The U.S. is hiking its tariffs on Canadian softwood lumber to a rate of 14.54 percent. That’s nearly double the previous rate of 8.05 percent. The move is the latest salvo in the perennial dispute over Canadian stumpage fees on Crown land, which American lumber producers consider an unfair subsidy, a position consistently rejected by international tribunals.

“Baseless and unfair U.S. duties on softwood lumber unjustifiably harm consumers and producers on both sides of the border,” international trade minister Mary Ng wrote in a statement. “This latest measure will negatively impact workers and their communities.”

Walmart reported Q2 adjusted earnings of $0.67 per share, up 9.8 percent from a year ago and better than Wall Street expectations of $0.65. Revenues rose by 4.8 percent to $169.34 billion, boosted by demand for fresh food and by high-earning shoppers’ spend on items such as furniture and appliances. In Canada, sales were up by 3.5 percent to $6.0 billion, with comp sales growing by 3.4 percent.

Sales of existing Canadian homes fell by 0.7 percent in July, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Monthly changes in sales activity were generally small in urban centres. Declines in Calgary and the Greater Toronto Area were mostly offset by gains in Edmonton and Hamilton-Burlington. New listings posted a slight 0.9 percent increase in July.

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

Ten years ago, on Aug. 11, 2014, we wrote: “Walmart is updating its e-commerce site to tailor the online shopping experience to the individual customer, as it continues to ramp up its battle for online sales with Amazon. The new features will display merchandise based on the customer’s previous purchases. The changes are part of a series of improvements to the site being rolled out over the next few months, Associated Press reports.”

Walmart reached a new record in percentage of online sales, 17 percent, in Q4 2023. Walmart’s most recent fiscal year had it doing $611 billion in revenue—which means it does approximately $100 billion in e-commerce. Online specialist Amazon, on the other hand, did 81 percent of its sales online in its most recent fiscal year, or $492 billion online of its total $604 billion revenue.

Cleo, a company specializing in charging solutions for electric commercial fleets, was awarded a turnkey contract to select, install, and deploy the charging infrastructure at six Canadian IKEA stores. Cleo has previously operated solely in Quebec. Locations to receive its smart platform will be throughout Ontario in Burlington, Mississauga, North York, and Vaughan, as well as in British Columbia at IKEA Richmond.

Rebecca Dumais

Grocer Metro inc. posted Q3 earnings of $296.2 million, down from $346.7 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, profits came to $1.31, compared to $1.49 in Q3 of fiscal 2023. Sales for the quarter rose by 3.5 percent to $6.65 billion, from $6.43 billion. Same-stores sales of food grew by 2.4 percent.

Costco is taking aim at card sharing by requiring shoppers to scan their membership cards at store entrances. Cards without a photo must be accompanied by a supplementary form of identification that includes one. The system is being piloted in select markets in Canada: Ottawa, Regina, Edmonton, and the Lower Mainland of B.C. A spokesperson told CBC News it will be expanded to other areas but would not confirm if it will be rolled out nationwide.

HIAB has produced its 100,000th Moffett brand truck-mounted forklift and a Canadian retailer will have the honour of receiving it. HIAB Québec, the regional sales dealer for HIAB’s authorized Canadian distributor Atlas Polar, will deliver the unit to Canac in the coming weeks. The forklift was dispatched from Dundalk, Ireland, to Halifax, where it underwent inspection before being unloaded at Mécano Alca in Blainville, Que.

Lowe’s Cos. recently partnered with Mood Media subsidiary Vibenomics to produce in-store digital advertising. According to a Vibenomics press release, Lowe’s will soon be able to implement targeted chain-wide in-store audio programing ad purchases for in-store brands, becoming the first company in the home improvement industry to do so.

Rebecca Dumais

The Home Depot has announced its Q2 sales came to $43.18 billion, up 0.6 percent from the comparable period of fiscal 2023 but below expectations of $43.79 billion. Adjusted earnings of $4.67 per share exceeded the estimated $4.52 per share but fell short of the previous Q2’s $4.65. Same-store sales fell by a greater than expected 3.3 percent.