LONE STAR RESTORATION: Restoring America’s Legacy of Craftsmanship

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Are you tired of watching home remodeling shows where no thought is given to the actual design?  If you want to see a show about craftsmanship you need to check out Lone Star Restoration hosted by Brent Hull of Hull Historical.

Brent lives to restore historical buildings and highlight the craftsmanship that has been lost over the decades.  Sharing Brent’s passion for craftsmanship, Windsor Mill partnered up with Hull Historical to restore the “Willing House” located in Fort Worth’s historic Ryan Place neighborhood.  Watch the series to learn how the “Willing House” is properly brought back to it’s former glory.
Lone Star Restoration premiers Monday Oct. 3rd, at 10pm on the History Channel. Check out the preview & you can learn more about the show at the link below!
 
Below, some before photos of the Willing House… stay tuned to see how this project unfolds:
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Brent Hull checking out some inventory at his shop. Brent is also the designer of the WindsorONE Classic American Molding Collection.
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The Core Customer

You’ve shared that your 2016 business is strong.  As a result, we have made the strategic decision to suspend the addition of new WindsorONE dealers.

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Our top priority is to assure that we remain equipped for the continued growth for those who have been our partners in establishing the WindsorONE (W1) brand. We will support, and grow, the win-win business relationships that W1 is fortunate to have built with each of you: our Core Customers. Investment into California, Virginia and Chilean manufacturing operations will continue, thereby ensuring a consistent supply of a consistent quality product, including capacity increases to sustain your W1 growth.

It has been a demanding 2016 for Windsor Mill as well – starting with a mild winter and greater than expected spring demand, which now continues into summer. Initially, we thought this was simply an acceleration of typical order patterns. However, it now appears overall demand will be greater than we all expected. The W1 order file is strong, and that is because of your growth (same store plus new yards) combined with our new customer growth that we have been targeting for years.

W1 has grown over the years because of your support, and we cannot thank you enough for your commitment. We will continue to build business relationships with our Core Customers that are Built to Last – (one of my favorite business books, e-mail me and I would be happy to send you a copy!).

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you have any questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

Craig Flynn

craig@WindsorONE.com – 707-321-8889

The Price “Adjustment” Post…

Happy New Year to all WindsorONE Customers and Strategic Partners!

Your continued commitment to purchase and support American manufactured products is appreciated by Windsor Mill; a second generation family owned and operated business, founded in 1972, with manufacturing plants in California and Virginia.

The purpose of this post is to announce a price increase on WindsorONE and WindsorONE+ Protected Trim Boards, Specialty Boards (including CA Sidings), and Moldings.

The 4% increase on FOB Mill pricing is the direct result of increasing log prices and business operating costs, including ocean freight, inland freight, paint, glue, and another year of 15% health care cost increases. (Price increase on moldings expected to be slightly higher)

The price adjustment is smaller than expected because of long-term log supply agreements.  Our vertically integrated strategy continues to give us advantages in the marketplace, specifically as they relate to procuring a consistent supply of a consistent quality raw material.

The last price increase on WindsorONE and WindsorONE+ Protected was April of 2010. We’re hoping that the 4% increase holds through 2013, however, we could see additional log price increases and other economic changes.

The price changes will take effect on all shipments leaving our California and Virginia manufacturing plants the week of February 4th, 2013.

We are working to create the new price lists that reflect the approximate 4% change; we will distribute them to you as soon as possible.

Your continued support is more than appreciated… Build America!

 

Gotta Love It…

Ganahl Lumber, a WindsorONE Core Customer and stocking dealer down in Southern California, with nine locations…

… this particular yard is located on Ball Road in Anaheim, just 1/2 mile East of Disneyland… so this sign gets THOUSANDS of views a day!

Well played Ganahl, well played.

Bring It On IRENE!

Certainly many of you have heard of Hurricane IRENE; currently in the Bahamas, and on its way to the East Coast.

We’re not afraid, child’s play compared to the Chile Quake!

Up-to-date info can be found HERE.

It’s possible that IRENE will hit North Carolina at a Level III, but down to a II as it approaches Virginia.

We are going to play it smart (code word for “safe”).

We’ll be pushing up some trucks that were supposed to ship next week, and they’ll ship end of this week before the storm hits.  In addition, we won’t be operating Monday and Tuesday, which will include a full power shutdown (safety).

We do have some raw material being held at Freeport in the Bahamas (until storm passes), however, there’s plenty of fiber at the Surry, VA plant to cover orders for multiple weeks.

All-in-all, things look good for Windsor Surry Operations; but let’s hope damage is minimal for homeowners’ across the East Coast that might be affected.

Should anything change, I’ll be sure to make another post to this Blog.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me directly w/ any questions: craig@WindsorONE.com, mobile is 707-321-8889.

