Lumber dealer finds new paint system a perfect match

about 20 years. "A good measuring instrument helps out tremendously to bring back customers. That, and new color chips from Valspar, have steadily increased our paint sales."

Callaway says do-it-yourselfers and contractors, including termite repair companies, will visit C&E Lumber to obtain custom-milled corbels, beams, fascia and other architectural products for their repair work, and paint matching is often essential to making the sale.

The iVue instrument is made by XRite Inc., Grand Rapids, Mi., a leading designer and manufacturer of color measurement instruments.

"With our old instrument, it might ff,/HrN cusroMERS walr into Y Y C&E Lumber's retail store in Pomona, Ca., owner Bryan Callaway wants to make sure they have exactly what they were looking for when they walk out-whether it's a perfect color match for paint or a custom-milled corbel.

Service is a top competitive advantage against the big boxes for C&E, a full-service lumberyard and Orgill hardware retailer that has carved out a niche as a distributor of lodgepole pine products used in everything from landscaping to furniture.

Family owned and operated since 1954, C&E Lumber purchased an iVue instrument last October to offer the latest technology in paint color matching at its 6,000-sq. ft. retail store.

"It made sense to invest in new technology," says Callaway, 37, who has been in the hardware industry for say that the color match was a couple of pings away-particularly on darker colors," Callaway says. "A ping may be like a half-shade or shade different from what would be a perfect match. And one ping may mean the difference of getting the sale or not getting the sale."

When C&E started using the iVue, "that issue weni away entirely," says Callaway.

There were additional benefits to switching to thc iVue. The instrument was easy to lcarn how to use, which was a big plus for the company's 12 full- and part-time employees. "It is a lot easier to use than the old system," Callaway says. "The f'act that we can calibrate it on a Monday and not have to worry about it until the following Monday is fantastic as far as timesavings."

Callaway also gives the instrument high marks for its durability and versatility in measuring large and oddly shaped objects. "l like being able to grab the unit itself and put it right on what we want to measure," he saYs.

"With the old instrument, you were limited as to what you could do because it sat on the table. You had to manipulate your sample around the machine. Now, you can manipulate the iVue around the sample."

The iVue also offers much more prccision on targeting a particular test area for color mcasurement. "With the old instrument, you had to Put the sample in a clip and you weren't sure where the instrument was measuring," Callaway says. "You closed the door and hope that things hadn't moved." f oNc usED ro cREATE aesI-lthetically seamless surfaces on siding, colormatched fasteners are increasingly being introduced for high-end decking and other building materials.

With the iVue, a ring of light is projected onto the test surface, so the store associate knows exactly what area is being measured.

"I also like the ability to alter the aperture, so you can adjust it for a smaller sample," he adds.

Keeping up with the latest developments in the lumber and hardware industry is nothing new to C&E Lumber. Callaway's grandfather, George Callaway, and partner Jack Russi designed and developed the first lodgepole pine tree stake, now the standard in the landscape industry. C&E Lumber has distributed lodgepole pine products in Southern California since 1962.

Lodgepole pine stakes have a remarkable variety of uses. In addition to conventional landscapin-e, contractors and do-it-yourselfers use lodgepole pine stakes fbr furniture, parking bollards, lighting fixture poles, custom railing and stair banister systems, and fireplace mantles.

"We now have customers for our lodgepole pine products from National City all the way uP into Northern Califbrnia." Callaway says. "But we've got big-box rctailers within 10 miles for regular hardware items. I try to compcte on the service side so that when people come in. we can serve them faster than a big-box store can. And when it comes to paint selection, we are getting a lot more women who come in with their husbands now.

"They may not necessarily buY paint then and there, but they are definitcly thinking about it. And that may mean return business."

The Merchant Maguzine asked Kim Pohl. marketing manager for Maze Nails, to size up the ins and outs of selling color-matched nails.