THE TURMA]I SY$EM I]ITRODUCES SIURDI.WOOD ORIE]ITED SIRA]ID BOARD

Engineered To Work In These Apptications

. Roof Sheathing . Sub Flooring/Underlayment Stair Treads o Lamination Substrate

WallSheathing Shelving

. D.l.Y. Projects o Crating . Pallets

Engineered To Incorporate These Speciat Features

. Designed with a 3-layer perpendicular orientation for added strength, stitfness, and dimensional stability.

. Constructed in thickness from th" to1%" and in panef sizes up to8' x24!

. Designed in one gradereplacing several grades of plywood.

. Engineered with a solid core.

. Guaranteed Knot free, Void free and Patch free.

Furman Lumber, a coast to coast distributor of qual ity lu m ber prod ucts introduces Sturdi-Wood from Pelican Mills. This state of the art Oriented Strand Board is ideallv suited for residential and industrial construction, plus a wide variety of do-ityourself applications. Furman Lumber has many years of experience in this new generation of structural panels and is confident that this improved OSB product will play a significant part in the dynamic growth of the western construction industry.

. Designed to cut, drilland naileasily.

r Formulated with a non-Urea exterior glue (Phenolic Resin).

Designed to be at least equal to plywood in everyway.

Publisher Emeritus A.D. Bell, Jr.

Editor-Publisher David Cutler

Associate Editor Juanita Lovret

Assistant Editor Patricia Nowlin

Contributing Editors Dwight Curran, Gage McKinney, Ken Thim

Art Director Martha Emery

Staff Artist Carole Shinn

Circulation Dorothea Creegan

The Merchant Magazine (USPS 796-56000) is published monthly at 4500 Campus Dr., Suite 480' Newport Beach, Ca. 92660, Phone (714) E52-1990, by The Merchant Magazine, Inc. Second-class postage rates paid at NewPort Beach, Ca., and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Merchant Magazine, 4500 Campus Dr., Suite 480, NewPort Beach. Ca. 92660. Advertising rates upon request.

Advertising Offices

FROM WASHINGTON STATE & IDAHO: contact Crrole Holm, 7033 82nd S.E', Mercer Island. Wa. 98040. Phone (2M) 624410.

I.ROM NORTHDRN CALIT'ORNIA & OREGON: contact Dsvid Culler, 4500 Campus Dr., Suite 480, Newport Beach, Ca. 926ffi. CaIl (714) 852-1990.

FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: contact Carl Vann, 205 Oceano Dr., Los Angeles, Ca. 90049. Phone (213\ 412-3113 or (714) 8521990'

FROM THE NORTHEAST: JosePh A. Shea' 6l Maine Ave. F-4, Rockville Centre, N.Y. 11570. Call (5t6) 678-t625.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

Change of Address-Send subscriPtion orders and address changes to Circulation Dept., The Merchant Magazine, 4500 Campus Dr., Suite 480, Newport Beach, Ca. 92660. ln' clude address label from recent issue ifpossible, plus new address and zip code.

Subscription Rates-

U.S.: $9-one year; $15-two Years; $20-three years. Foreign: $20-one year; $35-two years. Single coPies $2. Back copies $3 when available' lf you're going to specialize in specialty lumber, there's no going halfway about it. You've got to carry the best.

And at Disdero Lumber Company, we do. We carry top quality Western Red Cedar, Redwood, Douglas Fir, Hemlock and Pine. And we have them in kiln-dried, vertical and mixed grain finish, pattern and siding. In standard sizes or milled to your specifications.

We're also a leading supplier of Laminated Beams. As well as Lock Deck@ Laminated Deckino.

So before you settle for any" thing less than the best, get one thing perfectly clear: For top quality lumber, call Disdero.

A specialty lumber distributor for over 30 vears.

In Oregoh, calltoll-free (800) 452-5737 West of the Rockies (except Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico and Colorado), call tollfree (800) 547-4209.

Disdero Lumber Co.

PO. Box 42247 1504 S.E. Woodward Portland, Oregon97242 (503) 239-8888

Editorial

Welcome to Drab, Incorporated

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tion. It can be a negative factor if potential customers never think of the firm and consequently do their buying elsewhere.

Many home centers and lumber yards suffer from a lack of identity. If you were blindfolded and taken into a series of stores, how many do you think you could identify by glancing around? Take a half dozen flyers or other home center advertisements, cover the company name and then try to identify the particular company.

Most hotels are also just a blur. Yet one we know of took an isolated incident over 50 years ago and, with creativity, turned it into a tradition and a powerful identity feature. When flrve ducks were first dumped into the lobby fountain they weren't just removed. Rather, they were marched ceremoniously out on a red carpet and upstairs to a rooftop pen. It was so much fun that now, morning and night, accompanied by an

DAVID CUTLER editor-publi sher

announcer and recorded music the ducks march to and from their fountain, urged along by uniformed staffers. (Old Memphis hands will, of course, recognize this as the venerable Peabody Hotel). It may be silly, but it's very popular and the hotel doesn't miss a chance to promote its ducks. Indeed, they are the theme of much of their advertising.

While you may not be ready to march ducks around your home center, you should be creative enough to find someone or something that will help you establish a vivid corporate identity. Our example shows that nearly anything, used in an imaginative, appealing manner can be converted into a trademark. One the customers will remember favorably at buying time.

The key is imagination, the magic ability to see something exciting in the commonplace. Whether you use your own or borrow someone else's bright idea, developing a device to bring your firm to mind is worth the cost and effort.