Eorly Attendonce, Exhibit Registrotions Point 1957

NRLDA Exposition qs the 'lndustry's Greotest Show'

Aclvance registraticin information and frirms for the 1957 Building Products Exposition to be held in Philaclelphia, November 1-7. are nou' being sent orrt by the Nationai Retail Lumlrer Dealers .A,ssociation, according to ]'aul R. Elv, association president. The forms, mailed fo 25,000 lumbir and building material dealers throughout the United States, rvill enable those planning to attend the Exposition to register before arriving in Philadelphia.

Registration fee for the full four days of the Exposition is $15 per dealer, rvhich entitles him to visit the exhibits as often as l-re desires and to attend all clinic programs. Dealers who rvish to attend for less than the full four-dav oeriod may register at $5 per day rvith the privilege of visiting the exhibits and attending any clinic sessions during the days for rvhich they are registered.

Complying rvith a popular demand that has been evidenced among dealers familiar u,ith past NRLDA shor,vs, the management of the E,xposition is introducing a new provision this year t.hich rvill enable attending dealers to bring employes or other guests for reduced registration fees. Under this arrangement, any deaier u'ho registers prior to October 25 at $15 may then register as many empl,oyes or guests as he t.ishes at diminishing rates of from $5 to $2 eacl.r per day. There rvill be no registration fee for clealers' \\r1ves.

Dealers are urged to return their advance registration forms to NRLDA headquarters in Washington as early as possible. "Indications alryady point to a record-smashing dealer attendance at our Philadelphia shorv," Mr. Ely sayJ.

Soaring t'ell past preliminary estimates of exhibit space sales, the fourtir-annual NRLDA Exposition in Philadelphia continues to add nerv exhiltitors and ner,v products each u,eek. H. R. Northup, executive vice-president of the association, has reportecl to the Expositi,rn Committee that 9l/o of the exhibit space has already been contracted for and the committee is considering the advisability of adding additional sp.ac.es. Today the NITLDA Exposition paces thi industry in bringing together dealers, manufacturers and rvholesalers, and already 37 new companies, not participating in 1956, have contracted for space.

Concern for the needs of the small-to-average dealer has characterized planning throughout this yeai's program. Products and equipment to be featured in the exhiblt booths rvill run the gamut of the building materiais industry-from rvire brads to heavy duty straddle trucks.

The 1957 NRLDA Exposition will require a floor area of better than 165,000 sc1. ft. with an addifional 31,000 sq. ft. of adjacent exterior space, rvhich will be utilized for materials-handling demonstrations. This will swell the total area used by the NRLDA Exposition to nearly 200,000 sq. ft. of space.

Advance hotel reservations ciearly indicate that the 1957 Exposition rr'i11 drarv a larger dealer attendance than the 1956 Chicago E.xposition, rn'hich established it as the largest dealer registration sholv in the industry.

Mr. Northup said, "ft all adds up to the fact that the NRLDA Building Products Exposition has become established as the most important single show in the industry today-for manufacturers and wholesalers looking for distribution as rvell as for dealers, builders, and contractors n'ho are constantly on the lookout for merchandising and

The Market:

There's real opportunity in selling fir plywood for school construction. Versatile fir plywood is used for: roof and wall sheathing. subflooring. concrete form work -for siding, paneling, built-ins, cabinets, wainscoting, fixed furniture. Everywhere you turn, there's a prouen fir plywood use!

Who to Gontact:

See your local school officials . the architects in your area who plan school construction . . . the contractors who build the schools. And don't forget to contact members of your school board! All of these people have a voice in the materials used. Tell them the fir plywood success story.

Sales Tools For You!

Douglas Fir Plywood Association has just published two new pieces of literature on schools: "Schools of the Future". . . a new portfolio embodying the thinking of six leading school architects-and "Fir Plywood in Schools for Qunlity Construction at Lower Cost." For sample copies and prices on quantities, write: Douglas Fir Plywood Association, Tacoma 2, Washington.

