Castle Building Centres Group has announced that its latest member is Eastcut Wood Building Solutions in Trenton, N.S. Owner Donald MacDonald founded the business in 2019 in response to a dearth of tradespeople available to build homes in the area. He began manufacturing pre-built wall, roof, and floor components for modular homes. The business occupies a 100,000-square-foot space.

A Miami-area investigation into three suspects accused of stealing $260,000 in merchandise from multiple Home Depot stores has determined that at least one of the accused works for the retailer. As a loss prevention officer.

The Miami Dade Police Department, a local affiliate of NBC reports, conducted an investigation into more than a quarter million dollars of missing merchandise. The three people are accused of stealing products from Home Depot stores throughout Miami-Dade County. The police alleged in a statement that one of the accused, the loss prevention officer, was stealing “from the very stores that he is paid to protect.”

The number of housing starts in urban centres across Canada rose 16 percent in March to 17,052 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., from 14,756 units a year earlier. The increase was driven by higher multi-unit starts, up 19 percent, but single-detached starts also grew by two percent.

Housing starts were 10 percent and 15 percent higher in Toronto and Vancouver, respectively, though single-detached starts declined. Montreal’s edged down by one percent, dragged by lower multi-unit starts.

The latest issue of Hardlines HR Advisor hits inboxes this week. In this edition, we explore employee retention, stress management, and what makes Generation Z tick at work. If you’re not already receiving HR Advisor, click here to sign up for free!

Richelieu Hardware said last week its Q1 sales rose by one percent to $407 million, thanks to growth from acquisitions. In the hardware, retailers, and renovation superstores market, sales of $57.3 million were down by $1.6 million compared a year earlier. Canada sales remained stable at $232 million. Net earnings of $15.2 million represented a decline of 35.7 percent.

Sales of existing Canadian homes edged up 0.5 percent between February and March, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions came in 1.7 percent above the previous March’s tally. That was a smaller gain than those recorded in the previous two months, impacted by a largely inactive market during the Easter long weekend.

The Home Depot announced last week that it has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud, promising that its technology strategy is about to go into warp speed. The world’s biggest home improvement retailer says it will use Google Cloud’s “advanced AI capabilities” including “machine learning, computer vision, and generative AI” to improve its inventory decisions and supply chain efficiency. Google Cloud’s AI platform is called Vertex AI.

Adding up all the hardware stores and building centres in each province and territory typically reflects the size and population of the respective region. For example, Ontario has over 360 hardware stores, while Prince Edward Island, our smallest province, has fewer than 10.

But when it comes to building centres, one province is definitely punching above its weight. Quebec has more than 730 LBM outlets, exceeding even Ontario, which has two dozen fewer building centres.

(The breakdown of store counts by retail format, plus the size of the overall retail home improvement market year over year and sales and forecasts for the Top Four retailers by sales (RONA, Home Depot Canada, Home Hardware, and Canadian Tire), are just some of the data you’ll find in the Hardlines Retail Report. The 2024 edition, featuring data from year-end 2023, will be available at the end of July. But the 2023 edition, with 2022 numbers, is on special now at a reduced price, in case you need to do that strat planning in a hurry! Or if you need more info, contact our amazing Marketing Manager, Michelle Porter!)

The Retail Council of Canada has unveiled its lineup of finalists for its annual Canadian Grand Prix New Product Awards. According to the RCC website, finalists “represent the most impressive food and non-food products launched into the Canadian market in 2023.” The winners will be awarded on May 29, during a gala at the RCC’s annual STORE Conference in Toronto.

No hardware or home décor products appear in the lineup. This, in an industry where 20 percent of a dealer’s assortments every year should be new products!

Interest rates were held steady this week by the Bank of Canada. It was the sixth consecutive month since July that the policy rate—the key interest rate set by the bank—has remained at five percent. The Consumer Price Index showed that inflation in Canada dropped to 2.8 percent in February from 2.9 percent in January. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem said this week, “I realize that what most Canadians want to know is when we will lower our policy interest rate. What do we need to see to be convinced it’s time to cut? The short answer is we are seeing what we need to see, but we need to see it for longer to be confident that progress toward price stability will be sustained.”