Here's How Blqckstock's Seqttle Yord Tied Up With Stoin Supplier to Put Over 'Demonstrotion Doy'

One of the best recent examDles of modern retail lumberyard merchandising between ihe yard and its suppliers is the classic case of the "Demonstration Day" put on by the H. W. Blackstock Lumber Co., Seattle, and Olympic Stained Products Co., Seattle. The first such show was such a success that plans were immediately made to carry out a similar program with other lumberyards, said officials of Olympic.

Herbert W. Blackstock, head of the retail firm, was elected president of the National Retail Lumber Dealers Assn. for 1959 at the recent covention and exposition in Chicago after having served as secretary, then vice-president, of the national dealer group the past several years. Mr. Blackstock is also a past president of the Western Retail Lumbermen's Assn., Seattle. He gave a full report of his yard's "Demonstration Day" to his fellow officers of the National so that other dealers throughout the country could take advantage of this approach to the do-it-yourself market.

The Demonstration Day was held on a mid-summer Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.^., so that the retail yard could catch the five-day workers and also the 5ft-day-a-week trade. Customers were invited through newspaper advertising in the district in which the Blackstock yard is located, and through direct mail by selecting areas within the district which are predominantly older homes and/or predominantly private new home construction.

The craftsmen who put on the demonstrations were independent contractors who normally work with Blackstock Lumber Co., and they were paid union scale for the time involved. In addition, they were given the opportunity to solicit or accept business during the demonstration.

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Branch Offices: LOS ANGELES - Plymouth 7-22L7 SAN DIEGOBEImont 2-8094 h-r addition to Olympic Stained Products Co., which was co-sDonsor of the show with the H. W. Blackstock Lumber Co.,- there were more than a dozen other non-competitive suppliers in the show with their products on display.

The Olympic Stained Products Co. found this a new approach to marketing its products, in cooperation with key lumber dealers on a test-market basis. The series of do-ityourself exhibitions centered around the uses and applications of Olympic's products.

"We found the most important thing to the do-ityourself trade is knowing how to do the job right," said Olympic Stain officials. "Consequently, we developed this 'Demonstration Day' theme and showing of our products, their applications and uses, to teach the proper way to do the common repair and modernization jobs around the home."

The Demonstration Day'was designed around the general theme of a trade show, with booths of product displays along a freeway in the yard, and skilled craftsmen doing the actual demonstrating on common jobs around the home. They explained the products on display, and their uses, as tliey applied their skills to them.

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