W&D Weekly - August 22, 2007 | Vol 2, Num 33
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Special Coverage: Hurricane Katrina’s Legacy
Window & Door is proud to present a special feature in our August issue, examining the status of the New Orleans and Gulf Coast markets from a window and door industry perspective...
Window & Door's Christina Lewellen tours a destroyed home in hurricane-ravaged New Orleans.
Window & Door is proud to present a special feature in our August issue, looking at what’s happening in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast two years after the storm devastated much of the region. Senior editor Christina Lewellen looks at recovery efforts and the status of these markets from a window and door industry perspective. She also presents the unique stories of two dealers from the region—one that had to rebuild and another that set about helping its community rebuild almost immediately.
See the August issue or click here for full coverage. We’re also pleased to present four exclusive online photo galleries, featuring pictures taken while Christina toured New Orleans with window and door industry dealers and manufacturers.
Amesbury Expanding Carolina Plant
A 12,000-square-foot addition is under construction at the Amesbury Group's textile division plant in Statesville, NC. The company is investing $4.5 million to expand the weatherstrip manufacturing facility...
A 12,000-square-foot addition is under construction at the Amesbury Group's textile division plant in Statesville, NC. The company is investing $4.5 million to expand the weatherstrip manufacturing facility.
Groundbreaking ceremonies at Amesbury's Statesville plant.
Rich Gustin, general manager at the textile plant, credits a dedicated work force as key to bringing the expansion to Statesville. "Through their efforts, we have earned this opportunity for growth," he says. "I am proud of our people and our accomplishments and am excited about the bright future this growth will present to us."
A groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility was held in mid-August. The North Carolina plant currently employs about 90 people. Amesbury plans to add 36 people with the expansion.
Amesbury Group was acquired by Lupus Capital plc of London, England this spring. The British company previously owned Schlegel Systems, another North American supplier of weatherseal products, which is now under the Amesbury umbrella.
Michigan Company Closing Distribution Business
Grand Rapids Sash & Door Co. has closed the doors on its wholesale distribution operation...
Grand Rapids Sash & Door Co. has closed the doors on its wholesale distribution operation. The Michigan-based company continues to operate its Renewal by Andersen franchise business, as well as its Comwindor division, which sells directly to commercial contractors, according to Jeff Hager, owner and president.
The wholesale operation supplied Masonite, Simpson and Woodport doors; Farley windows and Wasco skylights to lumberyards and building material retailers in the Midwest. Its Comwindor unit continues to handle those lines, as well as other commercial products, Hager reports.
“We’re finding more and more that wholesale business is less of a player in society,” Hager told the Grand Rapids Press. More recently, the company has been impacted by the slow housing market, he noted. Pointing to strength in the school and institutional markets, Hager says the commercial business continues to offer opportunities.
Grand Rapids Sash & Door is selling its 155,000-square-foot facility, and plans to relocate Comwindor. With a separate Renewal showroom in Grand Rapids, the company also sees continued potential in “the more direct approach” to market offered by that business, Hager notes.
Woodgrain Closing Oregon Millwork Plant
Woodgrain Millwork Inc. is closing its plant in White City, Ore., according to a report in the local newspaper...
Woodgrain Millwork Inc. is closing its plant in White City, Ore., according to a report in the local newspaper. The manufacturer, based in Fruitland, Idaho, is shifting production to another facility in Prineville, Ore., to gain efficiencies.
According to the Mail Tribune of Southern Oregon, Woodgrain’s management decided to shut down the White City plant as a result of declining housing starts, a shaky market and increasing global competition. At its peak, the facility employed about 100 people, but that figure had declined to about 40. Woodgrain spokesman Brooks Dame told the newspaper that employees have been offered jobs at the company’s other millwork facilities in Prineville, Fruitland and Lakeville, Ore., which he noted is expanding.
Woodgrain continues to produce mouldings and millwork at a number of other facilities in the U.S., as well as Brazil and Chile. It also manufactures interior pine doors and is parent company of Windsor Windows & Doors, Atrium Patio Doors and Monarch Windows & Doors.
Larson Constructing New Distribution Facility
A new 280,000-square-foot distribution facility is being built by Larson Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Albert Lea, Minn...
A new 280,000-square-foot distribution facility is being built by Larson Manufacturing Co. Inc. in Albert Lea, Minn., according to a press report in the local newspaper.
Scheduled to be fully operation in January 2008, it replaces a current facility now being leased.
When the new facility was announced, Jeff Rief, the storm door manufacturer’s chief operating officer, told the Albert Lea Tribune that the city’s immediate access to both Interstates 35 and 90 made it a good location for them to store finished products and prepare them for shipment across the country.
Larson’s new facility will feature state-of-the-art handling equipment. Steve Wagner, the distribution center’s manager told the local paper that the new facility will incorporate an office staff of between 10 and 12 people, and the warehouse staff could include up to 75 people during the high point of the year.
Larson, which states it is the largest manufacturer of storm doors in the country, is based in Brookings, S.D.
- Rising Foreclosures Suggest Many Nonprime Mortgage Approvals Were Mistakes
from Builder Online - Lowe's Axes 205 Workers in Osceola
from OrlandoSentinel.com - Housing Starts & Building Permits Fall to Lowest Levels in a Decade
from National Assoication of Home Builders
...
Rising Foreclosures Suggest Many Nonprime Mortgage Approvals Were Mistakes
from Builder Online
When 1,300 members of the NAHB made their annual trek to Capitol Hill on June 6, they checked their usual swagger—which came from representing what once was the country's primary growth engine—at the door. That engine was sputtering and could seize up entirely if foreclosures kept mounting. So the builders' laundry list of requests for lawmakers included a plea to allow the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to help troubled borrowers refinance mortgages, many of which are nonconforming loans with escalating interest rates that have put owners behind the financial eight ball...
read more
Lowe's Axes 205 Workers in Osceola
from OrlandoSentinel.com
The slumping housing market claimed more victims Friday, as 205 Lowe's workers lost their jobs because of slowing sales at the nation's second-largest home-improvement retailer. Employees who showed up for work Thursday night at the massive Lowe's distribution center in Osceola County were told not to clock in. Some started to cry, and others were simply stunned by the news. Several said their hours had been reduced in recent weeks, but they had no idea they would be without jobs -- and health benefits... read more
Housing Starts & Building Permits Fall to Lowest Levels in a Decade
from National Assoication of Home Builders
Total housing starts fell 6.1 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.381 million, the lowest level for this series in a decade. Likewise, building permits also contracted to a 10-year low, falling by nearly 3 percent from June to an annual rate of 1.373 million. Single-family activity for both housing starts and permits continued to decline through July, significantly contributing to the declines... read more