lkeys convention

Springs. Sparkling clear desert air brightened the three day gathering and temperatures topped the l00o mark.

The opening business session reported on new members, OSHA sound level testing done by LMA, work with the new dealer groups that have been forming in various towns and the association's involvement with the Western States Lumbermen's Council.

New officers elected for the coming year at the meeting include Bud Spencer, San Ramon Valley Mill, Danville, Ca., as president; Bill Oberholser, Pacific Home Improvement Center, San Luis Obispo, Ca., lst v.p.; and Herb Eaton, Minton's Lumber, Mountain View, Ca., 2nd v.p. Bruce Pohle, Southern Lumber Co., San Jose, Ca., was re-elected treasurer and Harry Mendenhall was re-elected exec. v.p.

A new in-store training program

Story at a Glance

New program by LMA shows d-i-y customer how-to, also trains employees Bud Spencer elected new president . dealer workshops and motivational seminars adaptable for both customers and employee training was unveiled. It consists of the Singer Caramate II that is easily portable, about l-l/2' square and has a tv screen on one side that can be used to display slides or use cartridges. Additionally, it provides a hook up so the material can be projected onto a large, separate screen.

Bicentennial look marks gathering.

Dealers can either develop their own audio visual programs for the device or use present association or manufacturer packages. LMA presently has in-store training programs it can lend. It also offers the service for its members of presenting live training sessions for groups of five or more employees during after hours sessions.

A solidly productive workshop seminar followed on the program, moderated by Ross Kincaid of WBMA's Learning Resource Center. After an introduction, small discussion groups were formed, each including a representative of a manufacturer. Each group had been assigned three areas for discussion. Results were later gathered, summarized and presented for the benefit of all present.

Conclusions from the three topics included:

( 1) Changing times and markets have meant demands for more customer service, advertising, more women customers, a changing product mix, a generally more sophisticated customer and greater dealer use of distri- butors to hold down inventory costs. Specially noted by several of the groups was the clearly emerging fact that the full service dealer can profitably compete with the home center/ mass merchandiser.

R0UNDTABLE discussions (1) were very productive (2) Bill 0berholser, new president Bud Spencer holding copy of his favorite magazine: The Merchant, Jerry DeCou. (3) Harold Manselian, Mark Combie, LMA's new director of field services. (4) Bud Robey, Joe Vaeth. (5) Tom Yancey, Don McCann. (6) Helen and Larry Hansen, Chuck Porro and Doris Cookston. (7) Norbert Volny, 0wen Corcoran. (8) Dorothy and Frank Baxley. (9) Gary Johnson. (10) Steve Hedstrom and Nina Hardy. (11) Joan and Bud Robey, Betty and Nifty Gay. (12) Bud Spencer, Charley Culver and Joe Sigmundson. (13) Toni and Cosmo Guido, Don and Patt Walden.

(2) The retailer can help the wholesaler/manufacturer to sell more materials by having better product knowledge, merchandising products more vigorously and giving more space for product display, by educating customers and tieing in retail ads with national promotions. Alloting dealer and staff time to the wholesaler/ manufacturer who volunteers help for the dealer (and vice versa!) was also mentioned.

(3) The wholesaler/manufacturer can do more to help the retailer by spending more time on straight selling and less on social talk, more training in the use of sales aids, clearer evaluation of the ef,fectiveness of co-op advertising and point-of-purchase materials, smaller displays, advising the dealer when the manufacturer intends to drop a product line, and betterresearch (Please turn to pase 38)

After the "mark up" sessions of the U.S. Senate agriculture and interior committees on the Humphrey bill to correct the Monongahela problem, the result looked to industry observers as if the cure might be worse than the ailment. .

While some of the new language would have the effect of overturning court decisions such as the Monongahela and Tongass rnrltngs banning clear cutting, other wordings add new restrictions on timber harvesting which could diminish supply for woodbasedproducts...

American Plywood Assn exec. v.p. Bronson Lewis notes, "we may have jumped from the Monongahela frying pan into a far worse bureaucratic fire" many industry authorities now ask those contacting their reps. in Washington to support the Humphrey bill (S 3091) as originally introduced, with no amendments . .

While the situation remains fluid, support for industry's position is still needed and those fighting in Washington against the environmentalists continue to need vocal support from the grass roots Kent Moxey's column, p. 22 of this issue, describes a quick & easy way to make your voice heard in Congress . .

