We'rg talking hardwoods.;

Ll ARDWOODS. The chairmen of I I the boards. Expect some to be expensive. Expect quality. Expect commitment from the men who work with them. In general, hardwood people are backed by years of experience and usually take pride in their business. Here a panel of such experts speak out for this magazine on the current state ofthe hardwood industry and how dealers can best market the product.

Q: How are hardwoods currently selling?

G.T. Frost, Jr., president, Frost Hardwood Lumber Co., San Diego, Ca.: As the American dollar falls in the international marketplace, the bargain is in U.S. products. And right now we're seeing an unprecedented demand for domestic hardwoods. Oak, both red and white, and to some degree, as oak becomes higher and higher priced, birch and maple.

Doug Bolton, general rnanager, Redi-To-Use Hardwoods (a Weverhaeuser Co.). Titusville, Pa.: Hardwood usage is way up. There's currently a strong export market at the same time as a strong domestic market. The kitchen cabinet manufacturers, for example, are busy as heck. Usually there is an excess of supply during the summer. Not this year. Prices never went down. Now winter is coming, when the kilns turn slower and the logs are harder to get, but the demand will stay just as strong. Prices will continue to rise.

Q: Who's buying?

Pat Philen, sales representative, Linden Lumber Co., Linden, Al.: All markets are extremely strong, everywhere. Usua{ly it's just domestic or export, rarely both. It's nationwide, the Pacific Rim countries, and also into Europe.

Jack Butson, vice president, Brady International Hardwoods, Renton, Wa.: Export business is strong in the Pacific Rim countries, but continuing as in the past. There are no new customers springing up. We pick up ground by the competition dropping the ball. There's no loyalty in this business.

Bruce Hall, marketing manager, Cal Oak Lumber Co., Oroville, Ca.: Locally, the demand has been more intense in Southern California. which is more a Number I common and Number 2 common, lower grade market. Meanwhile, the Bay Area

(of California) traditionally prefers select grades.

Q: What products are these hardwoods being used for?

Walter M. Fields, Jr., current president, National Hardwood Lumber Association and Walter Fields Lumber Co., Inc., Memphis, Tn.: Hardwood flooring has picked up a lot. It's slowly getting back to where it was years and years ago, in the precarpeting days.

Pat Philen

Rob Kincaid, vice president, American Hardwood Co., Los Angeles, Ca.: We are into the custom end of the business as well as harder to find items. Our philosophy has been to find out what the customer wants and make a dollar doing it.

Q: Are dealers doing a good job of selling hardwood?

Butson: I think the dealers are doing fine. I think if people have a little money in their pockets, theY're going to spend it and remodel the rec room. That's where the hardwoods are sneaking in.

Kincaid: No. They must understand hardwoods. They should have at least one person on their staff with some expertise in hardwoods. Typically what they're doing is sitting it out there for the customers to grab it. It's a high ticket item with high ticket margins, and they're counting on the customers to know its value. Try suggestive selling.

Frost: The enlightened retailer recognizes that hardwood lumber has a broad scope ofquality, depending on where it's grown, how well it's manufactured, and a number of other factors. Many times you can take red oak from one area and red oak from another and really you end up with apples and oranges.

Some retailers think the lowest priced product is what the customer wants and that's what they're going to sell him. The typical retailer may not understand the philosophy that quality will demand a fair price. He goes for the Home Depot, deep discount approach. If they would offer value at a fair price, they really would better help the customer.

Story at a Glance

Hardwood men discuss the current market.. who's buYing what, what sells and what doesn't. are dealers doing a good job with hardwood... how long will the good times last?

Q: Are dealers getting any helP?

Fields: The NHLA is starting an extensive promotional program, beginning at our October Washington, D.C., convention, geared toward designers and architects. This should really help the distribution yards and millwork houses.

Q: How long will the Present strong business last?

Q: What advice could you offer to help them to improve their sales?

Fields: It's so strong now, domestically and foreign, that I see it as continuing through the balance of this year and well into the next.

Q: But is there anything theY could change?

Bolton: The hardwood market is still too much for the superior craftsman. We're pushing to broaden hardwoods for the part-time expert. But the do-it-yourselfer who wants to make a cabinet in his garage needs a much higher quality board. The craftsman might have a planer; the d-i-yer might only have a skill saw in the garage. So he needs straight, flat boards more dimensionally to size.

Philen: Find out what the end use of the product is. Don't just sell the lumber by the grade, NHLA No. I or No. 2 grade or whatever. Find out what the customers are using it for and what type would give them the best yield. Oftentimes they would be better off using something else.

Bolton: Sell projects. Give consumers an idea what to do with hardwoods. When a customer walks by, he shouldn't see a bunch of boards but a bookshelf.

Frost: As long as the product's not priced out of the market. We're seeing many competitive productsmedium density fiberboard, melamine overlays and so onto solid hardwoods. They can take the Place of hardwood lumber if, say, red oak is priced to a point where the manufacturer feels he can'tjustify the use.

Kincaid: I see it continuing for the next six to eight months. But then I'm an optimist.

I T'S NO SECRET that afluent

I young people - yuppiesare demanding the best in life and have the money to support their taste.

Solid hardwood plank or paneling in a home is becoming a sign of success to this group, like a Porsche or a wine cellar. Retailers who recognize this trend can target buy-it-yourself and do-it-yourself markets by developing a hardwood inventory aimed at shoppers with status symbol tastes and incomes to match.

Landmark Lumber Inc., Clearwater. Fl.. a manufacturer who believes in the potential of solid wood paneling, is catering to this market with pre-packaged, cleaned, sanded and finished, ready-to-install products. Using slogans such as "The real thing," "Enhance the beauty ofyour home," "Accent a wall this weekend," "Solid wood paneling will last a lifetime," "Nothing else can compare with solid wood paneling," they are aiming at those who