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E-News is an electronic newsletter distributed by Hardwood Floors every other week. Current and previous issues are archived and can be requested electronically. You also can subscribe to E-News, and submit a news item for publication.

Issue Date:1/19/2004

Hardwood Floors E-News: Monday, April 29, 2002

Hardwood Floors E-News
Monday, January 19, 2004
Issue 229
Next issue published February 2, 2004
Deadline for items: January 28, 2004
Send news to editors@hardwoodfloorsmag.com

Send news to mailto:editors@hardwoodfloorsmag.com

Armstrong Closes Arkansas Wood Flooring Facility
Armstrong Floor Products (AFP) (Lancaster, Pa.) closed its Sykes engineered hardwood flooring plant in Warren, Ark., on Dec. 31, 2003. Brian Carson , Armstrong's senior vice president of operations, cited excess capacity and high operating costs affecting Armstrong's competitiveness in the marketplace as the reason for the closure. Approximately 130 employees worked at the plant. AFP's Witt solid hardwood plant, also in Warren, Ark., plans to increase production in the first quarter of 2004. Eligible Sykes plant employees have been offered the opportunity to apply for employment at the Witt plant under the company's inter-plant preferential hiring process, the company says.

In other company news, Armstrong Holdings Inc. reported third quarter wood flooring net sales of $183.7 million, up 1.9 percent from $180.3 million during the same period the prior year. This increase was driven primarily by improved pricing and increased volume in certain products, the company reports. The company sustained an operating loss of $9.9 million in the third quarter of 2003, compared with operating income of $10.0 million in the third quarter of 2002. Of the $19.9 million decline in operating income, $15.6 million was primarily due to charges from the closure of a manufacturing plant in Port Gibson, Miss. Lumber and manufacturing costs and a $2.0 million impairment of an office building determined to be held for sale, partially offset by lower selling expenses, also contributed to the decline. The company anticipates charges of about $8 million during the fourth quarter from its plant closure in Warren.

NWFA Holds First Factory Finished Installation School of 2004
The NWFA held its Factory Finished Installation School Jan. 14-15 in St. Louis. Led by NWFA Technical Director Steve Seabaugh, Rusty Swindoll (NWFA) and volunteer instructors Tim McCool (Cornerstone Flooring Inc.) and Tom Peotter (Oshkosh Floor Designs) taught 20 students the basics prefinished hardwood flooring installation.

Zickgraf Announces New President
Zickgraf Hardwood Flooring Company (Franklin, N.C.) has appointed Drew Hash , formerly vice president of sales for Armstrong Floor Products, as its president. Hash will immediately begin to develop his plan for the expansion of the Franklin manufacturing facility. "We will be working hard over the next several months to show our customers and our future customers the capability of this state of the art plant," Hash says. Concurrently, Hash was named president of Zickgraf and American Floor Finishing Company (AFFCO) in Bryson City, N.C.

Manufacturer/Exporter News
National Hardwood Flooring (Van Nuys, Calif.) is moving to its new, expanded location at 14937 Calvert St., Van Nuys, Calif. The expected opening date is March 1, 2004.

Zipema Wood Products Ltda. (Curitiba, Brazil) has moved to a new office at Rua Visconde do Rio Branco, 1630, zip code 80-402-210, Curitiba, Parana, Brazil. The phone number is 55-41-3023-7888 and the e-mail address is zipema@zipema.com.br .

Anderson Hardwood Floors' (Clinton, S.C.) Hoboken, Appalachian Black Rock, Black Rock Plus and Dellamano brochures and its Maple Heritage and Hickory Flintrock header boards won Judges Awards from the Printing Industry of the Carolinas. The brochures won in the Sales Campaigns category and the header boards won in the Point of Purchase Display category. The pieces were designed by Mark Wilson , creative director of WC&T (Asheville, N.C.) and were printed by Classic Graphics (Charlotte, N.C.).

