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the public could attend. To relieve pressure on his switchboard, the editor requested permission to announce that NRLDA would hold the.Exposition open an additional day for public a-dmission with the newspaper underwriting thl cost. The offer, of course, was declined.

San Francisco In 1960

Before the doors were closed on the 1959 show, plans were already well advanced for the 7th annual NRLDA Building Products Exposition. Scheduled for November 13-76, 1960, it will be held in the newly comoleted Brooks Hall annex to the San Francisco Civic Auditoiium and will be the first national trade show in the building industry ever staged in any western city.

A_n I'-xposition spokesman revealed that a survey made during the Cleveland show indicates interest in the San Francisco Exposition is running even higher than NRLDA officials originally anticipaled. planJ for the 1960 NRLDA Exposition' are to be announced shortly after the first ofthis year.

NoGol Deqlers ot Exposition

The Northern California dealer members of the Lumber Merchants Association attending the Exposi- tion in Cleveland included: revealed in the "Mr. Dealer-Look in the Mirror" program which_-played to a standing-room-only audience bf irore than 500. Amusing cartoon slides and iape recordings softened the "horrible examples" which came out of Jrecent nation-wide shopping survey conducted by Look Magazine especially for this.program. Cardinal sini of salesminship by dealers, as well as employes, were laid bare in actujl cases of indifference, rudeness, disorderly housekeeping, and even "purchase resistance." Chairman'Carolyn Nittl6ton of Covington, Va., urged dealers to re-examille their own customer relations as an immediate and simple means to increase sales, and emphasized the grorving importance of the woman customer in this industrvl

_ Ho_m9r M. Hayward, Homer T. Hayward Lumber Co., Salinas iJact Russell, Homer T. Hayward Lumber Co., Pacific Grove; Louis Silvera and wife, Silvera Lumber Co., Antioch; Ken O'Neill, O'Neill & Ellis. Campbell ; Wendell Scott, },Ierner's and Progress Lumber companies; Ernie Stratton, Sequoia Luirber Co., Visalia^; Joe Kirk, Kirk Lumber & Building Mate- rials Co., Santa Maria; Hamilton Knott, Yosemite Lumber Co., Fresno; Frank Heard, I\4otroni-Heard T,umber Co., Woodland; Jack Pomeroy, Lumber Merchants Assn., San Francisco, and Bernie Barber, Bernie Barber & Associates. Fresno.

Management Meetings Drew Serious Dealer Audiences

Attentive dealer audiences heard authorities within and outside the building materials industry address ten major business management sessions of the recent NRLDA Buiiding Products Exposition in Cleveland. Emphasis in almost every program was placed on various ways in which the dealer can increase his sales.

Discussing "Dealer Building and Land Control," an alldealer panel representing widely scattered geographical areas, pointed out many important factors the dealer should investigate before purchasing land for development. The session was under the chairmanship of Harry Balcom of Bossier City, Louisiana. Marie Bennett, former executive secretary of the Florida Lumber and Millwork Association, was program manager, Object lessons in how NOT to handle customers were

The program has been scheduled for at least half of the federated association conventions during the next few months. The session rvas under the management of Robert A. Jones, executive vice-president of the Middle Atlantic Lumbermen's Association.

"Sales Promotions That Sell Like 60 !" was chairmanned by St. Paul Dealer George S. Withy and documented five highly successful dealer promotion programs. Edwin W. Elmer, executive secretary of Midwest Lumber Dealers Assn., served as program manager.

That kitchen and home modernization sales can be big business for the lumber dealer was brought out in a session L..!qd by James H. Wiseman of Searcy, Arkansas. Horace G. Pierce, managing director of Northeastern Retail Lumbermen's Association, developed and managed the program.

Led by Traverse City, Mich., Dealer Roblrt Dean, manufacturer and dealer spokesmen hit the need for thoroughly sales-conscious dealer organizations and for the necessary tryrining to produce theri in a prevue of NRLDA's neri, 'Salesmak_er, Part II" produced-for the retail industry by Masonite Corp. Donald J. Moe, secretary-manager of Michigan Retail T,umber Dealers Assn., was prog'ram manager.

