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Show the ENTERPRISE Furniture rep eyes SL market CDA Product Representation, a Denver-base- d furniture manufacturers representative, expects to open a branch office in Salt Lake this week, its president Roman Zalewski announced. To be headed by Mark ONeill, the new showroom and office will duplicate CDAs Denver facility, displaying and representing a variety of furniture, lighting, and decor accessory lines. Initially scheduled to open in the Firestone Building, Zalewski said CDA will first occupy 2400 square feet in the Crane Building until the Firestone renovation is completed next year. There, CDA will have a storefront shop with 3600 square-fee- t. Were coming to Salt Lake because theres a heck of a lot of business out there, Zalewski explained. We already have a man there two weeks of every month. CDA, a privately owned corporation, is broker for decor companies including Cast-ell- i, Wolf-Gordo- n, Arconas-Airborn- e, Sunar, Mayatex and Artemide. This first branch office is expected to open with a $70,000 inventory. Loan Volume posts modest gain 2-we- ek Loans outstanding in all Salt Lake City banks gained 1 .8 percent over the two week period ending April 5, according to the Federal Reserve Bank at San Francisco. The latest figures show total loans outstanding at $1,562 million two weeks prior. The latest total is also 22 percent above the year ago level, when total loans stood at Modular housing Interstate sold Homes about 640 homes last year, according to Thomas C. Davis, director of marketing. We certainly expect to sell more than that this year, he said, but wouldnt make an official forecast. Right now the biggest demand for modular housing comes from outlying areas, said Bob Palmquist, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Utah. About 99 percent of the homes being built in Price and the Uintah lt Basin are homes he pre-bui- said. Icon tinned from page market seem to feel the need for competitive price bly because the production costs involved in manufacturing place certain constraints on the product, and because the high demand for housing continues to justify stable pricing. pre-bui- lt wars-proba- Save on labor Manufacturers the Enterprise talked to consistently quoted an average price of $27,000 for a modular home. But that price includes transportation to the site and the so its diffidealer mark-ucult to estimate gross revenues resulting from their sales. p, Demand in the boondocks Areas like Wyoming and Colorado match that high level of demand, too. Said Olsen, Modular housing is very popular in areas which are remote from settled populated areas. David agreed. When you get out in those areas, theres a dearth of general and subcontractors, and a real shortage of trained, skilled craftsmen. In those areas, we are not only competitive, we blow away all the stick built competition. Olsen estimates a modular home could save as much conas $4,000 over an on-ristruction job in those outlying If for no other reason te areas. 1 than labor alone, the future for modular housing appears bright. You have to remember we build our houses with production workers, whereas, stick built homes employ skilled tradsmen, said Interstates Davis. Every time the skilled craftsman gets a wage increase, it widens the gap between what houses cost and what people are willing or even able to pay for a house. That is where we come in. Davis argues that real quantatative improvements can, and will, be made in the production process. There will be more automation, lower unit costs. There will always be a place for the stick built, custom-designe- d home, but modular housing will increasingly get a larger and larger chunk of the business, he predicted. Optimism aside, modular homes have problems that remain unsolved. One of the biggest complaints is the perennial cost squeezes resulting from building todays home at yesterdays prices- -a dilemma faced by all but the most astute builders. It was the cost squeeze, admitted Boise Cascade, that forced it to undertake the seven day production schedule. Plant manager J. W. Duncan told the Enterpriset We offer our dealers price protection, meaning if we are going to raise our prices, we let them continued on page 7 Three ways for $6,788.00. " BUY IT, cash. Drive it away today. LEASE IT for $172.49 per month. 36 month open end. $2711, depreciated value. $8920.64, total pay back. Plus use tax and license. FINANCE IT for $149.58 per month for 48 months. $1255, down (cash or trade). $1656.90, finance charge. APR, 13.51. Plus sales tax and license. No price wars The Enterprise couldnt find any statistics measuring the market share enjoyed by lt homes in Utah, the but with development of rural areas absorbing the states swelling population, the concept should become more popular. Yet none of the firms competing for a share of the GOOD PERFORMANCE TEAM pre-bui- dave strong 104b South State Street Salt Lake City. Ut 84111 Phone 1801) 531-990- $1,303 million. The sharpest gain came in the federal funds sector with these short term inter-ban- k loans rising to $144 million from $130 million, or 10.8 percent. Commercial loans grew 2.7 percent over the two weeks, and remained over 26 percent above year ago levels. In the latest period, commercial loans totaled $498 million, up from $485 million on March 22 and up from last years total of $393 million. Consumer loans, however, dropped from $257 million to $250 million, or 2.7 percent. Nevertheless, consumer loans continued to outpace last years figures by 39.7 percent. Real estate loans saw a modest increase during the latest two weeks, up .1 percent, from $506 million to $51 1 million. Real estate continued to remain above 30 percent over last year, when the totals came bi-wee- to $386 million. oO QJlssjiiIsilKJ' mil 'sj'Miy' !s&& c . lMMMSgE N(WSHappen;to:MaKo t i J 0 |