Bill Smith , co-founder of an Internet-based flooring company and a former Armstrong executive, has launched a new venture, Campbell Smith Enterprises (CSE) . The company currently imports most of its products (bamboo, cork and imported hardwood floor coverings) from Asia and markets them under the Bali Flooring brand name. CSE has distribution centers located in the Southeast, California and Washington. The company can ship individual orders anywhere in the United States or Canada within 10 days, Smith says. Those interested in distributing Bali Flooring should contact CSE at 800/788-1242 or visit www.campbellsmithenterprises.com .

Distributor News
Proforh Floors (Grand Prairie, Texas) is seeking new distributors for its heart pine floors. For more information, call 800/956-8477, e-mail olliethomas@proforh.com , or visit www.proforh.com . In addition, the company has announced it is joining forces with Building Plastics Inc. (BPI) (Memphis) to increase distribution of its flooring. The BPI sales network now will offer local representation and a sampling of Proforh's full line of unfinished, prefinished and hand-distressed heart pine flooring (nail-down and glue-down) through its sales organizations nationwide.

Contractor News
Daniel Boone has changed the name of his company, Boone Wood Floors (Deland, Fla.), to Everwood Floors Inc. The address and phone numbers for the company remain the same: P.O. Box 1906, Deland, FL 32721-1906 and 386/804-0700. The new e-mail address is daniel@everwoodfloors.com .

People News
Glitsa American (Seattle) has promoted Julie Russell to general manager. Russell previously served as marketing manager and has been with the company since 1994. Also, Lisa O'Brien joins Glitsa as marketing specialist.

Horizon Forest Products (Raleigh, N.C.) has added two salespeople to its team. Jim Newberry , a former flooring contractor from Newberry Restorations, and Eddie Corbet join Horizon at its Raleigh branch.

On the Web
Coastal Hardwood Inc. (Mobile, Ala.) has launched a Web site at www.coastalhardwoodinc.com . While parts of the site are still under construction, information is available on products and equipment.

National Hardwood Flooring is revamping its Web site, which will be posted as soon as it is completed. The site will be a replica of the company's 180-page catalog.

Correction
In Hardwood Floors' 2004 Resource Book, Bruce Hardwood Floors ' toll-free number should have been listed as 800/752-5404.

Mark Your Calendar
The NWFA will hold its Advanced Installation School Feb. 11-13 at its headquarters and training center in St. Louis. The school will cover borders, medallions, corner blocks, mixed media, metal inlays, custom job estimating and more. The NWFA also will hold its Introduction to Wood Flooring Installation School Feb. 24-27 in St. Louis. For more information, call 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and international), e-mail installationschools@nwfa.org , or visit www.nwfa.org .

NOFMA: The Wood Flooring Manufacturers Association celebrates the 25th anniversary of its hardwood flooring installation school with the 50th offering of the course March 27-31 in Memphis. NOFMA, The Maple Flooring Manufacturers Association and the NWFA will jointly sponsor the school. The curriculum covers all aspects of proper wood flooring installation. For more information, visit www.nofma.org , or call 901/526-5016.

Surfaces 2004 and the World Floor Covering Association , in cooperation with the Certified Floor Covering Installers Association , will present an Installation Showcase Jan. 27-28. It will include a session on hardwood flooring sales and installation with NWFA member Steve Marley of Cal-Coast Hardwood Flooring Jan. 28 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

NWFA Member Services
Whether you are looking for the right person to fill a job opening at your company or need a new position, NWFA can be your career resource center. Members can access the exclusive online Classified Ads Service at www.nwfa.org by clicking on "Member Networking" then "Classified Ads." With a member ID, you can post jobs available or jobs wanted. Both members and non-members can view listings posted by NWFA members. If you need assistance using this service, e-mail jank@nwfa.org , or call 800/422-4556 (U.S.), 800/848-8824 (Canada) or 636/519-9663 (local and int'l).