-Labor Relations problems were discussed from the"point of view of the unorganized dealer as well as those operiting under union contracts in a program headed by LaSalle, Ill. Dealer Clarence Elliott. Edmund Vos, another Illinois dealer, described union tactics in his area and stated that if current labor reform laws had been in effect several years ago his employes would not have been forced into union

Merchandising of Lu-Re-Co component construction was also discussed in a major "brunch"-session, with Robert V. Blackstock of Seattle, Washington, as Chairman.

Another highlight of the 1959 NRLDA Exposition prog_ram was a humorous "Senate Investigation" headed by William Foley of South Bend, Ind., as "Senator-Chairmad, conducting a mock probe into the industry's distribution and marketing practices. The dramatization was written and. produc"4 by Robert L. Craft, executive secretary of Indiana Lumber and Builders Supply Association that a well-planned employee-relations program is their best defense against union aggression. OncJ faced with the threat of unionization, the dealer should plan and conduct his counter-campaign under legal guidance, Mahin cau- ofrered"to clealers on request.

With the well-wishes of President Eisenhower setting the backgrorrnd for a successful annual meeting, the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association's Board of Directors took actions which were called a "milestone in the association's growth." The meeting was held in Cleveland, November 11-13, prior to the Exposition.

F. Sembell, secretary-treasurer of Illinois Lumber membership against their wishes. C. Boyd Mahin, promi- nent Chicago labor-manasement attornew adwised ,ior1"r. Chicago r-management attorney, advised dealers and Material Dealers Assn., managed the session.

"Credit-Capital at Work for You and Your C You Customers" covered dealeri' short-term credit problems with discussions on credit and collections, Revolving credit, FHA Title One, and open-end mortgages.

One of the most slgnificant revelations of this session w-as. the increasingly popular policy among dealers of adding a /r% to lfuo/o service charge each month on accounts receivable over 60 days old. More important than the income from service tharges, it was fointed out, is the fact that the customer raiely permits-his account to become overdue when he knowJ such a charge will be added.

Chairmanned by Frank W. Kellam of Princess Anne, Va., the-program was developed and managed by Harris Mitchell, secretary-managei of Virginia Building Materials Association. -

. Long-term_TgrJgage problems were handled in a program fea$9{ by--N_RI-DA's newly elected second vice-president for 1960, W. L. Johnson of Boise, Idaho.

Dealel speakers on "Financing-Where to Get It-How to ]Jse It" analyzed effective ways of handling trade in

Herbert W. Blackstock, Seattle, NRLDA president, said the decision of the board of directors to expand the association's financial base and to approve a 1960 budget pro- viding for broader dealer-aid prbgrams would "-alrk i960 as the year the National moved into high gear."

After opening the Board meeting, Mr. Blackstock read the following telegram from the President of the United 5tates :

It is a pleasure to send greetings to those attending the annual convention of the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association. The members of this Association perform a constructive role in providing better housing for our people. Their part in the home impro=vement progrim is a triLute to American Enterprise and Industry.

Best wishes for a fine Convention, paul DeVille Elected president

Dwight D' Eisenhower' deals and financi ion. Program man- ano nnanclng component constructron. program man_ ager was Gene Ebersole, executive vice-presidenl of Lumbermen's Association of Texas.

THE NEW 1959.60 OFFICERS OF THE N.R.L.D.A. are (seated, Ieft to right): W. B. Oldham, Dallas, Texas, lst vice-president; PauI V. DeVille, Canton, Ohio, president; William L, Johnson, Boise, Idaho, 2nd vice- president. (Standing, l. to r.): Edward H. Libbey, Washington, D.C., re-elected secretary; H. R. Northui, Washington, D.C., re-elected executive vice-president, and John W. Dain, Mahopac, N. Y.. treasurer. The dealers were elected to their high office last month at the directors' meetings part of the giant Exposition in Cleveland, Nov. 1417.

Julian H. Zimmerman, commissioner of the Federal Housing Authority, who spoke to the Board on Friday, November 13. predicted tremendous expansion of the Ameiican economy during the next 40 yeari, and estimated that there would be 115 million dwelling units, being built at the rate of 2% tp 2l mlllion annually, in the Unitid States by the year 2,000.

However, he frankly told the retail lumber industry that their share of the market for the building materiil in these houses was by no means assured and that the future of lumber in home building depends on how well

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