One Million Reasons V/h/

"Store design, advertising, flexible pricing programs, computer technotogy-these Do it Best retail programs help me be the best retaiter I can be," said Scott Parket owner of Parker Do it Best Lumber. 'And the year-end rebates help me grow my business profitably."

"I use Do it Best Corp. as my purchasing staff so I can focus a[[ of my efforts on seMng customers," said Bob Morgan, owner of Gitt-Roy's Comptete Hardware Stores. "I get low up-front prices and at the end of the year, I get a consistentty high rebate that I channel back into my business to open new stores."

What would YOU get as a member of Do it Best Corp.? You get the onty proven retail system in the industry low up-front prices, a fu[[ line of products, and returns consistently high rebates to help you ness. But don't take our word for it, just ask Scott and Bob. 0r any of our other 4350 trtf,

*ryr,rg building 9 ptud'ucts- "eto'i|era Etwlolesole distilbutorc IrLlS Southern states

$eruing 13 Soulhern states

PttrLF$ER AlanOakes {aiqkas@aol.com)

PlrSl,fSHER EilERmJS David Cutler

EITITOR David Koenig (d<oenig@ioc.ne$

ASSOCIAIE ED{KH Robert Fay (rfay@ioc.net)

AD SALES TANAGER ChuckCasey (cfiuck@ioc.rd)

ADftIINISTRATIOil URECTOR/ SECRETARY illarb Oakes (mfpoakes@aol.cutt)

CIRCULAilOil Heather Kelly

How to Advertise

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How to Subscribe

Cdl ieatlEr at (9491852-1990 or send a cieck forthe idlowing amount h Building Produds Dgwt,4500 Campus Driw, Suite 480, Newport Bdr, Ca. 926@1872:

Plon for hundreds of indu$ry shows ond metings with this pull-out, rmll-honging colendor.

Srsh & door iobbel confob

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About the Cover

The front coveris a paid a&gdboment, hbmonlr Son.s.gred by Osrnose't FinPru

A little while back, Bave Collins, a BC Framer operator at gomponent Structures' subsidiary Forest Products in Piqua, 0hio, received a call for help. A builder was in a bind. fle was 150 miles away in Indianapolis, Indiana, and he nneded help ASAP.

The foundation for a three-story house had been poured and they were starting to lrame the basemenl walls. but the plans had been tweaked and adjusted into incoherence.

Builderscan with every purchaseof Boise engineered woodproducts.

Not a problem. [)ave hit the road to lndianapolis. Forest Products salesman Stan Vrooman and the builder met him there. They eyeballed the foundation, pored over whal was left of the blueprint, and got busy. Dave sat 0n a tailgate, fired up his laptop, and whipped up new plans. After scaling a mammoth dirt pile to get a connection they phoned in a rush order for I 5,000 feet of BCI Joist and 2,000 feet of LVL. Forest Products got right on it. They cut the job pack and arranged for the proper hangers and fasteners to be overnighted to the site. Tbe load was in Indianapolis the next morning, building resumed, and life was good.

l{appy Holidays and thank you!

By the time you read this column, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah will have passed, and Christmas will be soon upon us. It is the time of year when we start to think back on what we are grateful for, what has happened that has gone well, and what we can plan and look forward to in the New Year.

After recent events, it may be hard to identify what we should be thankful for, but it is not until we face challenges both in our businesses and personal lives that we can perhaps appreciate what we do have, the more so when we do not have them anymore.

This year has been a great learning lesson for me personally, and I hope everyone could be so lucky. This year having had to deal with family illness very close to home, watching and dealing with the turn of world events, and working in an increasingly tougher business environment, it would be only too easy to forget all the good of the year. I have come to truly understand the value of good health and that many people are not as fortunate. That you never know what is going on in someone's life when you see or call them. That there are many more good people than bad people. That we often lose sight of what is truly important. And that we take too many things and too many people for granted. The value of having conscientious, hard working people supporting you was never so clearly

ALAN OAKES publisher

shown to me as this year.

A year ago in December, I was sitting a few thousand miles away contemplating moving to Southern California and thinking of entering a new industry-the lumber and building industry-a radical departure from what I had been doing for the last few years. With a great deal of trepidation, as we all go through when contemplating major changes in our lives, I went ahead after a calculated decision process, never contemplating the number of new friends I would make in this industry in such a short time. Never could I imagine so many people caring about my success or the success of our magazines. It has been refreshing and rejuvenating to be supported by so many people in this industry. This is an industry of honest-to-goodness values that we should all be proud of. Long may it stay this way-in fact, let's make sure it does.

My colleagues and I would like to thank you for your support and friendship over many years, as well as your loyalty. We would especially like to thank our advertising partners, who put trust in us each and every month. We wish you, your colleagues and your family's happy holidays and a very successful and prosperous new year in 2002. We remain committed to supporting this industry and making your company successful in any way we can. Once again, thank you!