenance program that is so vital to an attractive display area. You can't sell carpet, tile, or linoleum if it is stained or dirty, so why expect to sell hardwood flooring when the finish is dull, marred, and unattractive?

Building supply yards and home centers who sell both hardrrood and carpct should apply thc l'ollowing cleaning principles: when it is necessary to vacuum the carpet display, vacuum the hardwood flooring. When you shampoo the carpet, clean and wax the hardwood flooring display. If your sales personnel are not familiar with maintaining hardwood displays, talk to your hardwood flooring distributor sales representative. He will gladly instruct and assist them in becoming familiar with the proper and simple maintenance procedures.

One ofthe significant trends that developed in 1984 was the grorving popularity of custom hardnood iloors in thc rcmodeling l'icld. More and morc people like the idea of being able to cl.roosc dramatic rrood patterns such as ftruntainbleau, Bordcaur, \laric Antoincttc, ctc., instead of alsavs settling for lhc altractive but standard square parquet or plank.1\4an1' of these custom hanclcraftcd reproductions reflect the unique lloor designs usecl in European castlcs :lnd palaces sorrc 3fi) )jears ago.

Significantly, thcrc are some ertrerne ly' important poinls to rcrncmber and prccautions to take rvhcn dealing with cr.rstom flooring. Sincc rvood is a product that is subject to moisture absorption and consequently alters its shape throLrgh expansion or contraction unless acclirnated to the particular geographical area where it is to be installed, it is highly recommended that custom patterns be purchased from wholesalers who manufacturc locally and use locally acclimated wood. Intricate custom wood

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INFORMAL roundtable discussion characterized meetings as speaker(1) leads the group in discussing various industry lactors.

Mountain States dealers take time to learn

HALF DOZEN management areas were covered by lumber industry consultant Carl Dill as he spoke before a recent gathering ofthe Mountain States Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association.

Billed as the Lumber Dealers Ski Retreat, the gathering drew association members from four states to Park City, Ut., March 2-5. Lengthy sessions were held both mornine and

Story at a Glance

Six wide ranging business sessions season ski retreat...dealers covered expansion, new products, credits and collections, communication, training and others.

evening, allowing time during the day for skiing and other winter sports.

The current president of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association also spoke to the group. Dean Leaman, a lumber dealer from Rosenberg (Houston), Tx., reported to the group on "National"

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