WOLF RELEASES KEY BUYER INDEX (KBI) FOR APRIL 2015

Momentum, good weather continue record run for industry metric

(York, Pa.) — WOLF, the largest supplier of kitchen cabinets in the U.S. and a leading provider of building products, today reported the findings of the WOLF Key Buyer Index (KBI) for April 2015.

The April 2015 score of 75.94 — slightly higher than March’s KBI, which was itself a record—signals continued momentum from a strong start to the second quarter.  Weather conditions have significantly improved in all markets and key buyers are recovering from a backlog of projects on the books.  There is no indication of a slow-down in the forecast as long as the skilled labor market can keep up with the demand.

WOLF developed KBI, a proprietary metric that offers a monthly snapshot of independent dealers’ sentiments, to provide a concrete measure of how building materials buyers see the near-term future of their industry. WOLF gathers data for the KBI from a monthly survey of key buyers at independent building materials dealers across 21 states. A WOLF KBI score of 50 reflects a neutral outlook; a score above 50 reflects a positive outlook; and a score below 50 reflects a negative outlook.

Here’s a regional breakdown:

Mid Atlantic region     Business confidence and store traffic continues to rise in the northern part of this region as the overall KBI increased 2 points to 86.00.  Kitchen-at-a-time business remains steady and projects continue to emerge.  Building products remain optimistic following solid sales in March, continued temperate weather and indicators of continued brisk business.  In the southern part of the region, the first quarter was strong for the majority of dealers, and that sentiment shows no signs of waning. Dealers are feeling comfortable with inventory levels, consumer confidence is holding steady and foot traffic continues to increase at the store level.

Northeast region   Winter has finally ended in the Northeast. As a result, dealers have seen increased foot traffic in both building product and kitchen product showrooms.  Some dealers expressed concerns that they may not recover all of the lost business from the poor first quarter weather. This is reflected in a slight drop in the building products score from 96.67 to 90.0.

The Midwest/Southeastern region April has been an exceptionally busy month and dealers see that trend continuing for the next four weeks, as reflected in a 5-point jump in KBI score to 66.67.  This region has seen a steady flow of new construction activity and remodeling work.  Foot traffic into showrooms has picked up dramatically and quoted projects are now being solidified as orders since the weather has improved.

Both the overall Building Products and Kitchen & Bath scores have shown a year over year increase, with the former gaining 9 points and the latter gaining 1.5 points on April 2014.

For more information on the WOLF Key Buyer Index, read the detailed explanation or see the latest KBI

score at www.wolfleader.com.

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About WOLF    WOLF provides kitchen and bath cabinetry and building materials, marketing and sales support and financial services exclusively to independent dealers in 33 states.  Since its founding in 1843, York, Pa.-based WOLF has evolved into a sourcing company that offers American-made, WOLF-branded products and other high-quality product lines.  Learn more about WOLF at www.wolfleader.com and www.wolfhomeproducts.com.