After holding steady at 3.1 percent in October and November, Canada’s annual inflation rate rose to 3.4 percent in December, StatCan reported yesterday. The price of gasoline, cars and trucks, rent, and airline tickets helped to drive the uptick in inflation, the agency said. Grocery prices went up 4.7 percent, year over year. The central bank has increased interest rates 10 times in a row, commencing in 2022, to try to wrestle inflation down. Banks issued contradictory statements yesterday on whether they believe that interest rates will still come down in 2024, as many economists have predicted.

Castle Building Centres Group has signed Landry Brothers Ltd. in Louisdale, N.S. Landry Brothers was established over 60 years ago as a plumbing and heating specialty store serving Cape Breton and mainland Nova Scotia. Founder Paul Landry is passing the reins of the business, which now offers a full range of LBM products, to his son-in-law Christian Sampson and partners Jonathan Stone and Evan Marchand. The trio were already working in the family business. Castle said in a release that over 25 new locations were added to the buying group in 2023, “a record-breaking year of new member growth.”

Sexton Group has announced that Suzanne Walsh was promoted to the position of business development director, effective Jan. 1. Walsh joined the company in August 2017 as Ontario business development manager. In her new role, she will spearhead existing member growth and new member expansion, with Sexton’s business development managers reporting to her.

Philip St-James and his wife Stacy Boulet are the latest dealers to join BMR Group. They own two stores in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, Quincaillerie des Rivières in Waterville, and Centre de rénovation Stanstead, which have been in business for 40 and 70 years respectively. St-James became co-owner of Quincaillerie des Rivières in 2012, which was owned by his parents. He acquired the Stanstead store in partnership with Boulet in 2021. Their membership in BMR begins Feb. 5.

“Our family business is always focused on the customer experience, doing everything possible to meet the needs of the people in our community. We are very close to our customers, which is why it was only natural for us to join BMR, a banner that shares our values and human approach,” said St-James and Boulet.

Staples Canada has secured a contract from the Ontario provincial government to provide ServiceOntario centres within some of its stores. The move is not without precedent: IDA Drugs, Canadian Tire, and Home Hardware stores have had ServiceOntario locations for several years. providing access to drivers’ licences, hunting permits, and health cards. ServiceOntario is in the process of opening new centres in select Staples Canada stores, with additional locations expected to open throughout the year. Several stand-alone locations will be closed as a result. The government says the new arrangement will allow locations to be open longer hours and provide more parking for users.

The latest instalment of our podcast series What’s In Store is now online! In this episode, we talk to Western Retail Lumber Association president Liz Kovach ahead of the organization’s Showcase in Winnipeg this month. Sign up now to get updates about the latest free podcasts in your inbox!

Housing starts last year were down seven percent in population centres of 10,000 and more, according to the latest Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. data. In 2023, 223,513 units were recorded, compared to 240,590 in 2022. The decline was attributed primarily explained to a 25 percent drop in single-detached starts. In December, the annualized pace of housing starts rose by 18 percent to 249,255 units, from 210,918 units in November.

At Lowe’s Cos. in Mooresville, N.C., Margi Vagell has been named executive vice-president, supply chain, effective March 1. She joined the retailer in 2009, serving in various senior leadership positions, including SVP and general merchandising manager, a role she’s held since 2019.

Vagell is also vice-chair of the Lowe’s Foundation and serves on the boards of trustees of two universities. She succeeds Don Frieson, who has served as EVP, supply chain since 2018. He will retire on April 1.

Price is not the biggest consideration when it comes to winning the contractor’s business, top pros told Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly (HHIQ) magazine: trust is.

In the current issue of HHIQ we interview five top pros about why they shop for construction supplies where they do. “Fair price wins—not the lowest,” says one of the most successful contractors in Canada, Steve Barkhouse (pictured) of Amsted Design-Build from Stittsville, Ont., near Ottawa.

Barkhouse and the other pros interviewed say that retailers don’t need to have the absolute lowest prices in their markets to win their business. Barkhouse says it’s more important to him that retailers stand behind their products and back the contractor up when there is a failure of an installed product.

(The Q2 issue of HHIQ is landing in retailers’ mailboxes now. If you are a dealer, and aren’t yet receiving your free subscription, sign up here.)

Sales of existing Canadian homes rose 8.7 percent between November and December 2023. That put December on par with some of last year’s relatively stronger months recorded over the spring and summer. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions came in 3.7 percent above December 2022, the largest year-over-year gain since August. On an annual basis, home sales totalled 443,511 units in 2023, a decline of 11.1 percent from 2022.