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Seruing lumber 8r, building products retoilers 8L toholesole distributors

JANUARY 2OO4

VOLUME 22. NO.11

IRoised floor systems boosl soufhem pine soles

Lumber deolers con e$oblish o niche providing on offordoble olternotive froming pockoge thot benefits both builden ond homeowners.

Bright fulure for windows

Tie into trends in the robu$ window morket.

Upside for ocrylic block producls

Multiply your door pockoges lhock their so*s off

Roised ponel interior doors provide bigger tickets for new homes os well os remodeling proiects.

Three keys to providing omozing customer service.

BUILDING PRODUCTS DIGEST is published monthly at 4500 Campus Dr., Ste. 480, Newport Beach, Ca. 92660-1872, (949) 852-1990, FAX 949-852-0231, www.building-producls.com, by Cutler Publishing, lnc. (a Calitornia Corporation). lt is an independently-owned publication for building products letailers and wholesale distributors in 37 states East of the Rockies. Copyright@2004 by Cutler Publishing, Inc. Cover and entire contents are fully protecled and must not be reproduced in any manner without written permission. All Rights Reserved. Building Products Digest reserves the right to accept or reject any edF torial or advertising matter, and assumes no liability for materials furnished to it.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS Send address label from recent issue, new address and nine-digil zip code.

PUBLISHER Alan Oakes (aioakes@aol.com)

PUBLISHER EMERITUS David Cutler EDITOR David Koenig (dkoenig @building-products.com)

ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Chuck Casey (ccasey@ building-products.com)

ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR/ SECRETARY Marie Oakes (mfpoakes@aol.com)

CIRCULATION Heather Kelly (hkelly@ building-products.com)

How to Advertise

Contact our advertising offices for rates:

SOUTH & WEST: Chuck Casey, 4500 Campus Dr., Suite 480, Newport Beach, Ca.92660-1872. Phone (949) 852-1990 Fax 949-852-0231 Email ccasey@building-products.com

NORTHEAST: Paul Mummolo, 404 Princeton Ave., Brick, N.J. 08724. Phone (732) 89$8102 Fax 732-899-2758 E-mail pmummolo@aol.com

MIDWEST: Al Gravenhorst, Gravenhorst & Associates, 33 Waukegan Rd., Lake Blulf, ll. 60044. Phone (847) 615-9272 Fax 847-6159274 E.mail albx@mymailstation.com

INTERNET ADS: Alan Oakes, www.buildingproducts.com. Phone (949) 852-t991) Fax 949852-0231 E-mail aioakes@aol.com.

How to Subscribe

Call Heather at (949) 852n990 or send a check fof the following amount to Building Products Digest, 4500 Campus Drive, Suite 480, Newporl Beach, Ca. 92660-1872: U.S.A.: One year (12 issues), $18

Two years, $29

Three years, $39

FOREIGN (per year paid in advance in US funds):

Surface-Canada or Mexico, $39

Other countries, $50

Air rates also available.

Single copies, $3 + shipping

Back issues (when available), $4.50 + shipping

About the Cover

The front cover is a paid advertisement, this month sponsored by Roseburg Forest Producls.

ALAN OAKES publisher

Have we forgotten our manners?

I went shopping for gifts over Thanksgiving weekend, and wished I had not. Pushing and shoving was rife, and no one seemed to have any idea what a "line" rvas about. Three cars into one spot do not go.

Did you read about the shopper who was knocked unconscious over Thanksgiving in the rush to save a few dollars, and was trampled on by Florida shoppers in a Wal-Mart frenzy? Have you noted in the supermarket that there is always one person who has 20 things in the basket in the "l0 Items or Less" lane? Or how when you are standing minding your or.vn business and someone bangs into you, there's rarely a hint of a "sorry"? Or how many motorists cut you off on the freeway, often with their cell phones parked under their chins'i Or-my pet peeve-when you are in church or the cinema. or in the middle of a speech, and a cell phone goes off? Recently I needed to find a roofing company for a new roof-a large job. I cannot possibly explain in less than three chapters of my next book my frustration and the horrendous manners (let alone the appalling lack of salesmanship) of the majority of the roushlv dozen contractors I was fbrced to contact. Calls went unanswered. callbacks never came, appointments were not met, bids arrived late or not at all, promises were conveniently forgotten, and stupid outright lies told.

Bad manners and rudeness are on the rise. A recent survey showed that over a third of respondents believed that the manners of Americans are poor. This was an increase of 5O% from the same poll in 2002. Now, none of us would admit to having bad manners. but that seems to me to be the problem. Bad manners are not just about holding a knife and fork; it is also about how we treat others and the respect we show for other people's time, opinions and beliefs.

Have you noticed when a business meeting is called how many arrive late-without often a hint of an explanation, and no matter that the c.e.o. is sitting around waiting? Or, during job interviews, how many arrive late or do not show at all without calling? No one says "please" or "thank you" any more. We have all become noncommunicative, and etiquette has gone out of the window.

Now lvho do you blame-parents, teachers, our youth, or technology? As I read the other day, "Technology was given to us, but the instructions were not."

At the end of the day it is up to each of us as individuals to take responsibility for our own actions. If you take it personally when someone does not call you back, make it equally personal that you call back when someone leaves a message for you.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very happy and successful New Year, and I pledge that all of us at Building Products Digest will do our level best to extend every courtesy and assistance to anyone who needs our help or advice.

and some things,i,uite old

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Put tht' li'an 'lirarn on vour sitlc. Call lirr rlt'tail-..

E[OW about adding a third more lllumber to the framing package?

Lumber dealers are discovering that the raised floor system can do just that and a whole lot more, while meeting the higher expectations of today's homebuyer.

Lumber

Dealers Can

establish a market niche by offering a distinctive and affordable alternative framing package.