]IOIUIORE FREE IU]ICH

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Before unwelcome visitors show up for lunch,let TIM-BOR cancel their reservations. For more information call (800) U.S. Borax. Or write to U.S. Borax,3075 Wilshire Blvd., los Angeles, CA 90010.

Erik Israelson, v.p., Dorris Lumber & Moulding Co. Inc., Dorris, Ca., has been named a director of its subsidiary View Points, a distributor of Marvin Windows.

Jim Brunk, pres. and c.e.o., Sunrise Home Center, Jackson, Wy., will serve as chairman of the board of Dataline.

Sally Allman has rejoined Nickerson Lumber & Plywood Corp., No. Hollywood. Ca., as sales executive for the industrial trade. Thomas Hibler is also new to sales, according to Robert A. Lopez, pres.

George Pierce is now sales mgr. of all common lumber items at Douglas County F'orest Products, Winchester, Or.

John Minihan has been promoted to export products sales mgr. for the international div. of Snavely Forest Products, San Francisco, Ca., according to Chris Snavely.

Steve Kline is new to Universal Lumber Co.. Portland. Or.

Betty Woods is now in cedar sales at Sundance Lumber Co., Springfield, Or.

Todd Bybee is trading lumber & gluelam beams for WoodSource, Inc., Dublin, Ca., according to Andy Haynes.

Chuck Shawver is the new sales mgr. at Rocky Mountain Forest Products Corp., Laramie, Wy. Mark Stanek and Carl Bonner are new sales reps.

Leonard "Lanny" Gertler, pres., All American Home Center, Downey, Ca., has been inducted into the Home Center Hall of Fame.

Jeff Huff, l6-year-old son of Hal Huff, Sequoia Supply, lrvine, Ca., was an exchange student for 28 days in Russia, visiting Moscow, Leningrad and Yalta.

John de la Montanya, sales mgr., Sequoia Forest Industries, Dinuba, Ca., has been elected mayor of Dinuba.

Gene Ritchings is manning the new office of Reid & Wright, Inc., Arcata, Ca., in Toms River, N.J. Richard Reid has taken over the Ca. market with plans to establish a new No. Ca. office. Chris Lynch has replaced Reid as mgr. of the Broomfield, Co., operations.

Bob Moore is new to McNary Lumber Co., Albuquerque, N.M.

Rick Danielson has been appointed pres. of Western Wood Preserving Co.. Sumner. Wa.

Monatte McGee and Jonathan Jiminez are new to sales at Capital Lumber, Healdsburg, Ca.

Jeff Lodge is now industrial sales mgr. for Mallco Lumber & Building Materials, Phoenix, Az., according to Rich Bilby, exec. v.p. & gen. mgr.

Craig Hall is the new credit mgr. of Lumber Products, Portland, Or.

Yolanda Waters has left Performance Coatings Inc. (Penofin), Ukiah, Ca., and is now distributing Kaupert Chemicals through Waters Edge Protective Coatings, Ukiah.

Richard Scheuble, pres., Medallion Millwork, Marysville, Ca., is recovering after knee surgery.

Gregory A. Hatch has been appointed national marketing director in the trade sales div. of The O'Brien Corp., San Francisco. Ca.

Leonard Robles is now handling industrial lumber sales at Mackinaw Lumber Sales. Bend. Or.

Bob Cain is now co-mgr. of 84 Lumber, Reno, Nv.

Soy Phang is the new controller of BelAir Door Co., Alhambra, Ca., according to Samuel Fineman, pres.

Douglas Turner is now So. Ca. district sales mgr. for Bruce Hardwood Floors.

Tom Patterson, industrial sales mgr., Weyerhaeuser Co., Tacoma, Wa., has retired after 37 years with the firm.

Michael Couey has resigned as marketing mgr. of Simpson Timber Co., Arcata, Ca., to open up a west coast office for Bennett Industries. The Huntington Beach, Ca., oflice will handle doors, millwork, mouldings and other wood products, both import and export.

Bruce Myers is the new mgr. of White Brothers' Sacramento. Ca.. warehouse, replacing Craig Kincaid. Rick Ellis is new to No. N.M. and So. Co. sales at Sound Building Products, Albuquerque, N.M.

Steven Shaw has been named gen. mgr. of remanufacturing for Concannon Lumber, Portland, Or.

Tim Mangan, Willamette Industries, Sweet Home. Or.. has been transferred to the Bauman Sawmill, Lebanon, Or., as supt. Juliea Birkey, supt., Willamette's Midway Veneer Plant, Sweet Home, is now also supt. of custom services.

Michael Reynolds is a new trader for Spar Tree Products, Beaverton, Or. Cindy Froyd and Patricia Seay, forestry students, have been awarded $900 scholarships by the National HooHoo-Ette Club, according to Zella Akers.

Steve Hollingworth is the mgr. for Capital Lumber's newly opened DC in Commerce City (Denver), Co., according to John Gaskin, pres.

Home Center Merchant (Continued

from Page 22)

Chains and independents alike understand the importance of gross margin return on investment (GMROI), total procurement cost, and ability to expand product selection without increasing inventory dollar investment versus simple "increased margins." In fact, Wal-Mart drop ships only 190h of its merchandise directly into its stores, thus flowing 810h through their distribution centers.

In summary, the future of independent retailers in the hardware and home center industry has never been stronger. Today programs are available to independent retailers that allow them to remain on the leading edge of our industry. While I have the greatest respect for Bill Fishman and agree with much of what he says regarding the future direction of our industry, especially UPC coding, EDI transmission, etc., I feel opinions differ simply because of the makeup of the type of retailers with whom we respectively work.

