New Mass Timber Structures at Walmart and Children’s Museum Open
As mass timber building continues to gain popularity two new buildings for two very different uses have opened. Ever since its founding more than 65 years ago, Walmart has operated out of non-descript and often unassuming offices in its Bentonville, AR hometown. But now the first elements of its new 350-acre campus have opened, including […]
What Are the Top Ten Housing Markets for 2025?
Some of the usual suspects turn up on Realtor.com’s list for this year, but there are a few surprises too. It’s not a surprise that the best housing markets for 2025 come exclusively from the U.S. South and the West but the individual metropolitan areas might offer a few unexpected choices. Realtor.com’s rankings for the […]
Home Depot’s Latest Acquisition Targets Kitchen Sector
The big home improvement chain continues to build out its business in the home design category. With the new home construction sector continuing to stay challenged, Home Depot has made an additional move to strengthen its business in finished products and home services. In late December the Home Depot subsidiary, Construction Resources Company, announced it […]
The Latest Use for Southern Pine: Power Sources
There could be a new use for timber in the American South and it’s coming from an unexpected source. Long considered a prime building material, UK-based Drax Group is looking to use pine to fuel wood-fired power plants for tech users. According to a Wall Street Journal report, the company is looking for locations to […]
A Medieval Carpentry Technique Helped Rebuild Notre-Dame
The reconstruction of the legendary cathedral in Paris used “scribing,” a technique employed in its original construction. When French officials made the decision five years ago to rebuild Notre-Dame Cathedral as close as possible to its original design following a massive and devastating fire in April of 2019, it meant using a carpentry technique that […]
Ace Hardware CEO Named Retail Radical by The Robin Report
In its annual awards for innovation in the retail field, John Venhuizen was one of handful of executive honorees. “What is more radical than leading a 100-year-old brand into the future by reinventing the legacy hardware store model?” asks The Robin Report, the newsletter for executives in the retail field. It just awarded its Retail […]
IWF 2024 Scorecard: Attendees Loved What They Discovered in Atlanta
For the almost 16,000 buyer attendees crowding the IWF exhibit halls in Atlanta last August, IWF 2024 was a big winner. How do we know? In post-show research independently conducted and reported… Explore the show details and exhibitors in the IWF 2024 Digital Show Directory.
What True Value’s New Ownership Means for the Chain
With the deal done for Do it Best to take over the hardware and building products retailer it could mean new growth for True Value. With over 8,000 stores and annual revenues of more than $6 billion the newly combined company becomes an even more significant player on the building products retail scene following a […]
Why the “Missing Middle” Is an Opportunity for Home Builders
Between the single family and large multi-family buildings that dominate home building today lies an underdeveloped middle. The so-called “middle” sector of the U.S. homebuilding market – the medium-density structures like duplexes, triplexes and townhouses – grew just 11 percent nationwide over the past 20 years, contributing to the overall shortage in homes in the […]
Georgia Longleaf Pine Forests Are Coming Back
Thanks to new restoration efforts, decades of decline in forests throughout the southeast are being reversed. A new study from the U.S. Forest Service reports that longleaf pine forests are returning to the region, especially in Georgia. “We’ve reversed this trajectory of decline that’s been going on for several centuries,” said study author Kevin Potter, […]