5 minute read
ldeas your store can use in selling home improvements
C PRING usually brings the urge to rJ fix up the house and yard. Cooperate with your customers by making it easy for them to do their home improvements.
Point out your decorating department with colorful signing and graphics. Giant-size swatches of wall coverings and paint samples will add both color and interest.
Use decorative vignettes with attractive wall coverings as background to inspire the customers to freshen up their own homes.
Wall covering, a basic for home improvement, can be a frustrating choice for the d-i-y decorator. You can help by mounting a series of mirrors in a concave form within a wooden frame. When a roll of wall covering is placed exactly in front of the mirrors, the customer sees five multiple images of the pattern. While not a complete room, this is often enough to help a person make a decision.
A comfortable well-lighted spot for browsing through wall covering sample books is another assist for the customer. Help to keep it tidy by having a storage rack or shelves for the books close at hand. A hands-on clinic demonstrating the proper ways to apply wall covering can strengthen a customer's confidence in redecorating.
Have take-home sheets available explaining how to measure rooms, determine the amount of material needed, the tools required, and the basics of applying.
Neishborine displavs of wall covering to"ols and sundri6s including adhesives. ladders. and water boxes for pre-pasted papers will remind customers to buy supplies.
Paint cans themselves can be decorative when arranged in an orderly fashion. Utilize their shape and color to an advantage. Arrange an informative display of special purPose brushes, roller, covers and paint pads. Spell out their specific uses and advantages in making a job easier and more professional.
Decorative hardware can spiff up a kitchen or bathroom. Create some attractive before and after displays to demonstrate.
Story at a Glance
Ways to encourage customers in home imProvement proiects. .. increase Your share of the market. .. bring new life and action into your metchandising.
Fresh new medicine chests with attractive trim and lights can do a lot for a bathroom. Display your samples with colorful towels and bath accessories.
Decorative brick or stone facings offer another alternative in wall face lifts. Mount samples of each tYPe with complete consumer information.
Display decorative hardware with flair by mounting samples on colorful backgrounds with handsome frames.
Spotlight a gigantic line drawing of a house and garage with bright colored lines connecting labeled pictures of products with the spots where they can be used to update the home. For examDle. a garage door opener connected to th-e girage dooi; garbage disposal to kitchen sink; tub enclosure to bathroom.
Mount each type of shingle You stock on a slanted shelf with pricing information and racks of manufacturer literature hung above.
Identtfi common nail sizes with a sign indicating the size and its measurement in inches by comParing to a ruler mounted on the display.
Make replacement of broken switches or outlets or the addition of new ones easier by having models showing how they are wired.
Post check lists for various jobs near the materials involved. For example, in the paneling section include needed materials and tools such as color-matched nails and a rubber mallet.
Preparation for a iob can often require special tools and materials. List the preparation stePs for common jobs including the supplies and tools. Post prominently with coPies for take-home.
Set up model rooms showing uP' dated kitchens and bathrooms. Bring them alive with color and accessories. Put prices on each fixture stressing the economy and ease of remodeling'
Energy saving merchandise can be maior items such as insulation or smill items such as caulk. Have informative signing explaining the advantages and how-to of all such items. Sell savings with stress on the tax credits.
When you send out your home improvement sales catalog devote a few pages to instructions for common repairs such as taking care of a sticking door or replacing a broken window pane.
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Several western dealer assns., along with the National Lunrber and Building Material Dealers Assn., ore pushing, active campaigns to induce the {'ed. gov. to change policies that have caused the dramatic slump in honre bldg. ancl relatecl indr,rstries. .
The Arizono Lumber c& Buitrters Suppl.t' Assn. has Operation BUILD, Break Ultrahigh Interests on Loans fbr Developnlent. the Mountoin States Lumber Dealers lssr. is sending a card to menrbers lbr their signatures so their names can be added to petitions to the Presiclent and area Congressmen requesting action on the housing crisis.
Latest hor-rsing start l'igs. (Mar.) sagged 21.801,, nearly a 5year lov'; it was the 2nd largest mo. decline ever. the rate fell lo I ,041 ,000 units on a seasonally acliustecl annual basis, both single family and ntultiples fell as pernrils for future construction clropped 21.21l, behincl Feb. and 35.1i\' below the year earlier...
