LBM Archives

NELMA @ LBM Expo

Posted on March 1, 2018 by

NELMA recently joined 175 other exhibitors at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence for the 2018 NRLA LBM Expo, held February 14-16. The show included 18 ½ hours of exhibit time over the 3 days of the event.

The Association’s “See the Stamp, Trust the Quality” served as the backdrop for greeting this important customer audience for SPFs and Eastern White Pine lumber products. NELMA’s Eastern White Pine Grade Swatch and Pattern Booklet continue to be popular reference items for retailers, along with the printed version of NELMA’s updated Membership Guide + Buyer’s Guide.

“This venue offers us a great opportunity to speak directly with retailers to promote our Retailer Outreach Program in addition to learning about product selling trends that may be taking place with their builder/contractor customers,” reported Jeff Easterling, NELMA’s President. 2018 marked NELMA’s 37^th year of supporting the LBM Expo with exhibit space.

2017 Marks NELMA’s 36th Year of Exhibiting at the LBM Expo!

Posted on February 27, 2017 by

The 2017 Lumber and Building Material Expo, sponsored by the Northeast Retail Lumber Association (NRLA) was held February 15-17 at the Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence. This year marks NELMA’s 36th consecutive year that NELMA has exhibited at this important regional lumber retailer event.

Matt Pomeroy, NELMA’s Director of Inspection Services, staffed the “See the Stamp, Trust the Quality” exhibit at the show. The most popular give-aways at this show continues to be the Eastern White Pine Grade Swatch and Pattern Booklet, in addition to NELMA’s Membership Directory + Buyer’s Guide. Matt noted that these items have become well known by the region’s lumber retailers, receiving comments from visitors such as “I absolutely love these things, I show them to my customers all the time”, and “I hope you never stop making these! They are so helpful when trying to describe the grades to a customer.”

“The resources NELMA maintains online, such as our Standard Grading Rules and our Product Locator for sourcing mills and wholesalers received additional high marks in discussions with retailers at the show,” Matt reported. “It’s great to hear feedback from this critical target audience for NELMA’s Outreach Programs, both positive in nature and in addition to construction suggestions for future promotional items.”

In Between Linus, Marcus and Brady, a Retail Lumber Trade Show Happens!

Posted on February 18, 2015 by

Obstructions and distractions were the key words surrounding this year’s NRLA’s Lumber and Building Material (LBM) Expo, held February 4-6 in Boston at the Hynes Memorial Convention Center. Sandwiched between two major snowstorm weekends and housed next to the parade route for the World Champion New England Patriots on the event’s first day, LBM ’15 got off to an unplanned slow start. However, day two ramped up nicely with a good showing of attendees seeking the latest information from the show’s 122 exhibitors.

NELMA’s 10’x10’ See the Stamp, Trust the Quality exhibit was utilized for this Convention, where the 2015 Membership Directory, the Standard Patterns for Eastern White Pine booklet, the Northeastern Softwood “Map”, and the Eastern White Pine “Grade Swatch” were the popular takeaways with visitors. Visuals on the Association’s new online Grader Academy™ also attracted attention and touted as an excellent educational tool for salesmen to become familiar with lumber grades or refresh their knowledge on specific grade requirements. This was NELMA’s 34th year of exhibiting at NRLA’s annual exposition, one of the show’s oldest exhibitors

“NELMA has a long standing presence at this show and an excellent relationship with the lumber retail industry in the Northeast,” reported Jeff Easterling, NELMA President. “We enjoy showcasing our latest reference and lumber product sourcing information to this important customer group on behalf of our manufacturing membership.”