FTR PLYWOOD for SGHOOL GO]{STRUGTION

TOP: Texture l-ll, the grooved fir plywood siding, used on o school in Whitefish, Montono. Here's on oflroctive, minimum-mointenonce exlerior treolment.

BELOW: School clossroom slorqge cobinet of fir plywood. Resists domoge, odds beouty, cut mointenonce.

operating techniques to increase sales and lorver operating costs."

Dealers and manufacturers will have an excellent oppor- tunity.to study the sales points of NRLDA Display Panels "in action" at the NRLDA Exposition. The Panels rvill be extensively used in the 1958 Sales IJuilder Store, a life-size reproduction of a modern, scientificallv designed and merchandising-engineered retail lumberyard store recently opened in a midrvestern city (CLN'I, Page 2, I0/l/57). Many manufacturers have adopted NRLDA Panels as a standard method of displaying their products in retail lumber ,stores. Special kits of merchandising and end-use pro- motion materials u'l-rich they have designed for NRLDA Panel display r,vill be set up in the store. Since their introduction three years ago, the NRLDA Display Panels have gained r,videspread popularity throughout [he-industry. The lumber dealer's biggest roadblock to effective, well-rounded shor,vroom displal' has been the bulkiness of much of his merchandise. I-umber and building materials displays, often arvkn'ard in the shou'roonr, have taken a back seit in tt-re rvarehouse n'hile tools, hardn'are, paint, etc., have preempt- ed display space inside the store. NRLDA Displav panels have. helped the <lealer o\rercome this disadvantage to SO7 of his nrercl-randise ancl enabled him to develo"p a more balanced ancl coordinaterl nrerchanclising p.og."-. Actual samples of hard-to-display items such js iu--be. and plv_ u,ood, roofing, insulation, louvers, screens, etc., can norv be attractively clisplayed right in the nriclst ot- er.erydav store traffic, stimulating sales and promoting rvider ur" ot special ized materials.

Heavy Emphasis on Merchandising

^ Heavy emphasis n.i1l be placed on mercharrclising in the Component Construction Clinic at the l95Z ll^*position. Billed :rs "Merchandising Lu-Re-Co and Component Con_ structio' N,Ietl.rods," tl.re program u,ill take :r completelv different forrnat from that follolved in previous Compo- nent Clinic programs. Clinic Chairman Ray C. Tylander says, "We feel that by norv nearly all dealers have seen or read, either througl-r manufacturers' literature or the trade press, the processes involved in componenr consrruction. So this year lve have eliminated the sarv and hammer technique with the customary end-vier,v sections of houses, and have built a more advanced program l'ith emphasis on selling and management."

What the Lumber Dealer Needs

Six subjects u'ill be covered-three each in morning and afternoon sessions. Topics slated for discussion are : What tl.re lumber dealer needs in the u'ay of personnel, type of macl.rinery, etc., in order to go into component construction; Investment in facilities required-lools, jigs, etc.; Hou' lumber dealers should merchandise comDonents: Follorving through rvith contractors ; Financing; profit po- tential in component construction.

Research l)irector Raymon H. Harrell of Lumber Dealers Research Council is rvorking lvith the Clinic chairman to develop ancl coordinate the program .ir.hich n,ill "break nerv grouncl in its organized approach tou'ard helping the retail Iumber dealer meet tl-re opportunities of an expanding market for pre-construction," Mr. Tylander said.

Over 100 acres on the Delarvare River rr aterfront u-ill be the scene of one of the big plus features for dealers attending the Exposition, November 1 to 7. Dealers u,ill be u,atch- ing unloading operations of a cargo of lumber from a freighter docked at Pier 179, a tour through \\'-eyerhaeuser l,umber Company's tremendous outcloor storage area, a trip through the 180,000 sq. ft. J. R. Quigley Warehouse, one of the largest millt'ork u'arehorrses east of the Mississippi, and a tour of the \\ratson NIalone ar.rri Sons timber vAro.