NRTDA Presidenf Opens Exposition Wifh Prediction of Tremendous R.emodeling Mcrrket for Deqlers in 1956

Cleveland, Ohio-The year ahead will see a large amount of new home building and the start of a great era of home modernization, Watson Malone III, president of the NationalRetail Lumber Dealers Assn. (left), said here October 10 at the association's annual directors meeting at the Hotel Cleveland, which was followed by the NRLDA's four-day Building Products Exposition starting October 11 at the Cleveland Public Auditorium.

"New home construction probably wiil slow down slightly from the near-record rate of recent months but should remain at a high level for some time to come," Malone said.

"The comforts and,conveniences which come with today's modern homes are proving highly attractive both to newlyweds and to established families living in older houses.

"Those families which want the advantages of modern homes are modernizing at an unprecedented rate. Even so, there is good reason to believe that home improvement will snowball to much greater dimensions during the next year as a result of the terrific emphasis which will be placed on this type of activity within the industry and elsewhere.

"fn connection with the opening of our second great Building Products Exposition, and in anticipation of the part our industry will play in Operation }fome Improvement, which is to be a major activity of NRLDA and of its members in 1956, I have prepared an important statement with which I want you to be familiar."

This statement tells the public that the nation's retail lumber dealers now stand ready to help home owners arrange all details connected with home improvement projects. The statement by President Malone follows:.

There is nothing new about this idea to many of you, because you have been performing that very service for a long time and have been making a good profit by doing so, because this type of business has been largely noncompetitive

Nevertheless, this statement has deep significance for all dealers, whether or not they have been offering this type of service in the past, because it gives our industry a new importance and a better identity in the public mind.

I have been concerned, and I know many of you have been, about the fact that the name of our industry doesn't truly describe the wide range of helpful and indispensable services we perform for the public. In fact, the name "lumber dealer" alone doesn't convey much of any real meaning to the layman.

Now, I am not suggesting that we change this timehonored name, but I am proposing that we give ourselves a sharper identity in the public mind by presenting ourselves as the headquarters for the great new home improvement industry. That doesn't mean that we will concern ourselves with home improvement alone. We will, of course, continue to handle our contractor business, our home building activities, our do-it-yourself customers, and our commercial and industrial trade.

The point is that home improvement is about to become a national by-word. It is fast developing into a huge new industry which may well sulpass new home building in size and importance. The announcement

I am planning to make is the second step in a campaign to make sure that the public automatically will think of the retail lumber dealer when it thinks of home improvement.

The first step in this campaign 'uvas the adoption of the slogan we used a year ago at our first Exposition in New York. That slogan said: "If you are planning to build anything, see your local lumber dealer first."

That slogan received a lot o{ publicity around the country. It encouraged a number of our building product manufacturers to include statements such as "See your lumber dealer," in their consumer advertising. It was a good start on a great idea.

Before saying more about our second step, let me read the text of the announcement to rvhich l have referred:

"Families desiring to modernize or repair their homes from now on will find their local retail lumber dealers ready to help them get the work completed conveniently and economically.

"Recognizing that the difficulty of arranging the many details of a major modernization job has discouraged many home owners from getting needed work done in the past, retail lumber dealers are prepared to close this gap in the building industry's services as a means of better serving the public and helping stimulate a great wave of home improvements.

"The need for modernizing our huge supply of 20,000,000 older homes and expanding the millions of newer ones is bringing into being a vast new home improvement industry rivalling new home construction in dollar volume and economic importance.

"It is believed that the volume of home improvement work done each year easily can be doubled when the public learns that all of the details connected with adding a porch, finishing a basement, or re-roofing a home can be worked out conveniently through a lumber dealer.

"Dealers will help the public work out the four main steps involved in any modernization project. Those steps are: developing plans or designs, selecting the right quantity of the right materials, arranging for time payment financing, and locating competent and available workmen.

"fn some instances, where sufficient demand exists, lumber dealers handle all of these details within their own organization. Other dealers put the customer in touch with interested designers, financing institutions, and contractors who will perform the necessary services.

"By taking advantage of easy monthly payment financ(Continued on Page 30)