Home Channel News NewsFax articles from July 2006

Home Channel News NewsFax archives from July 2006

Hamilton Beach buys Applica.
July 31, 2006... Appliance-maker Hamilton Beach/Proctor-Silex, a division of Nacco Industries, will merge with troubled household goods manufacturer Applica. Richmond, Va.-based Applica has voiced its intention to be acquired for several months, following...

Wolseley buys LBM distributor.(leading Scandinavian distributor of building materials)(acquisitions of Wolseley plc )(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... Wolseley plc has announced its intention to buy DT Group from CVC Capital Partners. Formerly known as Danske Traelast, DT Group is a leading Scandinavian distributor of building materials, with operations in Denmark, Finland, Sweden and...

BMHC posts sales and profit growth.
July 31, 2006... BMHC reported $922 million in sales for its second fiscal quarter, a 31 percent increase over sales of $702 million in the same quarter a year ago. For the six months ending on June 30, 2006, sales increased 42 percent to $1.8 billion from...

BFS Q2 profits up 23.6 percent.(NEWSMAKERS)
July 31, 2006... Builders FirstSource (BFS) reported sales of $642.4 million for its second fiscal quarter of 2006, a 3.8 percent rise over sales of $618.6 million in the same quarter last year. Net income for the past quarter, which ended June 30, was $28.4...

Chicago tells big boxes to raise minimum wage.(reports of salaries and wages)(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... The Chicago City Council passed a landmark ordinance last week to require big boxes to pay their employees a minimum wage of $9.25 an hour, plus $1.50 in benefits, starting July 1, 2007. The pay rate would be increased each year up to $10 an...

Wal-Mart names government relations chief.(new appointment of Leslie Dach )(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart Stores has named Leslie Dach vp-corporate affairs and government relations, starting in late August. An experienced public relations executive familiar with the workings of Washington, D.C., Dach has served as...

Evergreen boarelects new d of directors.(EXECUTIVE NEWS)(Evergreen Marketing Group)(Shannon Worthington)(Steve Kuhlman)(Joe Hammond)(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... The Evergreen Marketing Group, a Carrollton, Texas.-based member-owned co-op of independent distributors in the construction and industrial products industries, announced its new board of directors last week. The 2006-07 board of directors...

Design within reach CFO resigns.(resignation of chief executive officer Ken La Honta )(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... CFO Ken La Honta has announced he will resign from Design Within Reach (DWR), the San Francisco-based home decor and furniture retailer. The company is currently searching for a new CFO to replace La Honta, who will stay on through Sept. 1....

NAR: home sales cool more in June.(prices of real estate industry)(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released monthly survey results showing that existing home sales fell again in June, while home prices rose slightly from a year ago. Total existing home sales--including single-family,...

Single-family home sales slowed in June.(home selling)(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... Sales of new single-family homes were down 3 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.131 million units, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). The figures came after a downward revision to the...

Stock watch.(Statistical table)(Brief article)
July 31, 2006... STOCK WATCH 7/28 7/21 % Chg. % Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr.Ago Andersons 38.14 38.39 (0.65) 85.60 Bed Bath & Beyond 33.78...

Income falls 21 percent at DR Horton.
July 24, 2006... National homebuilder DR Horton reported that net sales for the third quarter ending June 30 rose 8 percent to $3.58 billion, up from $3.28 billion for the same period last year. Net income, however, fell 21 percent to $292.8 million, down...

Pottery Barn, Benjamin Moore cross-promote for fall catalog.(Benjamin Moore and Co.)(Pottery Barn Inc.)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... Benjamin Moore and Pottery Barn have announced a joint project promoting Benjamin Moore paint through Pottery Barn's Fall 2006 season catalog. The Pottery Barn catalog will feature photos of sample designer rooms with Pottery Barn merchandise...

Ace kicks off "New Faces" campaign.(Ace Hardware Corp.)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... Ace Hardware recently kicked off its third annual "New Faces for Helpful Places" campaign, restoring two kindergarten classrooms destroyed by Hurricane Katrina and then renovating a Cleveland homeless shelter--projects chosen from more than...

