Taiga Building Products reported Q4 net sales of $367.7 million, down by $33.1 million from $400.8 million a year earlier. Net earnings fell to $9.4 million from $9.7 million. Sales for the year amounted to $1.68 billion, compared to $2.19 billion in 2022, a decline attributed to lower selling prices for commodity products. Annual net earnings of $61.3 million marked a drop from $88.6 million in the prior year.

A Montreal law firm announced last week that it had agreed to a $2.5 million settlement in a class action lawsuit against Dollarama. If approved by the courts on April 9, Canadian customers who qualify will be able to apply via email for a $15 Dollarama gift card.

The lawsuit was brought because Dollarama had allegedly mishandled its EHF pricing. EHF means Environmental Handling Fee and it is charged by many retailers on environmentally-hazardous products like batteries. Under Quebec consumer protection law, the full price of an item must be displayed by a retailer. The lawsuit claimed Dollarama did not comply with the law. Dollarama has denied any wrongdoing or illegality.

A couple of hundred Canadians are among the thousands of attendees at Orgill’s 2024 Spring Dealer Market, being held until tomorrow at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla.

The event brings together retailers from around the world to connect with vendors that were represented in more than 1,200 booths throughout the show floor. The market also included model stores, support services and special buys, plus a stage that hosted a range of educational sessions.

“Now, more than ever, retailers in this industry need to be proactive about finding ways to compete and succeed and our market is designed to provide them with the tools they need to do just that,” said Boyden Moore, president and CEO of Orgill. “We are very thankful to all the retailers who are here and all of our vendor partners who step up to make the event the best in the industry.”

Canadians attending the Orgill Dealer Market this week in Orlando, Fla., had the chance to get together at Hardlines’ Canada Night reception yesterday evening. Dealers in attendance came from every region in Canada and from a range of banners and buying groups, including Castle and TIMBER MART. They all met at The Pub, a, well, pub near the Orange County Convention Center, where the Orgill event is being held.

Supported by a group of great sponsoring vendors, the event was organized by Hardlines’ own Marketing and Events Manager Michelle Porter (shown left, with Hardlines’s Michael McLarney and David Chestnut, VP and Publisher at Hardlines).

RONA held its Vendor Forum yesterday, welcoming about 350 participants and 150 vendor partner companies to learn about its priorities and strategies for 2024. Attendees also had the opportunity to meet with members of RONA’s executive leadership and merchandising teams. Vendor recognition awards were presented in three categories: Home (DeVry Greenhouses), Projects (Planchers innovatifs), and LBM (Produits Pylex).

Amazon is partnering with nonprofit Les Produits du Québec to offer a portal where consumers can order more than 1,000 Quebec-made products, CBC News reports. The province’s government launched Le Panier Bleu, at first a directory and later a transactional website for purchasing Quebec products, four years ago.

Christopher Skeete, Quebec’s junior economy minister, painted the Amazon partnership as a complement to that initiative, saying “you have to be where the customers are.” But others are concerned the original site could be cannibalized instead. “The Quebec government is taking a chainsaw to Panier Bleu,” said François Vincent, VP of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s Quebec division. “It’s sure that they won’t be able to compete.”

Sales of existing U.S. homes rose by 3.1 percent in January on an annualized basis, according to the (U.S.) National Association of Realtors. Year-over-year, sales declined by 1.7 percent. “While home sales remain sizably lower than a couple of years ago, January’s monthly gain is the start of more supply and demand,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. Prices increased across all four geographical sectors of the U.S.

Loblaw Cos. Ltd. reported Q4 net earnings of $541 million, or $1.72 per share, up from $529 million ($1.62) a year earlier. Sales rose by 3.7 percent to $14.5 billion. Revenues for the full year came to $59.53 billion, an increase of 5.4 percent. Net earnings grew by 9.4 percent to $2.09 billion.

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

Almost ten years ago, on Feb. 24, 2014, we ran a story about RONA’s year end. Sales had dropped 5.7 percent in 2013 to $4.19 billion, from $4.44 billion in 2012. Same-store sales had fallen 1.9 percent. “The decrease reflects the closure of under-performing stores and a difficult year for most of the industry,” we wrote.

“On the upside, RONA managed annualized cost savings of $110 million, a goal the company had set out to achieve last year. In addition, it has not had to dip too deeply into its credit lines: as of year-end, it had used $45.0 million on credit facilities of $700 million, compared to $171.9 million in 2012.”

Retail sales increased 0.9 percent to $67.3 billion in December, according to StatCan. Sales were up in five of nine subsectors, led by a 1.9 percent increase at motor vehicle and parts dealers. Sales rose in eight provinces, led by Ontario and British Columbia. Sales in LBM and garden categories were down 0.8 percent on both a monthly and a yearly basis.