Arfwork, decor brighten ne

to both Midway and Oracle Road Lumber Co. Jack Sullivan, president of both companies, is considering more evening hours for public convenience in the near future.

Since the opening of the new store, approximately 15% of total sales has been in consumer business.

They offer several charge plans. Thirty day accounts, bank charge cards and bank financing plans are all utilized. They have also instituted an ooinstant credit" plan for customers, the minimum being $50 and the maximum $I50. With any major credit card issued, they establish credit, then customers can take up to twelve months to pay, without any interest or carrying charges.

Midway Lumber employs thirty people, including drivers, yardmen, sales personnel and administrative staff. Four outside salesmen drive radio-equipped cars for prompt contact with customers in the field.

Tucson is the main trading area but their customers extend south to the Mexican border and north to the major mining areas.

Contractor business still accounts tor 75-80/o of their business, with industrial accounts producing approximately 5/o.

Oraele Road Lumber is being enlarged by 3840 sq. ft., to a total area of 9000 sq. ft. It will be completely remodeled with all new fixtures.

Sullivan's new Jiffy Dor plant has just been completed. It occupies 12,000 sq. ft., of manufacturing area, and they've added more working area for a truss operation.

Sullivan also noted that he is now producing module wall sections for prefab homes.

Approximately 30 additional people work in the Jiffy Dor and Truss plant with 25 more being employed at Oracle Road Lumber Co.

Mobile equipment for the two lumberyards and door plant consists of 16 trucks, 6 lift trucks and 12 cars.

"Our competition is healthy, strong

YAlllTlES, hardware, paint and all the jillions of other items that make up the modern building materials deale/s wide inventory are here. Note inside planters that carry through decorating theme.

Rizona Yard

and aggressive, and this is our great' est incentive for growth and succ€ss," observes Jack Sullivan.

He has 36 years experience in the building material field, the first 2l of which were spent in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Kansas. Dur' ing that time he worked as book' keepero salesman, manager and pur' chasing agent. He served as president of the Arizona Retail Lumber and Builders Supply Association, Inc. 196I-62, He also served on tJre board of directors and executive committee of the National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association 19631969.

Sullivan went to Tucson in 1954 to stert Midway Lumber Inc. Sinee then he has established Oracle Road Lumber Co. and 'started Jiffy Dor Co. which produces pre-hung doors

Story sI s Glonce

Attractive new yard sets new standards in decor by effective use of a native and regional art and artifacts. Interior as well as exterior is designed to attract the growing volume of local deit-yourselfers. Longer store hours being considered.

and roof trusses. Jiffy Dor also produces pre-fabricated building components.

Retail advertising is aimed primarily at the built-it-yourselfer and home handyman, with most builder and contractor business being developed through personal contact and customer service. Basic media is newspapers, with radio and television being employed as promotional assists.

0FtlCES in ccnter rsar havs large windows which facc out on sales floor.

f]ANTHE building materials dealv er join, and enjoy a profit from, the happy little sauna boom that's rippling across the West?

More than 10,000 saunas, ranging in size from a phone booth to a small meeting hall in athletic clubs, will be built and equipped this year, a new U.S. record. And optimistic distributors even predict that within a few years one of every ten new dwellings will have a sauna or acc€ss to one.

As little as ten years ago, few Americans who were not of Nordic descent had more than the faintest knowledge of that ancient Finnish sweat bath ritual, the sauna. Today sauna suppliers say sales are leaping by 30 to 50 percent ayear.

Saunas are offered to the consumer in two basic ways: The,complete package--lumber-lined room, heater, con. trols and if desired carpeting, or just the heater and controls, leaving the buyer to have his room custom-built or to build it himself.

The second metho{ may offer more profit potential for the lumber dealer, because he can stock and sell all the room materials alone with other wood products and can a=dd the heaters and controls to his specialty lines.

SAUNA ,IIARKETING

How are saunas marketed? A score of companies are operating on more than a local basis. Eight buy space for their brochures in Sweet's Construction File. Several advertise in magazines.

Marketing more units than all others combined is Viking Sauna, of San Jose, Calif. It works mostly through its own salesmen, but also designates independent dealers on a percentage basis.

More than half of Viking's sales are single-family and the complete package is gaining favor rapidly. A special locking device for speeding up assembly and knockdown helps complete-room sales, espe,cially to people who move frequently and to the military.

Florida, California, Texas and the Pacific Northwest are the leading markets in that order, says a Viking official. Commercially, motels are finding saunas a good investment, worth an extra $1 a night to many patrons.

Other sauna distributors generally want to establish dealerships and are more dependent on this system. Metos