At Suncast Corp., a designer, manufacturer, and distributor of consumer and commercial products for the home and industrial markets, Chris Whitall has been appointed national sales manager, Canada. He will be working with the major big box, hardware, home improvement, and lawn and garden accounts in Canada, supported by the Canadian sales agency groups that work with Suncast.

Whitall previously held senior sales and account manager positions in Canada with Weber, Bosch, and Stanley.

Castle Building Centres Group is holding its annual general meeting this week at the JW Marriott hotel in Summerland, outside Las Vegas. The event has attracted the buying group’s top vendors and dealer-members from across Canada for a series of networking and learning events, interspersed with fun stuff, including lots of opportunities to play golf!

The Home Depot has rebranded its online marketplace, Retail Media+, with a new name: Orange Apron Media. The site hosts vendors of all types, not just those that sell products in Home Depot stores, and claims to have 1.76 billion transactions a year.

According to the Orange Apron website, its mission is to “create the best interconnected experience for your brand and the customers we serve.”

Western Forest Products says it has closed a previously announced deal with four of the six member nations of the Nanwakolas Council. These four First Nations will acquire a 34 percent interest from Western in a newly formed limited partnership, in a transaction valued at $35.9 million. The parties also announced the new name for the partnership: La-kwa sa muqw Forestry (pronounced la-KWAH-sa-mook). The name means “the wood of four” in the Kwak’wala language.

The partnership consists of certain assets and liabilities of Western’s Mid Island Forest Operation. An event bringing together the participating Nations with provincial and municipal officials and Western representatives will be held in Campbell River on April 5 to celebrate the partnership.

Benjamin Moore is marking Contractor Appreciation Month in April, its third annual event for pro customers. Throughout the month, contractors will be able to take advantage of special deals and in-store events. The brand is also launching the new Benjamin Moore Mobile Tour, hitting the road with two custom Airstream trailers.

Pop-up events across the U.S. will feature custom giveaways, product demos, hospitality, and entertainment. The tour will include two Canadian stops, in the Metro Vancouver (Burnaby, B.C, April 29) and Greater Toronto (Woodbridge, Ont., May 3) areas.

West Fraser Timber Co. and Mercer International Inc. have announced an agreement to dissolve their 50/50 joint venture in Cariboo Pulp and Paper. West Fraser will continue as the sole owner and operator of the mill, doing business as Cariboo Pulp and Paper Co. Located in Quesnel, B.C., Cariboo has the capacity to produce up to 340,000 tonnes of Northern Bleached Softwood Kraft pulp annually. It employs nearly 300 people.

Two years after TruServ Canada Inc. was acquired by RONA in 2010, the new owners discontinued their licensing of the True Value brand in this country. But the Chicago-based hardlines wholesaler remains one of retailing’s iconic banners, with over 4,500 stores internationally. Now, the brand has launched its first advertising campaign in a decade, taking the Foreigner song “Juke Box Hero” as its inspiration for “Hardware Hero.” The campaign will run on American TV, YouTube, Meta, and programmatic display. It’s a geo-targeted campaign designed “to connect consumers with hyper-local” True Value hardware stores.

Books and lifestyle retailer Indigo Books & Music Inc. has agreed to a deal to sell the majority of its shares to Trilogy Investments L.P. and Trilogy Retail Holdings Inc. TILP will acquire all outstanding common shares of Indigo for $2.50 in cash per share, which represents an increase from the original offer of $2.25. TILP already owns about 60.6 percent of Indigo.

The deal will take the company private and is subject to approval by Indigo’s minority shareholders in May and other closing conditions. The Trilogy companies are controlled by Gerald Schwartz, the husband of Indigo CEO Heather Reisman and CEO of Onex Corp.

Local delivery service DoorDash says it’s partnered with Lowe’s Cos. to offer on-demand delivery from over 1,700 stores in the U.S. This partnership marks DoorDash’s first foray into the home improvement category. Lowe’s products can now be purchased directly on the DoorDash app, helping consumers easily shop for items they need delivered same-day. All participating Lowe’s stores will also be available on DashPass. 

To kick off Earth Month, IKEA Canada has launched a “Second-Hand Tax” (SHT): an initiative in all IKEA As-is marketplaces across Ontario. It’s another effort by the giant retailer to help Canadians cope with the rising costs of living and promote sustainability.

To tackle this issue head-on, Ontario IKEA stores will feature the Second-Hand Tax, a deduction of 13 percent on the sale price of its re-used products, to match Ontario’s 13 percent HST. The promotion runs from April 2 to 11, 2024 and is available to IKEA Family cardholders.