Taiga Building Products reported Q4 net sales of $389.0 million, up $21.3 million from $367.7 million in the comparable period of 2023. Net earnings for the quarter fell to $6.6 million from $9.4 million, primarily due to higher tax charges. For the full year, sales declined to $1.634 billion from $1.68 billion in 2023. Net earnings of $47.6 million were down from $61.3 million in the prior year.

The latest instalment of our podcast series What’s In Store is now live. In this episode, we talk to Marilyne and Sylvain Laferriere, owners of Victory Building Centre in Mackenzie, B.C. They offer a heartfelt report from the frontlines of home improvement retail on the challenges and wins of serving their northern community. Don’t miss this great episode: sign up now to get updates about the latest podcasts in your inbox!

Sollio Cooperative Group ended its 2024 fiscal year with a net surplus of $270.7 million, up 135 percent from $115.4 million in 2023. The parent of BMR Group unveiled results at its annual general meeting this week.

Sales however fell by almost $500 million to $7.8 billion from $8.3 billion the previous year. Falling grain prices in particular contributed to the decline. BMR Group showed “a cautious recovery,” Sollio said. Its net surplus of $30.5 million was down by just $4 million, despite all-time low housing starts early in the year.

Alimentation Couche-Tard’s ambition to acquire 7-Eleven parent Seven and i Holdings Corp. has a new lease on life after the collapse of a rival bid. Itō Junro, son of Seven and i founder Itō Masatoshi, sought to head off the Canadian group’s proposal with one of his own. The Japanese retailer announced yesterday that it has learned the younger Itō has been “unable to secure the financing required” to bring forward an “actionable proposal.”

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. took a non-cash charge of $129 million in Q4 as consumers redeemed their PC Optimum points with alacrity. “We increased this liability based on our expectation that more customers will redeem more of their … points going forward,” president and CFO Richard Dufresne said on an earnings call.

“What it reflects is that more and more consumers are liking PC Optimum, are using it, and so from our perspective … we’re more than happy to do it because it reflects what’s happening in our stores.”

“A major breach of trust” is the view of many thought leaders, including Michael McLarney, the president of Hardlines, regarding President Trump’s proposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian imports. McLarney shared his thoughts in a recent article in Newsweek, noting that this threat is something that Canadians won‘t heal from quickly. Trump’s comments on making the country the 51st state “sting the Canadian psyche as much as tariffs would impact our pocketbooks,” he added.

“All these actions constitute a huge wake-up call to Canadians to reassess their trade affiliations and not be so reliant on one partner,” he told the publication.

Walmart Canada has unveiled a new home décor and kitchenwares line, its second limited-edition assortment in collaboration with cookbook author and lifestyle influencer Tori Wesszer. The collection will debut March 6 in select stores and online. The line  includes watering cans, lanterns, planter sets, and gardening tools, as well as tablecloths, kitchen towel sets, and porcelain bakeware. Prices start below $6.

The McDonald Home Hardware and Building Centre in Brussels, Ont., remains open despite a partial roof collapse on Monday. The roof gave in under the weight of heavy snow which has plagued the region for most of February.

In a statement on Facebook, the family said, “The front entrance of the store collapsed yesterday evening. We are incredibly thankful that it occurred at a time that no one was in the store. The portion that collapsed is isolated and luckily does not affect the rest of the store. We remain open using the lumber entrance. We greatly appreciate everyone who has reached out with offers to help and with their kind thoughts!”

Throwback Thursday is a regular weekly feature in which we dip into the archives of the Hardlines Weekly Report.

On Feb. 27, 2000, twenty-five years ago today, we reported on an announcement from Totem Building Supplies, then a TIMBER MART member based in Alberta. The regional chain would open its eleventh store, we wrote, in Airdrie, Alta., 10 miles north of Calgary.  It would open by the end of that year. Four years later, RONA bought Totem, which by then was up to 14 stores, all in Alberta, with sales of $260 million a year. The purchase price of the Totem acquisition was $100 million in cash.

DX3 Canada, the country’s largest retail and marketing show, takes place March 4 and 5 at the Sheraton Toronto Centre Hotel. Speakers include Cynthia Wong, associate VP for digital product management at Canadian Tire Corp.; Prabal Majundar, director of insights and analytics at Walmart Connect; and Kim Saunders, VP of community and partnerships at Canadian Tire Corp. Use the code HardlinerDX3 to get a free floor pass. Click here to register today!