Contractor Yard buys BMW.(NEWSMAKERS)
July 24, 2006... Charlotte, N.C.-based pro dealer The Contractor Yard, a subsidiary of the Strober Organization, completed its purchase of drywall specialist Building Materials Wholesale/Retail (BMW), also of Charlotte. Terms of the deal were not disclosed....

Judge shoots down "Wal-Mart Health Care" law.(NEWSMAKERS)(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... A federal judge in Baltimore overturned Maryland's mandated health benefits law, which forces large companies such as Wal-Mart to spend 8 percent of its payroll on state medical benefits packages or pay the difference in taxes. Judge J....

Target makes move to malls.(NEWSMAKERS)(Target Corp.)(Federated Department Stores Inc.)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... Minneapolis-based big box retailer Target has agreed to purchase four department store locations owned by Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores. Details of the agreement were not disclosed, but Federated said proceeds from the sale are...

Canadian co. acquires Handyman Connection.(INTERNATIONAL NEWS)(Firstservice Corp.)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... Handyman Connection, a franchise operation with 100 locations in the United States and Canada, has been sold to FirstService Corp. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1990, Handyman Connection is the nation's largest...

Seven B&Q stores sold in the U.K.(INTERNATIONAL NEWS)(British Land Company PLC buys B and Q PLC warehouse stores)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... British DIY retailer B&Q's parent Kingfisher has sold seven of the warehouse home improvement stores in the United Kingdom. Seven large format warehouse stores were sold to The British Land Co. for 198 million [pounds sterling] (US$106.5...

U.K.'s Ashtead Group buys NationsRent.(INTERNATIONAL NEWS)(Sunbelt Rentals Inc.)(NationsRent Inc.)(Ashtead Group PLC. A-Plant)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... NationsRent, one of the leading construction equipment rental firms, has been sold to Sunbelt Rentals, a subsidiary of U.K.-based Ashtead Group, for $1 billion in cash and debt. The deal will create the industry's third largest player, with...

Housing starts fall more than 5 percent.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... U.S. Housing starts in June fell 5.3 percent to a seasonably adjusted annual rate of 1.850 million units from the revised May estimate of 1.953 million units, according to a report issued last week by the Commerce Department. ...

Builder confidence falls in July.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
July 24, 2006... Builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes slipped three more notches to 39, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index HMI) for July, reported last week. The index attributed the...

Stock watch.(Statistical table)
July 24, 2006... STOCK WATCH 7/21 7/14 % Chg. % Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr. Ago Andersons 38.39 41.09 (6.57) 94.28 Bed Bath & Beyond ...

Contracts down at M/I Homes.(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... M/I Homes, the Columbus, Ohio-based home builder, reported that new contracts for the second quarter 2006 declined 35 percent to 764 compared with 1,172 contracts in the second quarter 2005. However, new homes delivered for the second quarter...

BlueTarp partners with IBSA.(Independent Builders Supply Association)(BlueTarp Inc.)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... BlueTarp, the building materials financial services provider, has partnered with Independent Builders Supply Association (IBSA), a wholesale LBM buying group. Headquartered in Smithfield, N.C., IBSA currently has 230 members with 355 stores...

Pulte debuts on Fortune "Global 500".(Pulte Homes Inc.)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Pulte Homes, the Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based home builder, has been named for the first time to the Fortune "Global 500" list of the world's largest companies. The company debuted at number 455 on the list. Pulte also moved up the U.S....

Home depot buys specialty supplier. (NEWSMAKERS).(Williams Brothers Co.)(Forest Products Supply Inc.)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Home Depot pro dealer subsidiary, Williams Bros. Lumber, has purchased Forest Products Supply Inc., a wood products manufacturer headquartered in Sarasota, Fla. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the sale is expected to close by...

84 Lumber helps rebuild New Orleans.(NEWSMAKERS)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... 84 Lumber, the largest privately-held pro dealer in the United States, has donated funding for 10 homes through the Southern Governor's Association (SGA) to be constructed by the New Orleans Affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. The homes...

Alan Lacy leaving Sears Holdings.(EXECUTIVE NEWS)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Sears Holdings said that vice chairman Alan Lacy had decided to leave the company, effective July 29. Lacy will also resign from the board of directors of Sears Holdings and Sears Canada on that date. Prior to being named Sears Holdings' vice...