Housing start figures released for April: down 47o from the mo. previous (Mar. starts dropped 7.6%) to 1,372,000 units, still some 4O% above the year earlier . bldg. permits for future construction declined to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of l.l million, their lst drop in 4mos...

Despite the drop, stafis 'were at a very satisfactory rate" aecording to the head economist, Nt'l Assn. of Home Builders: "The main thing is that production for the lst 4 mos. is running about 45% over a year ago and permits are up about 55%" .

Despite shaky statistics, /zoasing forecasts now 6re at approx. 1.6 million fot '76 with NAHB sticking its neck out for '77 and predicting 1,758,000 housing starts; they also forecast a gradual rise in the prime rate to 8% by the end of this year

The money market on which housing (and its suppliers) are dependent is churning: Citibank lowered its prime lending rate for its best customers, other banks didn't, so they quickly moved it up; the feds are making noise about credit tightening, which puts upward pressure on the prime rate, now moving up; s&ls had a big inflow of cash recently, increasing lending activity

Housing recovery is stronger than stats. indicate, sez Advance Mortgage Corp., noting recovery is heavily tilted to l,lest of the Mississippi, esp. Tx & Ca; Houston, San Diego and L.A.Orange County registered /+ o-f all apartment permits in the I st quarter San Diego housing permits are double the rate for '75, sales run ahead of starts

A class action suit has been brought in federal court against 20 plywood companies (incl. most of the majors) for allegedly fixing prices in violation of antitrust laws suit charges that freight charges are based on a Portland shipping point, whether the plywood is, in fact, made there or not . . plywood mfgrs. vigorously deny the charges.

Trend A ll-W ood Produc t s, Inc., Arcata, Ca., is a new firm, handling all sales for Trend Lumber Co., whose former sales mgr., John Kelly, is now pres. of tho new firm . . DiGiorgio Carp. plans to sell its Feather River Lumber Co., Loyalton, Ca., to Sierra Pacific lndustries for $13 million in cash

Reel Lumber Service, Los Angeles, was hit by a $150,000 fire last mo. which burned two trucks, stacked hardwood and their planner, cause unknown;as the majority of their inventory was across the st., plus the help of friends in business , they are very much in business and are now carrying surfaced & rough hardwood and pine in stock . .

International Forest Products has been selected by the City of Chino, Ca., as the "outstanding established industrial development of 1975" the entire plant was built by ICR Corp., Van Nuys; Jim Thompson, president.

Peoples Lumber Co (an NBC div.) had a grand opening recently for their beautiful new Oxnard, Ca., retail store . . .Cook Lumber Co., Murray (Salt Lake City) Ut., plans a July l, grand opening for their new home center Capital Lumber, Phoenix, had a g'opening June 17, for their new Albuquerque distribution yard ln the 1880b it uuas Higgins. ln

Martin Lumber & Hardware has moved to 2317 Broadway, Everett, Wa.o Olympic Building Materials is a newly-opened retail yard in Eugene, Or., Dunn Lumber Co., Everett, has opened a 26,000 sq. ft. new retail operation, one of the largest in the Northwest; Dunn's fifth, others are in Renton, lvlarysville, Richmond Highlands and Seattle.

Our favorite new bumpersticker: Help the Handicapped, Donate a Brain to the Sierra Club.

the 1970b it still b.

Many things have changed down through the years, but in Susine-ss some imp6rtant ones hav6nt. Like treating customers fairly; supplying top quality merchandise; dependability; and, carrying a large enough inventory so you can deliver what the customer wants, when he wants it.

ln the bustling growth of the 1880's, San Francisco needed these things-and today its no different. The values used in choosino a supplier are the same today as yesterday-and w6'll bef they will be the same in the years to come.

Tin-types may change to Polaroids, but these basic tenets have been passed from founder J.E. Higgins, to sons, to grandsons-and now a great-grandson.

Being older than many of the trees that produced the lumber it sells, Higgins has a reputation to live up to as Northern CaliforniSS largest supflier of hardwoohs, plywood and related lumber products.

Completely stocked distribution vards in San Francisco, Satramento and Union City ar6 readyto supply all of your lumber needs...fast and efficiently.

Several million board feet of kiln-dried hardwoods and matching plywood are a specialty at Higgins.

In the 1880s it was Higgins lumberfor every purpose. lt still is!