Housing Chief Cole to Address Deolers of Notionql Erposition; Retqil Lumbermen Will Visit 1958 'Soles Builder Store'

Albert M. Cole, Housing and Home Finance administrator, has accepted an invitation to address the nation's retail lumber dealers during the 1957 Building Products Exposition in Philadelphia, announced Paul V. DeVille, general chairman of the Exposition. Mr. Cole will be the featured speaker at a special building industry luncheon program, November 7, closing day of the National Retail Lumber Dealers Association's 4-day Exposition. Builders, architects, bankers, realtors and other allied business and professional people in the Philadelphia area will be invited by the lumber dealers as guests for the special program which will be held in the Ballroom of the Philadelphia Trade and Convention Center. An overflow crowd is expected to attend and to hear Mr. Cole's address.

An entirely new retail merchandising program is being developed for the 1957 Building Products Exposition. Plans for the feature, to be called "1958 Sales Builder Store," have now been firmed up under the direction of Chairman Phil Creden, merchandising manager of the Edward Hines Lumber Company, Chicago. Covering an area of 540O sq. ft., the store will be a life-size course in retail merchandising methods. It is to be an exact copy of an actual lumberyard store recently opened in a midwestern city and, to provide unquestioned authenticity, will contain the same brands as are displayed in that store and the same quantities of each, thus illustrating sound merchandising balance.

Its design is intended to express a new concept of store layout involving lumber, building materials, and hardware, and to provide the customer with a one-stop operation for purchases of all three. Emphasis will be placed on display of lumber in self-service sizes and on building materials, with special attention being given to the "chain reaction" advantage of one purchase promoting another.

NRLDA Display Panels in the store will feature merchandising and end-use promotion kits prepared by exhibitor manufacturers and especially designed to fit the display panels. Exhibitors are being urged to tie in their own display material in their booths with the 1958 Sales Builder Store display panels.

Question and answer clinics on merchandising methods will be held in an adjacent meeting room on two mornings during the Exposition. At these sessions the owner of the original store and his manager will be on hand, together with Chairman Creden and other merchandising authorities to answer dealers' questions pertaining to operation of the store.

Decision was made by NRLDA to present this feature under its orvn auspices at the Philadelphia show after observing the "outstanding success scored by last year's 'model store'. Our dealers have been quick to recognize that three-dimensional presentation of sales ideas can be as important to their profit picture as the chance to get a look at new products, new services, or new handling methods demonstrated at the show. The 1958 Sales Builder Store is an outstanding example of dealers telling other dealers first-hand how they capitalize on present-day buying habits to make it quick, convenient, and efficient for their customers to shop," Creden said.

"The immediate favorable reaction to the merchandising center last year convinced us we had something the dealers have long needed. We are confident that in the 1958 Sales Builder Store we are giving them exactly the type of merchandising information they are looking for."