The Adntinislration ok'd ir support progranl that coulcl add 100.000 aclclitional starts, but despite builders and others' protests, ./ilrther ./ed. aid hope seemed dint. . . builder groups expecl '80 to be their woist year ever.
The prime rate hit 2001'. ,/'ell quicklv to lBtl"/,and ls expected to slide./urther, how f ar clepencls on the recessiort's effect on demand for $$. .some predicl a lltl, prinre bl, nricl-suntmer. 12\il, by the encl o1- '80 with nrortgages betwecn 12')/u1 4'Y,.
Widespread mill closures clntinuc, with rrrore than 70(\1, ol Oregor-r's nrills closed or shuttered. . ever\i part of tlre West has been sinrilarly hit. more than 54.000 of' 137.000 sarvnrill and pllning operations in thc West have been af fectccl by llyoffs altd culbrcks. .
Westcrn RRs havc addt'd a 1.2'14, surcltal'.q(, on all trafflc to, I'ronr & within the West. cenrent industry spokesmen expcct prices to double v:ithin 5 J)ears, hitting Sl00 a ton bt' '85. consluler conflclcrrce has sun k to lls lou'est point in -l decades, according ttl the U. of Michigan, which purports to be able to nreasure such things.
Louisiana-Paci/ic has a new $12 nrillion snrall log sawmill on line at Sarnoa, Ca. with constructicln slatcd for a $4 milliort woocl wasle fired generator at Standard, Ca. Arc'ata Redu'ood Co. intencls to close, perhaps permanently. its industrial plant in Arcata. Ca.. sorrtetirrre this vear.
Flintkote Co. plans to close its Chicago Heights. Il.. floor tile plant, shiliing productiot-t to Los Angeles. Ca... . Basche-Sa,qe Hardware C'o., Baker, Or.. rvith subsidiary Buildcrs Supply ancl Sentr.v Home (enter, has flled lbr barrkruptcy. I)ura Glass Prodttcts, Sebastopol, ('4., is in pro-
cluction at their recently acclLrirccl Stockton, Clr.. fhcilitv.
('handlt,r (-or1t. has opcned sales. nranufacturing ancl distribLrtion cenlers in Woodland and Fontana. Ca.... ('ri.s.sc.l' Fon'ler Lumber ('o., Coloraclo Springs, Co., has a new Sl nrillion. 30,500 sq. fi. roo{'ancl truss plant.
Prec'ision Hardn'are and The Door Shop, clivisions of Johnson Brotlters Planing lllill, Int'., arc new to lclaho Falls, Icl. . . . Stunz Lumber Co. has opencd a store in Payette. Or. Rirerviev' Plytt'oocl ond Lurnber has openccl in Rivcrsicle. Wa... Las Attinns Lumber C'o., l.us Animos, Ce., lost 5600 in tools in a r?ccnt break-in. .
Ace Hardu,arr' ('orp.ls nerv 59 rnilliort tlrstribution cL'nter in the City of'lndustry. C'a., is set to open in June. . . Bokcr Hardtt'oorl Luntbt'r Co. has a bcar-rtif'ul new tacility in National Cit1,', Ca. . . Ba.y'v'ood Fort'st Prodtrt'tsis r ncw Eugcne, Or., wholcsaler selling virtr"rally 10OrX, to lLrnrbe r yards. accorcling to Tont Philips. owner.
M t' C o r n i t' k - S h i re s Lu m be r, Inr'. is nrovirrg its llq. ancl West Salent. Or., luntbcr 1'arcl to Indeperrclencc. Or. . Fallhrook Lttmber (.o.. frallbrook, Ca.. is sponsoring its secclnd antrual Dor,rg. tlr trce give-a-way.
Diomond Int(nnlilnol is consoliclating its two operations itl Bakersfield, Ca... Boise Cast'adt' has a $65,000 expansion a1 its Eugene , Or.. Building Materials Center. Goldcn Bear Forest Products, clne of S<1. Ca.'s last sawnrills. has ;rerma- nently closed its Rccllancl's plant.
Neiman-Rt'ed Lumbu' ('o. is builcfing Lumber ('itv No. 13 in Agoura, Ca. . Copt'land Lumber l'ard hls opened a Silverton. Or., store.
