Survey reveals seasonal leveling of market

June 7, 2012 – York, PA | WOLF, the largest supplier of kitchen cabinets in the U.S. and a leading provider of building products in 19 states along the East Coast, today reported the findings of the WOLF Key Buyer Index (KBI) for May.

The May KBI score of 64.06 reflects a decline from the April KBI of 74.5, and reveals a decline in single family activity in the markets served by these independent dealers.  It also reflects the seasonal nature of building products.  Dealers typically stock up on these products in the early spring of each year and level off in June.

The June survey found slightly more optimism among kitchen and bath buyers, who had a KBI of 67.74, than building product buyers, whose KBI was 58.93. Kitchen and bath products are not as tied to single family building activity, nor are they as seasonal as building products, which helps to explain the difference in numbers.

Overall, Wolf customers appear to be slightly less optimistic about their buying patterns in June and this must be at least partially attributable to the general uneasiness with the economy.  On the other hand, Wolf’s customers still show a modest level of optimism looking out over the next four weeks.

WOLF gathers data for the KBI from a monthly survey of key buyers at independent building materials dealers across 19 states, asking whether purchasing will            increase, stay the same, or decrease. 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.

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.

For more information on the WOLF Key Buyer Index, read the detailed explanation on Tom Wolf’s blog or see the latest KBI score at www.wolfleader.com.

About Wolf

WOLF’s roots stretch back to 1843, when company founder Adam Wolf opened a single store selling dry goods and lumber on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Today, the York, Pa.-based company formerly known as Wolf Distributing Company has evolved into WOLF, a nearly $200 million distributor of kitchen and bath cabinetry and building materials to 19 East Coast states. For more information, visit www.wolfleader.com.