In Solidarity,

Craig

Housing Gen Y: The Next Challenge for Cities

Excellent article posted on the Urban Land Institute Web-site, written by John K. McIlwain…

“Each generation has its unique attributes and faces its unique challenges. Generation Y, which consists of young people from their late teens to their early 30s, is no exception. But two facts in particular distinguish it from any previous U.S. generation: it is by most accounts the largest in U.S. history, consisting of some 80 million people or more, and it is by far the most economically challenged since the Great Depression.

Together, these two facts point to a tough challenge for this group—finding housing it can afford.

Today, an unprecedented number of gen-Yers are responding to this housing challenge by living with parents, with roommates, or in university dorms. Indeed, U.S. household formation has dropped to some 400,000 a year, a mere quarter of the pre-recession norm of 1.6 million. (The drop in immigration has caused some, but by no means all, of this remarkable shift.)

Why is gen-Y, now at the prime age for forming new households, staying at home, with roommates, or at school? For one, over 30 percent of this cohort, by some estimates, is unemployed. No job means no money for an apartment or home of one’s own. And while more members of this group have graduated from high school and college than those of previous generations, they are also carrying more school debt—an average of $23,000 per person. Nor is this group saving, but instead is carrying large credit-card debts.

Another bit of bad news comes from studies of past recessions, which show that it can take people coming of age during a recession ten years or more to recover financially. This recession, though declared officially over by economists, is going into its fourth year of high unemployment and low job creation, and wages are actually falling. This suggests that generation Y has a tough road ahead financially and may not get back on its feet until well after this decade is over.

When asked how they want to live, though, members of generation Y responds much as did previous generations. Many want to rent for a while, but a high percentage of gen-Yers want to own their own home eventually. These are the first-time homebuyers needed to restore the housing markets to stability, clean up the overhang of vacant and foreclosed homes, and stimulate new housing production, now stalled at 600,000 a year—one third of pre-recession levels. Financially, however, most of generation Y is in no position to buy a home now nor will be for years to come.

Keep in mind that this is also the next generation of the workforce. Gen-Yers are the entry-level employees needed to keep businesses growing, innovating, and producing. Will they be able to afford to live near jobs now or in the future? Without savings for a downpayment and with parents needing to rebuild retirement accounts, when will they be able to afford to buy a home? With wages falling, will they be able to afford market rents?

This is an issue facing every community that wants its economy to grow in the years ahead. Generation Y is the most mobile generation ever; its members can look for jobs anywhere in the country and the world by simply clicking on the internet. While the jobs come first, this generation is also looking for a good quality of life, which means to them, among other things, housing that is affordable, attractive, and located in walkable neighborhoods near jobs, services, and amenities. Gen-Yers are not looking to move to the now-cheap housing in the foreclosure-devastated exurban culs-de-sac even though that is where housing is most affordable now.

Any city or metropolitan region that cannot provide affordable, walkable, and attractive neighborhoods in which gen-Yers can afford to live will simply lose the best of them to those regions that have such neighborhoods. If they have to “drive ’til they qualify,” as the workforce before them has had to do, gen-Yers are more likely to simply fly off to another city or region.

Simply put, generation Y represents the future of every region’s economy. Attracting and keeping this group requires careful planning and a commitment to develop new mixed-income housing in mixed-use neighborhoods close to the central city and to the surrounding suburban town centers. The time to do this is now, while gen-Yers are still living at home, because when jobs for them do come back, the pent-up demand they represent will move quickly to those regions that are ready for them.”

Source Article Here:  http://urbanland.uli.org/Articles/2010/Nov/McIlwainGenY

Triple Bottom Line & The Patagonia

We continue to diligently work towards building upon our triple-bottom line culture and company.  This sustainable business model consists of three main components:

  1. Profit
  2. People
  3. Planet

While achieving any real Profits has been difficult for all of us over the last 3-5 years, Windsor Mill has certainly continued its commitment to People and Planet.  Two recent examples:

  • People: after the Chile quake, we invested significantly in helping to rebuild damaged and destroyed homes in local communities;
  • Planet: all WindsorONE fiber is either FSC-certified (over 70%), or from an FSC-controlled source.

We are clearly committed to environmentally sound supply-sourcing and manufacturing techniques. 

For some time now we have been aware of an international controversy regarding plans to dam rare river ecosystems in the Chilean Patagonia.  We are concerned that the Patagonia dam controversy would conflict with our environmental commitment and somehow be linked to our brand and products.

Therefore, as we buy raw material in Chile, we will endeavor to reduce material linked to the Patagonia dam controversy and to source more from MASISA, and other FSC-certified suppliers (& controlled sources).

For those interested in the sustainable Triple-Bottom-Line business model, this is a very simple image explaining the concept: