Replies to post #80752 on Expo Holdings Inc. (EXPH)

[Basser1]

Lowes sells hundreds if not thousands of these cabinets across the country every day. They have over 1700 stores. The fact that EXPH has been given a 20,000 piece order over an indeterminate amount of time implies that this is nothing more than a “trial” sample for Lowes. Lowes will test interest before they bring on bigger orders.

Patch I just wanted to clarify that this 20,000 piece order is NOT FOR CABINETS OF ANY TYPE. This order is for flooring displays which are a piece of plywood with the various types of flooring glued to them and some type of hinge on one side so that they can be turned by customers to show the various types of flooring available almost like reading a book.

As far as the ETC cabinets that EXPO *launched* these can not be found in any retailer anywhere in the country. Now when it comes to the higher end CIMA products I see those as an extremely limited regional demand item. I just don't see them as being able to compete nationwide with some of the huge cabinetry companies that already supply Home Depot, Lowes, Mennards and some of the other DIY superstores.
JMHO
Basser

[zinn21]

Great post patchman.. I invested in EXPH over a year and a few months ago. Held thru the runup and regret of course.

It appears to me that EXPH is making an attempt at going legit. It is hard to tell whether their past failures are due to ineptitude or as Santa Barbara Broker contends, a business set up to essentially fleece shareholders out of their investment via fiscal smoke and mirrors.

I think your analysis of the Lowe's order is spot on. If the order creates positive sales activity, EXPH does have a chance to generate real revenue but as you state the competition and margins are nothing to sneeze at. It will take a tremendous effort by these guys to pull this one off..

[thats_my_wave_dude]

Nice reply, thank you. I don't know where I got the hedge fund idea, but I did see it somewhere, or so I thought. My mistake, sorry.

[jsb741]

"Getting into a Lowes is great; making an impression that turns into future sales is another thing."

Thank you very much for your insight. You have proven to be deliberate and well thought out with your opinions. I for one find the above quote most intriguing and interesting. I will break it down into two separate statements though.

The first being: "Getting into Lowes is great."
The only comment I would like to make is "enough said" but, I will expand somewhat.

Getting in the door of one of these big box retailers is a feet in itself. There are more aspects than just "having the lowest bid." There is a huge trust factor that supports their decision making, so yes they may be the lowest bidder but, that is among companies with trust that can deliver. So that being said, not just anybody can get in.

The second being: "Making an impression that turns into future sales is another thing."

The operative words in this statement are "future sale." Yes real profit making, revenue generating, future sales. And how does one accomplish this? They do this by laying the proper groundwork to set a foundation to achieve success. By getting their foot into companies such as Lowes, Home Depot and by getting accommodating letters of approval from companies like Stanley.

Have they made mistakes in the past? Hell yes they have, who hasn't? Did they use the company fax machine when the shouldn't have, who hasn't. Some here want to treat it as some type of Enron situation.

We need to demand our "future" investment be treated correctly and we do this from learning from our past. Not by dredging up problems of a troubled past that have mostly no bearing on what happens to our future.

All will be discussed in detail at the shareholders meeting on 9/15/10 at precisely 3:00pm

[ronning999]

"It is great that the company is throwing out projected sales (even if they are low numbers) but nobody has any idea what kind of margins are on this furniture and how that relates to turning a profit."

As there are NUMEROUS cabinet makers nationwide, the competition for besiness must be quite intense, especially on the cost side, therefore, margins must be rather on the slim side.

These people would kill for 1% on the margins.

[kauaikid]

patchman,

I did go to Lowe's and HD to check out the competition. That's why I invested in EXPH.

Thanks for the reminder,
kk