VANCOUVER — Barrie Sali, former president and CEO of TIM-BR MARTS Ltd., passed away suddenly on Wednesday, January 13, while he was on vacation in Maui, Hawaii. He was 77. Mr. Sali joined TIM-BR MART in 1970 when a group of 18 dealers approached him to take over as general manager of the group, which had been founded three years earlier. Their combined purchases at that time totalled $1 million. He vowed to get that volume up to $10 million, which he did within a few years. By the time he retired at the end of 2003, TIM-BR MART was one of the largest buying groups in the country, both in terms of dealer locations and purchasing volume, with more than 150 member locations and sales exceeding $1 billion. Mr. Sali was notorious for his tough negotiating practices, which did not always endear him to many of the vendors that sought his attention—and his group’s business. Nevertheless, he was tremendously generous to his own members, longtime key suppliers, and to the people who were close to him, including his wife, Roxanne, and their two sons, Max and Harrison. (As HARDLINES gets details of Mr. Sali’s memorial, we will pass it along to you, our Faithful Readers. —Editor)
(Cover image used with permission)
