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.”

Marty Young, the owner of Mount Forest Home Hardware Building Centre in Mount Forest, Ont., has acquired another store and adopted the Home Hardware banner. Young’s Home Hardware Building Centre in Walkerton, Ont., re-opened last month under its new name.

“I have a personal familiarity with the Home program after growing my business with them for almost 30 years … We look forward to servicing the Walkerton area and helping with any and all building projects,” Young said in a release.

In 2023, Young’s Mount Forest location was named Best Home Hardware Building Centre in the Central Region by Home Hardware Stores Ltd.

Home Depot employees have been hit with a data breach. The breach, which affected the data of company staff, occurred through a slip-up by a third-party software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendor. As a result, that vendor’s database of some of Home Depot’s staff was hacked. About 10,000 employees had their names, work emails, and user names compromised. Home Depot was itself hit by a major data breach in 2014, which exposed the personal details of some 50 million customers.

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

In our Hardlines Weekly Report of April 14, 2014, we reported on Home Hardware’s 50^th anniversary dealer market at the company’s headquarters in St. Jacobs, Ont.

“The event was also a forum for the new CEO—only the company’s third during its half-century in existence—to speak directly with member-dealers,” we wrote. “Although Terry Davis (pictured) officially steps into the top job May 1 (2014), he was front and centre at the dealer meeting in Graham Ferguson Hall on day two of the market. His message that morning was a simple one: ‘It’s your company,’ he said emphatically.”

Davis’s tenure in the top job at Home Hardware Stores Ltd. was planned as an interim role and lasted about four years. In Sept. 11, 2018, the job went to Kevin Macnab, who is currently in his sixth year with the firm.

Jamal Hamad has started a new position as senior vice-president,  professional services at RONA inc. Hamad spent more than 15 years at Home Depot Canada, most recently in the role of senior director of contractor services, pro-tool rental-home services-MRO.

Castle Building Centres has announced that O’Connor Hardware in Oro-Medonte, Ont., is the latest independent retailer to join the group. Founded in 1996, it is under the new ownership of Brent and Sarah Johnston. The general manager is Karen O’Connor.

The value of building permits in Canada increased 9.3 percent month-over-month to $11.8 billion in February, StatCan reports. The value of residential permits increased 7.4 percent to $7.1 billion, with Ontario’s increase (14.2 percent to $2.8 billion) contributing the most in both the single- and multi-family sectors. Overall, the value of single-family permits was up 9.6 percent or $248.2 million. The non-residential sector grew 12.3 percent to $4.7 billion.