Wolseley Canada announced yesterday it has promoted Steven Beggs to the role of VP, human resources. A 12-year veteran of the Canadian Forces, Beggs joined the firm in 2019. His previous experience includes posts with The Home Depot and American Express.

Costco Wholesale Corp. this week reported adjusted earnings of $3.92 per share for Q2 of its fiscal year 2024. That figure beat analyst estimates, yet revenues of $58.44 billion, while up by 5.7 percent, fell just short of a Bloomberg consensus estimate of $59.04 billion. The Canadian market logged an increase of nine percent in same-store sales, better than 4.8 percent in the U.S. and 8.2 percent in other countries.

Canfor Pulp Products reported a net loss of $96 million, or $1.47 per share, for the fiscal year 2023, compared to a $79.1 million loss in 2022. For the fourth quarter, the company narrowed its net loss to $13.2 million ($0.20) from $69.8 million ($1.07) a year earlier. Sales for the year fell to $875.5 million from $1.09 billion in 2022. In Q4, sales of $193.9 million were down from $268.1 million.

Throwback Thursday is a regular weekly feature in which we dip into the archives of the Hardlines Weekly Report. The purpose is to provide history, put things in the context of today, and show how rapidly the industry is changing.

On March 11, 2014, we reported on the TIM-BR MART (yes, that was the correct spelling back then—your compulsively scrupulous Editor) buying show. We reported that “it showcased an array of services to support the retail operations of its members. Attendees were introduced to TIM-BR MART’s ‘Solutions Centre,’ which presented marketing, merchandising, distribution, and LBM solutions.”

Yesterday, the Bank of Canada announced that it is keeping its policy rate at five percent, which it has maintained since July 2023. “We don’t want to keep monetary policy this restrictive for longer than we have to. But nor do we want to jeopardize the progress we’ve made in bringing inflation down,” said bank governor Tiff Macklem. Canada’s inflation rate settled to 2.9 percent in January. The Bank of Canada’s target inflation rate is two percent.

The value of building permits in Canada rose 13.5 percent month-over-month in January to $10.8 billion, StatCan reports, rebounding after a decrease of 11.5 percent in December. The value of residential permits increased 12.6 percent to $6.5 billion. Gains were led by a strong rebound in multi-unit construction intentions. Single-family dwelling permits were down 10.3 percent to $2.6 billion, with declines occurring in nine provinces.

Quebec’s third annual renovation intentions survey has been released. “It reveals that as many Quebec homeowners as ever are still interested in undertaking home renovations,” said the publishers of the survey: RenoAssistance, a site that links homeowners with contractors, and Quebec construction association APCHQ.

The survey was conducted in December among 1,016 Quebecers who own at least one property, and 66 percent of respondents intend to spend at least $5,000 on renovations within the next three years. This is a similar result to that witnessed in 2023 (65 percent) and in 2022 (66 percent).

A new RONA store, MSJ Building Supplies, has opened in Barrington Passage, N.S. The business is owned by Tom MacDonell, who has a background in business and project development in the home improvement industry. The new store features 5,025 square feet of sales space and a 148,000-square-foot lumber yard. It represents a $350,000 local investment and created 10 jobs.

“We are delighted to be working with Tom MacDonell (shown right) and [store manager] Jim Allair (left),” said Philippe Element, VP sales and dealer support. “They both have many years of retail experience in home improvement, but above all, they share the same entrepreneurial passion as RONA.”

Gypsum Management & Supply Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of Kamco Supply Corporation, first reported in late December. Kamco is a supplier of ceilings, wallboard, steel, and lumber in the New York City area. Founded in 1939, it logged revenues of about $245 million last year. GMS has a growing number of stores in Canada, including Watson Building Supplies in the Greater Toronto Area and Rigney Building Supplies in Kingston, Ont.

This week, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. held its 95th annual meeting and shared the co-op’s 2023 financial results. FCL reported $12.46 billion in total sales for 2023, down slightly from $12.52 billion a year earlier. However, net earnings were up more than 90 percent to $781 million.

Based on these results, the company distributed $399 million in patronage back to local co-ops. Home and Building Solutions, the division that serves FCL’s home centres, experienced a dip in sales from 2022.

(Get further details on the performance of FCL’s home centre business in Monday’s edition of our sister publication, Hardlines Weekly Report. This insider intel is exclusive to our Premium Members. Click here to learn more for yourself!)