Williams-Sonoma names new CEO.(EXECUTIVE NEWS)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Williams-Sonoma has named chairman Howard Lester as its new CEO and director, replacing CEO Ed Mueller, who is retiring from the company on July 14. Mueller joined the company in 2003, replacing then-CEO Dale Hilpert. He formerly served as...

Housing forecast varies by region.(INDUSTRY NEWS)
July 17, 2006... Forecasting an "orderly" nationwide slowdown in the housing market, the National Association of Home Builders still managed to find some geographical bright spots in its State Housing Starts Forecast. Idaho, North Carolina, Washington,...

OPEI to fight leaf blower ban.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Outdoor Power Equipment Institute)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... Manufacturers and trade groups are livid over a decision by the Palo Alto, Calif., City Council to ban all gas-powered leaf blowers, including newer models developed to reduce emissions and noise. But the city says the latest models still...

Stock watch.(Industry News)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
July 17, 2006... STOCK WATCH 7/14 7/7 % Chg. % Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr. Ago Andersons 41.09 40.60 1.21 75.46 Bed Bath & Beyond ...

Lowe's building new Texas data center.(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Lowe's has announced it will build a new $60 million data center in San Antonio, Texas. The center will serve as a core component of the company's computer processing, critical data storage and information technology systems. "As Lowe's...

Sears, TTI extend supply contract.
July 10, 2006... Techtronic Industries (TTI), the Hong Kong-based power tool manufacturer, has signed a multi-year extension of its supply agreement with Sears Holdings. Under terms of the contract, TTI will continue to produce Craftsmen branded cordless and...

Comp-store sales fall at pier 1.
July 10, 2006... Pier 1 Imports, the home furnishings retailer based in Ft. Worth, Texas, announced comparable store sales fell 18.4 percent in June. Total sales for the five weeks declined 15.7 percent from $169.9 million last year to $143.3 million this...

Tom Taylor resigns from Home Depot.(NEWSMAKERS)
July 10, 2006... In a surprise announcement, Home Depot revealed that Tom Taylor, executive vp-merchandising and marketing, will leave the company by the end of the year. Taylor will continue to lead the company's merchandising and marketing initiatives...

Andersen completes acquisition of .(NEWSMAKERS)(Silver Line Building Products)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... In one of the largest mergers of manufacturers this year, window-maker Andersen has completed its acquisition of Silver Line Building Products, the leading manufacturer of vinyl windows and patio doors in North America. Silver Line was...

Canadian Tire plans new distribution center.(INTERNATIONAL NEWS)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Canadian Tire plans to construct a 1.5-million-square-foot distribution center in Cotea du Lac, Quebec, beginning this fall. The center will be utilized to support Canadian Tire Retail's expansion in eastern Canada. According to Patrick...

Valspar buys majority of Chinese paint co.(INTERNATIONAL NEWS)
July 10, 2006... Minneapolis-based Valspar, the international paint and coatings manufacturer, is acquiring 80 percent of Huarun Paints Holdings Company Ltd. from Champion Regal, a Hong Kong-based investment company. The deal is worth about $290 million in...

Husqvarna acquires Dixon Industries.(INTERNATIONAL NEWS)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Stockholm-based Husqvarna, the outdoor power equipment manufacturer, has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of Dixon Industries, a subsidiary of Coffeyville, Kan.-based Blount International. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed....

New home sales rise in May.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... Sales of new single-family homes rose 4.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.23 million units in May, from a downwardly revised number in the previous month, according to a U.S. Census Department report, released today. ...

Dot-com to offer contractor-ranking.(INDUSTRY NEWS)(RenovationExperts.com)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... RenovationExperts.com, a national home improvement network of contractors, will begin rating and ranking contractors as of Sept. 1. Called the "Renex Rank System," it will allow all home improvement contractors nationwide, including both...

Stock watch.(Statistical table)(Brief article)
July 10, 2006... STOCK WATCH 6/16 6/9 % Chg. % Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr. Ago Andersons 40.60 41.61 (2.43) 123.20 Bed Bath & Beyond ...