"Wholo houso" salos koy to millwork growth

lI /TILLWORK dealers can combat IYlthe softening housing market by selling higher margin products and focusing on selling "the whole house" to include both polyurethane and PVC products.

"The 'whole house' sales conceDt is possible with synthetic millwoik products because there are so many vast uses for urethane and PVC products on both the interior and exterior of the home," said Tom Riscili, president of Fypon. "Inside you're looking at mouldings, millwork and faux beams for ceilings. On the exterior there are balustrade systems, fabricated PVC trim pieces, window and door trim, columns and column wraps, louvers and E-vent systems. These products offer tremendous long-term benefits due to their resistance to weather, rot, insects, mildew and humidity. These higher margin products replace more traditional wood trim that require a great deal of maintenance."

A primary focus is custom home builders who have a strong relationship with project architects and homeowners. Other targets include remodelers and the renovation market, as well as big builders and production builders.

This year, Fypon is increasing its push to educate builders and architects on the wide variety of products that the company can supply as a way to sell the "whole house" concept. The use of urethane and PVC products can create a more architecturally appealing home that requires low maintenance. Fypon supports this effort by providing quotations on builder elevations that cover everything the company can supply on a house and presenting it as a package price. ln 20O7, Fypon is expanding its Southwest Collection of products (including faux beams, shutters, corbels and rafter ties) that can easily be incorporated into projects in the West, Southwest and Southeast. The series of woodgrain stainable pieces can be used as both interior and exterior accents to complement Spanish hacienda-style homes and the rustic look of the West. An expanded William E. Poole Collection of designer products plus award-winning

PVC column wraps will also be promoted for both new construction and remodeling projects.

"Geographically, sales of our products are strong in the Northeast and Southeast due to home designs and the acceptability of both urethane and PVC products," said Riscili. "We'll focus on growing business on the West Coast in 2007 because it is a natural area for the introduction of the Southwest Collection of products. We will also focus our selling efforts on cities within Florida, Texas, Arizona and California that continue to see high concentrations of housing starts."