Furman ls30 \Garc Old

All across the country, Furman Lumber, Inc. employees have been involved in celebrating the 30th anniversary of the company.

The seven sales offices, one manufacturing plant, seven warehouses, five reload distribution centers and seven coastal distribution centers including Boston, Ma., Hq., Denver and Commerce City, Co., and Fortland, Or. facili ties participated in special birthday celebrations.

Furman Lumber has become an institution in the lumber industry since John Furman, now chairman of the board and chief executive officer, started the company with eight other men on Aug. 23, 1956. His son Hawk Furman is now president and chiefoperating officer. Another son, Rocky Furman is senior vice president and director.

Having started with nine employees who sold M million worth of lumber the first year to customers in two states, the firm has grown to 190 employees who sold $212 million worth of lumber last year to 3,000 customers in 43 states.

"Throughout our history," John Furman said, "the company has been committed to its people, and the people, in turn, have developed the company."

For 20 years after Furman began, the company concentrated on distribution of dimension lumber. After 1978, in response to changes in transportation and the consolidation of mills and retailers, Furman initiated a dual strategy for growthdiversification and renewed commitment to customer service.

Furman developed proprietary items for the do-it-yourself market catered to by home center chains. These products include Easy-Up wood products from fencing to workbench and other Lumberkits, Redi-Flor oak parquet flooring and Top-Shelv decorator shelving. All these products are supported with marketing programs created especially to increase retail sales.

For the builder and industrial dealer market, Furman opened a remanufacturing plant to make such items as custom decking, expanded its efforts in plywoods and other panel products and was the first to bring dealers lower cost lumber by using the then innovative concept of reload centers.

The company has developed a number of customer service programs, including a customer advisory board to stay in-tune with customers' needs, a customer service team headed by Rocky Furman to monitor all the firm's efforts with an eye toward customer service and shuttle deliveries from its warehouses.

Furman has not lost sight of the company's basedimension lumber. Dimension remains the overwhelming percentage of the company's business, which benefits from new communications and computer technologies and Furman's market and transportation expertise.

To maintain its growth, the firm now is concentrating on warehouse expansion (two new warehouses were opened in the past year), marketing arrangements with suppliers, expanded panel and do-ityourself products lines and continued commitment to customer service.

NHLA Convention In Canada

The National Hardwood Lumber Association will hold its 1986 convention Oct.20-22 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Speakers include a cabinet minister from Quebec, the chiefexecutive officer from one ofCanada's largest industrial concerns. and the chairman and chief executive partner of one of the U.S.'s most prominent accounting fi rms.

More than 1,500 people are expected to register this year for the first NHLA convention held in Montreal since 194.

Hardwood Promotion Council

Hardwood Industry Promotion Council (HIPC) is a newly formed group whose purpose is to combine and strengthen domestic promotion of hardwood products.

Seven trade association are involved. They include the National Dimension Manufacturers Association, Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturers Association, Fine Hardwoods/American Walnut Association, Hardwood Manufacturers Association, Hardwood Plywood Manufacturers Association, National Hardwood Lumber Association and the Southeastern Lumber Manufacturers Association.

Hardwood lmport Update

The availability of hardwoods worldwide appears to be good at this time if one is willing to pay the price.

This is the opinion of Bruce Frost, Frost Hardwood Lumber Co., San Diego, Ca., the International Hardwood Products Association's lumber committee chairman.

"Lumber in general is on the rise," he says. ''With the weakening of the dollar, Indonesia and Malaysia seem to have ample supplies to meet the demand. The

Philippines, which has been a little tough the last year, seems to be getting some of its problems worked out and now should be able to ship promptly."

Frost reports that South America is very competitive with shipping being the major factor in competitive pricing. The viability of African hardwoods to the west coast of the U.S. has yet to be established, he says, making the European market better situated forAfrica.Despite high ocean freight and container costs, Frost expects that architectural specifications will probably continue to demand some volume of African hardwood.

Alder Survey Underway

A study to show the recovery of lumber and veneer from alder is being conducted by the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management, Morton Alder Mill, Pacific Coast Hardwoods, Inc. and H. R. Jones Veneer.

The alder study aims to obtain product recovery information to be used in making federal land forest management decisions, general product recovery information and evalutions of the relationship of tree/log characteristics and the value ofthe products.

Portland House Remodeling

Western Wood Products Association is managing a forest products industry remodeling project which will culminate as a featured story in the May, 1987, issue of Better Homes & Gardens magazine.

The American Plywood Association and Southern Forest Products Association are cooperating on the project which will involve a "rundown but retrievable house in a nice neighborhood," according to Mike O'Brien, WWPA manager of product publicity. A Portland architect and builder have been hired and preliminary plans have been completed. Construction is scheduled to take about three months.

The project will reflect three of WWPA's current marketing programs: real wood interiors, storage and outdoor living. "The whole point of the project," according to O'Brien, "is to bring our programs into consumers' homes through massive national, regional and local publicity. And because our budget isn't as big as our plans, a lot of that publicity will extend to the companies that help us out with products and services for the project."

In addition to the publicity, the project will be featured in a series of d-i-y plans. The project will conclude with open houses for VIPS, media members and the public.

Wickes Drops Takeover

Wickes Cos. may have lost its battle to acquire Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corp., but it won a profit of over $30 million after expenses in selling stock which it had bought.

At the time they terminated their fi4 per share offer for Owens-Corning, Wickes sold shares acquired during the take-over fight for $9 million profit. Later they exercised an option tobuy 2.2 million shares at $61.05 per share. These also were sold at a profit.

Wickes' decision to withdraw their offer came after Owens-Corning instituted a recapitalization plan that involves borrowing $1.5 billion from banks and selling $300 million of subordinated debt. Wickes also dropped litigation challenging Owens-Coming's defenses against the takeover.

Not defeated, Wickes said that it later ' 'may determine to purchase shares of Owens-Corning's stock in the open market or otherwise." Some analysts speculate that their next effort at acquisition might be directed at USG Corp. or Jim Walter Corp.