Home Channel News NewsFax articles from June 2005

Home Channel News NewsFax archives from June 2005

Huttig to expand L-P product distribution.(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Huttig Building Products of St. Louis will expand distribution of Louisiana-Pacific (L-P) siding and trim products to nearly twice as many branches. Huttig said it currently offers L-P siding and trim in eight branches, including three in...

Ace continues new technology push.(Ace Hardware Corp.)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... In yet another move to enhance its internal IT functionality, Ace Hardware selected Spacenet, a U.S. subsidiary of Petah Tikva, Israel-based Gilat Satellite Networks, to provide satellite broadband network services for its members nationwide....

Tembec names new CEO.(appointment of James Lopez)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Tembec, the forest products company based in Montreal, has named James Lopez as its new president and CEO, effective Jan. 26, when current president and CEO Frank Dottori retires. Lopez is currently executive vp and president of the Tembec...

Home Depot confirms pro acquisition.(BREAKING NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Home Depot formally announced the signing of a purchase agreement for Atlanta-based pro dealer Williams Brothers Lumber Co. The agreement, which HCN first reported on June 2, is expected to close by the end of June. Terms of the deal were not...

Lowe's to add 10 stores in Chicago.(BREAKING NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Lowe's has approximately 400 stores in the development pipeline, with 10 of them slated for the Chicago metro market, company executives said, speaking at the William Blair and Co. Annual Growth Stock Conference on June 22. The Chicago...

BFS raises $196 million in IPO.(FINANCIAL NEWS)(Builders FirstSource Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... An initial public offering for Builders FirstSource (BFS) yielded $196 million on June 22, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Listed on Nasdaq under the symbol BLDR, the 89-unit pro dealer offered 12.25...

ServiceMagic to acquire ImproveNet.(FINANCIAL NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Scottsdale, Ariz.-based ServiceMagic has agreed to acquire ImproveNet for approximately $6.72 million in cash. Both companies are online home channel service providers that connect consumers with prescreened residential contractors and home...

Trex warns of weak sales for second quarter.(FINANCIAL NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Trex, the composite decking manufacturer based in Winchester, Va., saw a nearly 30 percent drop in its stock June 23 after the company warned that it would soon be reporting weak sales for the second quarter. The manufacturer projects revenue...

May home sales hold steady.(INDUSTRY UPDATES)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... Sales of new single-family homes rose 2.1 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.298 million units, according to U.S. Commerce Department figures. Regionally, the Midwest posted the highest sales gains, with a nearly 23...

Home improvement sales to rise.(INDUSTRY UPDATES)(Home Improvement Research Institute)(Brief Article)
June 27, 2005... HIRI has raised its estimate for home improvement product purchasing in 2005 to $287 billion, from a prior estimate of $281 billion. Total home improvement product sales reached a record $271 billion in 2004, a 12.6 percent increase over 2003...

Stock watch.(building materials)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 27, 2005... STOCK WATCH 6/24 6/17 % Chg. % Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr. Ago Andersons 34.48 34.85 (1.06) 35.22 Bed Bath & Beyond 41.24...

Home Depot confirms two acquisitions.(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Home Depot, through its Home Depot Supply commercial and industrial business, has confirmed that it is in the process of making two acquisitions. The retailer is acquiring Wire Products of Hawaii, a three-unit dealer on the island state that...

Keith Brown names new CFO.(Appointed Mark Bechel as chief financial officer.)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Keith Brown Building Materials has named Mark Bechel as its chief financial officer. Bechel joined Keith Brown in June 2005 and has brought more than 25 years of finance and accounting experience from Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific Corp. At...

Valspar acquires Cabot.(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Valspar Corp. completed the acquisition of Samuel Cabot Inc., the privately owned maker of exterior and interior stains and finishes. Though terms of the deal were not disclosed, Cabot had annual sales of about $60 million last year and has...

BMHC buys into concrete services.(BREAKING NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Building Materials Holding Corp. (BMHC), one of the nation's largest pro dealers, has agreed to acquire a 51 percent stake in BBP Companies, a provider of concrete foundation services to Arizona home builders. BBP has annual sales of $100...

Class action suit filed against Home Depot.(BREAKING NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... A Riverside County superior judge ruled that Home Depot assistant managers in California can sue Home Depot as a class, following three separate suits that allege the managers were not paid for overtime work, according to a report by the...

Ikea secures Brooklyn property.(BREAKING NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Ikea has purchased a 48-acre site in the Red Hook area of Brooklyn that paves the way for the furniture retailer's first store in New York City. According to company spokesman Joseph Roth, the store will measure about 346,000 square feet...

Maytag bidding heats up.(INTERNATIONAL UPDATE)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... China's largest appliance maker, Haier Group, could be the next bidder for Maytag, according to a report by Reuters. Haier has been strengthening its reputation in the United States with sales through Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Costco. In a...

Rona continues recruiting blitz.(INTERNATIONAL UPDATE)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... As Rona prepares for Lowe's Canadian invasion, the retailer and member-owned distributor continues to reinforce its dealer network, announcing the recruitment of seven affiliate dealer-owners in Alberta, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Ontario. The...

Sears Canada mulls credit card business.(INTERNATIONAL UPDATE)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Sears Canada is evaluating alternatives to its credit and financial services business, including a possible sale. The company said it hopes to generate additional shareholder value while focusing on its merchandising business. The credit and...

Harvard details record 2004 prices, sales.(INDUSTRY UPDATES)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... Harvard researchers estimated the current housing boom has lasted for 13 consecutive years, the longest period since 1970. According to the State of the Nation's Housing 2005, authored by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard...

