Wooden toys - Lincoln Logs, Tootsie Toys, building blocks, puzzles - may be an overlooked wood production niche. Opportunities in the segment will grow as Mattel expands U.S. sales of Thomas the Train. Any chance of a U.S. manufacturer?

Dürr AG, via its wholly-owned subsidiary Dürr Technologies GmbH, has reached agreement with several major shareholders of HOMAG Group AG (HOMAG) to acquire a total of 53.7% of HOMAG shares.

Dürr Technologies AG (FRA: DUE) has initiated overtures to acquire all of Homag Group (FRA: HG!), the world’s largest manufacturer of industrial woodworking machinery and parent company of Stiles Machinery Inc. of Grand Rapids, MI.

MultiCam, a manufacturer of CNC routers and other mechanized CNC cutting solutions based in Dallas, TX, will introduce its new 8000 Series Five-Axis Router at the International Woodworking Fair (IWF), Aug. 20-23, in Atlanta, GA.

MultiCam's 7000 Series of CNC routers offers a powerful cutting solution for heavy-duty production machining.

Le Cabinet Shoppe of Laurel, MT, specializes not only in manufacturing custom kitchen cabinets, but also countertops, architectural woodwork and more.,

Northwest Hardwoods Inc. was acquired from American Industrial Partners by investment firm Littlejohn & Co., in a deal announced July 18.

Littlejohn & Co., LLC a private investment firm based in Greenwich, CT announced the acquisition of Northwest Hardwoods, Inc. from American Industrial Partners.

The second quarter was a positive one for HNI Corporation, which reported $509.1 million in sales and a net income of $9.7 million for the quarter which ended June 28.

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau reports that nationwide housing starts dipped 9.3 percent in June.