Barbara Baker, Friesen Lumber Co., St. Helens, Or., has retired after 20 years with the firm. She is succeeded in sales by Sue Zielaskowski. John Buchanan, Sumwood, Inc., Palos Verdes Peninsula, Ca., made a recent sales trip to Salt Lake City, Ut., and Denver, Co.

I look forward to hearing your presentation at the National Home Center Show.

Sincerely,

Mike McClelland Executive Vice President Hardware Wholesalers, Inc.

Thanks, Mike, for allowing me to run your views in this coumn.

Editor's Note: Mr. Peters keynote address was excellent. He did address the./uture o/' independents by saying he /'eels they have excellent opportunities. 4ccording to Mr. Peters, independents' sr/c('css, just like that o./'chains, will be predicated on how much attention they give to developing a reputation o/ superior service in lheir marketplace.

Vic Bennett, Ganahl Lumber Co., Anaheim, Ca., has resigned to pursue international sales. Mendi La Buda has left Ganahl, Corona, Ca., after l0 years with the firm, to have a baby.

(Please turn to poge 62)

O'Malley Buyout Underway

A friendly leveraged buyout of The O'Malley Lumber Co., Phoenix, Az., by a group including members of management is expected to close this month.

All assets and liabilities of the company will be purchased by investors who include management headed by Duncan R. Hossack and the publicly traded United Building Services Corp., a Phoenix-based national drywall contracting company.

Thomas E. O'Malley, chairman of the board, stated that the company had signed a letter of intent subject to appropriate financing and approvals by the board of directors and shareholders of O'Malleys and the United Building Services Corp. board of directors. Mallco Lumber & Building Materials, the retail division, and all other operating units of the company are included in the deal. Purchase price is estimated to be $22 million.

McKee & Co., a Scottsdale-based investment banking firm, is acting as advisor to The O'Malley Lumber Co. Forbes & Co., Phoenix, is arranging financing for the transaction.

Hossack, O'Malley's executive vice president, and L. M. Claycomb II, chief executive ofl'icer of United

Building Service Corp., indicated that if the transaction is successfully completed, they intend to continue service to the loyal customer base that the O'Malleys have built throughout the southwest during this century. They have no immediate plans to close any units.

The oldest lumber and building materials supplier in Arizona, O'Malley had $160 million in sales last year with wholesale transactions accounting for 360/o of that figure. Competition from Home Depot and similar firms in the past several years caused the company to cut back on some retail operations. Two stores in Phoenix and one in Tucson were closed. O'Malley's has eight retail stores in Arizona and one in El Paso, Tx., with l2 other operations in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The diversified operations include an insurance agency.

Hossack and Claycomb will take over as top company executives. This will be the first time since the founding of the O'Malley company in May 1908 that anyone outside the family has been in charge. Laycomb's company, which operates in seven cities, had $25 million in sales in 1988.

Two New Fibreboard Sawmills

Fibreboard Corp. plans to build two sawmills at its facilities in Chinese Camp and near Truckee, Ca.

Lawrence C. Hart, chairman and president of Fibreboard, said, "These plants will be designed to take advantage of new sawmilling technology that emphasizes the conversion of smaller logs."

Construction at Chinese Camp will begin this year. The company will continue to run the existing sawmill until the new plant is completed.

The new sawmill in the Truckee area will be built on a site adjacent to company timberland. Construction will begin in 1990 upon completion of the siting and permitting process. The existing Truckee sawmill will be phased out, possibly as early as midyear.

Osmose Sponsors TV Show

Osmose Wood Preserving, Inc. will continue its sponsorship of America's Weekend Gardner, tv's longest running gardening series, for the fourth year.

All outdoor projects presented on the show by host Jim Bennett are constructed exclusively of Osmose Brand pressure treated wood.

Weyerhaeuser Design Center

An interactive computer-based design system to help customers transform home improvement ideas into three dimensional designs will be installed by Weyerhaeuser in some 250 selected home centers and lumber yards this spring.

Called the most innovative and significant home improvement tool for the building products industry, the DesignCenter module will allow do-it-yourselfers, with the assistance of a Weyerhaeuser trained sales person, to explore various deck configurations on a video screen.

"Consumers can walk into the Weyerhaeuser DesignCenter with a rough idea, and walk out with a three-dimensional rendering of a suggested design, construction details and materials list to build a deck or another project," according to Bill Simmonds, Weyerhaeuser vice president of total quality. "And, even more, they will have enjoyed the process and will very likely come back to one of our retailers when they approach another building project."

"The DesignCenter is part of our increasing emphasis on strengthen- ing the brand awareness for Weyerhaeuser products such as Lifewood treated lumber and specialty products and Choicewood hardwood lumber," he added.

EASY-I0-USE design system will help retailers to focus on individual design needs of customers. Used as a consultive t001, it can completely plan home improvement prolects.

The design software and hardware was created by Innovis Interactive

The Merchant Magazine

Technologies, a Weyerhaeuser subsidiary. The first DesignCenter systems will be located in Chicago, ll.: Boston, Ma.; Hartford, Ct.; Detroit, Mi., and Minneapolis, St. Paul, Mn.

Grossnran's To Sell No. Ga. Div.

Sale of the Northwest Division of Grossman's Inc, to an investor group including members of management is expected to close before the end of June.

An unnamed West Coast investment firm will own in excess of 800/o of the new company. Robert S. Pacos, general manager of the Northwest Division, will become the c.e.o. The sale includes 28 stores, all in Northern California.

Grossman's is working with Shearson Lehman Hutton Inc. in considering other ways to maximize shareholders' values including the sale of all 245 of its stores. The Northern California stores are being sold to avoid the expense of remodeling them, according to Stanley G. Berman, executive vice president/administration at Braintree. Ma., Hq.