Housing starts climb, slightly.(INDUSTRY UPDATES)(Brief Article)
June 20, 2005... New residential construction rose slightly in May, with housing starts rising 0.2 percent for the month to a seasonally adjusted 2.009 million units, up from April's downwardly-revised 2.005 million, according to the latest Commerce...

Stock watch.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 20, 2005... STOCK WATCH 6/17 6/10 Chg. Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr. Ago Andersons 34.85 33.27 4.75 36.67 Bed Bath & Beyond 43.42...

Sears Holdings reports loss.(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Sears Holdings Corp. posted a $9 million loss for its first fiscal quarter, which ended April 30. Results were affected by a change in accounting related to overhead inventory costs. Without the $90 million charge, Sears turned a quarterly...

Ace re-tools company extranet.(Ace Hardware upgrades AceNet to Dubbed ProFind)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Ace Hardware has updated its extranet system, AceNet, in an effort the company says will help store employees find and order products from across the hardware co-op's nationwide inventory. Dubbed ProFind, the new system was designed by...

Tool maker taps new hardware boss.(Black & Decker Corp. appoints James Caudill)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Black & Decker has named James Caudill as president of the tool and appliance manufacturer's hardware and home improvement group. Caudill will oversee a number of the company's biggest consumer brands, including Kwikset, Baldwin Hardware and...

True Value names new CEO.(BREAKING NEWS)(Lyle Heidemann appointed at True Value Home Center Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Following a five-month search, True Value's board of directors has appointed Lyle Heidemann as president and CEO of the Chicago-based co-op, effective immediately. Heidemann, 60, is a 36-year Sears veteran who last served as the...

Vendors pitch at National Lawn & Garden Show.(BREAKING NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... The National Lawn & Garden Show held its 11th event here with three days of one-on-one appointments between 59 buyers and 180 vendors. A pre-arranged schedule of meetings, each one lasting 10 minutes, allowed manufacturers to pitch products...

Lowe's marching into Canada.(INTERNATIONAL UPDATE)(Lowe's Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Lowe's has put an end to speculation, revealing that it will open its first Canadian store in Toronto in 2007. "Building on Lowe's home improvement expertise and passion for outstanding customer service, extending our business into Canada is...

B&Q opens in South Korea.(INTERNATIONAL UPDATE)(B and Q Home)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... Kingfisher plc, Europe's largest home channel retailer, has opened its first store in South Korea in the nation's capital city of Seoul. According to Kingfisher, 14,000 customers visited the B&Q Home location in its first day of business on...

NAR forecasts record home sales for 2005.(INDUSTRY UPDATES)(National Association of Realtors)(Brief Article)
June 13, 2005... The National Association of Realtors said home sales will reach a fifth consecutive record year in 2005 thanks to lower-than-expected mortgage interest rates. "Not only have mortgage interest rates declined, but an expected rise in the second...

Stock watch.(building materials)(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 13, 2005... STOCK WATCH 6/10 6/3 % Chg. % Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr.Ago Andersons 33.27 32.76 1.55 30.47 Bed Bath & Beyond 41.22 41.14...

Menards must file race, gender report.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... A ruling in U.S. District Court in Madison, Wis., has ordered Menards to file overdue reports that detail the home improvement retailer's employee race and gender breakdown, according to the Associated Press. The EEOC said Menards had not...

Lanoga acquires Central Kansas Truss.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Lanoga has acquired Central Kansas Truss, a truss and component manufacturer based in Valley Center, Kan., The manufacturer will become part of Lanoga's United Building Centers division (UBC). Financial details were not disclosed. Central...

Stock acquires New Mexico dealer.(Stock Building Supply)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Stock Building Supply has acquired Albuquerque, N.M.-based J.C. Baldridge Lumber Company, according to the Web site of the Jian's Group, a privately held investment banking firm based in Fredericksburg, Va., that advises companies in the...

Kmart to get Craftsman tools.(new products)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Sears Holdings Corp., Kmart 's new parent company, will test its Craftsman brand in gift displays at 365 Kmart stores. The initial rollout will contain 10 products, including a laser level and floor jack.

Home Depot to acquire pro dealer.(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Home Depot has signed a purchase agreement to acquire Suwanee, Ga.-based Williams Bros. Lumber, according to high-level industry sources. Though officials from both companies declined to comment on the sale, the deal is anticipated to close...

Lowe's headed into Canada?(new stores)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Lowe's could make an announcement as early as next week regarding its entry into Canada, according to a report by the Globe and Mail. Real estate sources have told the newspaper that Lowe's has been shopping for land, primarily in Ontario,...

Kingfisher replaces B&Q boss.(INTERNATIONAL UPDATE)(Appointed Ian Cheshire as Chief Executive Officers)
June 6, 2005... In a shake-up that Kingfisher hopes will revitalize its ailing B&Q chain, the retail group has named Ian Cheshire as its new chief executive of the U.K.-based banner. Cheshire, previously chief executive-international and development,...

Dale Pond retiring from Lowe's.(EXECUTIVE NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... After 12 years with Lowe's, senior executive vp-merchandising and marketing Dale C. Pond, 59, plans to retire by the end of the month. Larry Stone, currently senior executive vp-operations, will replace Pond. A 36-year Lowe's veteran, Stone...

Sherwin-Williams president resigns.(EXECUTIVE NEWS)(Brief Article)
June 6, 2005... Sherwin-Williams president and chief operating officer Joseph Scaminace resigned and will take over as president and CEO at the OM Group, a specialty chemical manufacturer based in Cleveland. Scaminace, who will also join OM Group's board of...

Stock watch.(Brief Article)(Illustration)
June 6, 2005... STOCK WATCH 6/03 5/27 % Chg. % Chg. Company Close Close in Week Yr. Ago Andersons 32.76 32.00 2.38 28.48 Bed Bath and Beyond 41.14...