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The Home-Improvement News begins today with a very note worthy article that comes to us from Market Watch who is saying that The American Hardware Manufacturers Association (AHMA) released last Wednesday the first ever AHMA Home Improvement Industry Confidence Index. 

The index which is produced by two surveys is actually two indexes, one on current numbers and one based on the future, both are based on 100 and both come out monthly.  The current situation index for October had 58% of the respondents saying that sales were below total of one year ago, 19% said sales were the same and 24% said sales were better than last year.

The future situation index which is based on two projections, one for six months and the other one for one year had 15% of the respondents expecting sales to be higher, 42% to be the same and 44% expecting sales to be lower in the next six months.

The response for 12-months showed that 42% expected sales to be higher, 34% expected sales to be the same with 24% expecting sales to be lower.

“We are pleased to provide the home improvement industry with this new measure of the state of the industry,” said Timothy S. Farrell, President and Chief Executive Officer of AHMA. “Over time, the AHMA Home Improvement Industry Confidence Index will provide the industry with a reliable overview of important current sales trends and the mood of the industry looking forward both six and twelve months into the future,” Farrell added.

The AHMA Home Improvement Industry Confidence Index results will be released on the first Wednesday of every month and is based on a survey of all AHMA members.

Although this does not sound like a bad idea at first, I really don’t think that we need another indicator telling us just how bad off the economy is.  These indicators along with the media are what cause many of the economy’s problems.

Next, we have an interesting article that showed up in the Niagra Falls Reviews as well as several other publications around the US.  Do-it-yourself home improvement clubs are springing up around the nation.  It seems that the clubs which are being set up by cost conscious members require members to contribute at least one day per month helping other members with home improvements.
 
The clubs which also provide additional help if it is needed are being set up by neighbors to make home improvement work enjoyable.  They seem to be getting quite a bit done.  So far the group featured in this particular article called the Monthly Improvement Collective of Eugene have built retaining walls, installed flooring and installed a fence.   The host couple plans the work and supplies the tools as well as breakfast and lunch.

“I’m somebody who doesn’t particularly enjoy improving my house,” said Lewis Taylor, 35, the homeowner featured in the article. “But when you make it a party with friends, it’s really cool. You do things you never would have done by yourself.”

Great do it yourself idea!

The last article comes to you today from Big News Biz which is reporting that the members only showroom Direct Buy is offering helpful suggestions for those deciding on whether or not they should take on home improvement projects.
 
“To steal a line from Shakespeare, to thine own self be true,” said Sara Shragal, of DirectBuy.  What Direct Buy is saying here is that you have to be able to understand your limits and your ability level before you tackle a home improvement project.  Because this is so difficult to do they have set up several questions that the customer has to answer honestly.
 
Once the customer is then convinced that they are able to do the job, Direct Buy will assist them in getting direct from manufacturer prices on all of the necessary tools and materials.  And if you decide that the job is more than you are capable of they have product specialists and designers to get the job done for you.

Excellent idea! Just like the last article -I am all for DIY, but only if the job matches the ability level of the individual.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 7:52 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.