Home improvement: a billion $ market

full line of home improvement products is preferred by shoppers 3 to I over limited line stores selling more specialized products.

Just under half of the homeowners pinpointed manufacturer "how to" product instructions as extremely important, particularly among the 25 to 34 age group and white collar workers with higher education.

If friendly, trained, knowledgeable sales people who can answer customer's questions about home repairs, maintenance and improvements make business thrive, how can the home center operator produce these people?

The market is there, but what can you as a retailerdo to attract customers to your home center and keep them coming back? A study conducted by Market Facts, Inc. and the Home Center Research Bureau revealed that more than 8090 of the homeowners think courteous salespeople are extremely or very important in choosing where they shop, making that quality the most important factor in selecting a home center.

Second (72s/o) in importance to consumers is the sales staff 's knowledge of the products they are selling. It also is extremely or very important to 54s/o of those surveyed that salespeople be able to assist customers with specific project information.

Consumers want to know the store they shop in offers the highest quality of merchandise andwill stand behind its products. The home center with its

Story at a Glance

Home repair, maintenance, improvement market expanding... consumers demand pro. duct, project knowledge . . want high quality merchandise. guaranteed reliability.

In today's expanding home center market, according to Better Homes a nd Gardens, which recently published a product knowledge training course, this is not easy. Entry-level positions are usually filled by recent graduates with limited work experience. New employees often find themselves on the firing line with little or no practical knowledge of home improvement. They recommend their training manual, which they say is the only course for home center personnel that is self-taught, in conjunction with the Complete Guide to Home Repair, Maintenonce & Improvement, also published by them.

Other ways to train salespeople to be able to guide and help customers include in-store training sessions taught by veteran staff members or manufacturer'sreps; required reading of "how-to" bulletins and instructions provided by manufacturers; hands-on clinics to produce product displays for the store; and the reading of informational articles such as you will find in this issue of The Merchant Magazine.

Almost every store has one old timer who knows all the answers or has a second sense for finding them. Take advantage of him, designate this person as the official store expeft. Give him a title and a special

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Cash In On This Growing Category Of Profitable Business

Pressure treated wood is coming on strong! Lumber merchants who hane initiated aggressive stocking and merchandising programs report outstanding sales of treated wood for decks, fences, retaining walls, etc.

DO.IT.YOURSELFERS. REMODELERS, [AND. SCAPERS €. CONTRACTORS

These active markets know pressure treated wood can safely be usd in direct ground contact. Materials such as posts, landscape timbers, deck supports, poles aM sub. structures can mean new business for you. Pressure treating permanently locks preservative chemicals deep into the wood fibers. Lwels of treatment are identified by the quality control marks of the American Wood Preservers Bureau. Wood marked LP.2 is for use above ground and LP.22 is designated for wood in direct ground contact. To be surc, it is recommended that all wood intended for outdoor home /\ GnoumD use bear the LP.22 mark. Vtty#t

CONSU/VIER PROMOTION HITS HIQH GEAR

WWPI's continuing aggressive promotion campaign in magazines, newspapers and direct mailings is telling and selling millions of western home-owners on treated wood and its benefits. tr Long-lasting durability ! Money-saving economy U Ready avail. ability f Ease of Maintenance U Beautiful appearance. Qet rcady for sales to go OP when you offer pressure treated wood.