Dealers

Welcome Tindell As Chairman

Carl Tindell, pres. and owner, Tindell's Inc., Knoxville, Oak Ridge and LaFollette, Tn., was installed as chairman of the National Lumber & Building Material Dealers Association during the group's 80th annual convention.

He succeeds Roger Scherer, Scherer Brothers Lumber Co., Minneapolis, Mn.

Coincidentally, Tindell's company won NLBMDA's 1996 Award for Excellence in Human Resources.

Also installed were chairman elect Larry McFadden, Fairfax Lumber, Fairfax, Ca.; vice chairman Jesse Brand, Brands, Inc., Columbus, In., and treasurer Robert McClure, McClure Lumber Co., Charlotte, N.C.

The association convened Sept. 2628 in Tucson, Az.

Fire Destroys Alaska Retailer

Valley Sentry Lumber & Hardware, Juneau, Ak., hopes to somehow rebuild after a fire of undetermined origin destroyed its 93,000sq. ft. retail store, sparing only one storage shed.

All that remains of the 3l-year-old family business is a computer backup of records that general manager Dan Graves takes home every night.

"If that's intact," Graves said after the Oct. Sblaze, "we should be able to get going again. But all the forklifts and equipment and everything was destroyed."

The surviving records, lumber shed and its contents would allow Graves to resume business from a travel trailer, albeit temporarily. "Right now we really don't know what we're going to do," he said. "Cost of replacement will be far more than what we're insured to recover,"

The building was last appraised at $500,000, but was undergoing an expensive second-story addition.

Yard Refocuses On D-l-Yers

As other independent lumber yards are sharpening their _focus on professionals, La Mesa Lumber Co., La Mesa, Ca., has done just the opposite.

The 89-year-old company, which has primarily served general contractors, just completed an expansion to increase its emphasis on do-it-yourselfers.

Offices were moved upstairs to make room for a 2,500-sq. ft. retail store, offering a large selection of tools, electrical and plumbing sup- plies. A new computer system was installed to do estimates. track inventory and keep customer records.

Other services include cutting lumber to customers' specifications and same day delivery.

So far, says general manager Carol Peters, customers "tell us thev're happy we made the change. A lot of people came in and said they thought we were closed and are glad to discover we never left."

She is joined by sales manager Mark Olson and operations manager Chris Gauger.

Holiday Woodworking Fair

Offering its customers the chance to buy unique wood crafts as holiday gifts, Southern Lumber Co. is sponsoring a Winter Woodworking Festival Dec. 7-8 at its 3-ll2-acre vard in San Jose, Ca.

Now seeking woodworking vendors, Southern Lumber expects 5,000 to 10,000 to attend the unique collection of wood gift concessions, woodworking demonstrations, food, drink and a children's recreational area. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to charity.