Orgill Canada is looking for a Sales Representative to join its sales team! They will sell Orgill products, programs, and services by developing and maintaining relationships with customers with the expectation that 90% of time is spent traveling within the territory. The successful candidate must reside in their sales territory (North Cariboo, North Coast, or Nechako area of British Columbia). Check out our Classifieds page for more details!

The federal government begins consultations next month on the creation of a catalogue of pre-approved home designs. The effort harks back to the housing boom following the Second World War, when the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. issued a similar document in order to expedite construction. Where that catalogue was largely geared toward detached homes, the new iteration will concentrate on low-rise projects such as small multiplexes and housing for students and seniors.

Gift cards are a booming business in North America, with consumers spending hundreds of billions of dollars on them, Retail Prophet founder Doug Stephens has told Retail Insider. While gift certificates have a long history, Stephens traces the rechargeable gift card to Neiman Marcus, which launched its NM Express card in 1994. Stephens (pictured addressing the Hardlines Conference in 2022) says “the business case is very strong” for retailers, noting that between 10 and 20 percent of gift cards sold are not redeemed in full.

Stanley Black & Decker has reached an agreement with Swedish mining equipment manufacturer Epiroc, which will purchase Stanley Infrastructure. The Oregon-based division makes excavator attachments and handheld tools sold under brands such as LaBounty and Paladin. The cash transaction is expected to close in Q1 of 2024.

Marianne Thompson, chief commercial officer at Home Hardware Stores Ltd., is leaving the company effective Dec. 22. The news was revealed to the industry in a letter to Home Hardware vendors that went out yesterday.

The letter, signed by Thompson, expresses “a mix of excitement and nostalgia” over the move, and adds that she is leaving “for new opportunities.” The letter goes on to share a list of accomplishments at head office under Thompson’s leadership (she reports directly to Home Hardware president and CEO Kevin Macnab).

Thompson joined Home Hardware at the beginning of 2019 after serving as SVP of North American sales at Jeld-Wen Inc.

Castle Building Centres Group announced another new member yesterday. Entrepreneur Jianyong Edmund Liu’s store, St. Charles Hardware, has been servicing the community of St. Charles, 60 kilometres east of Sudbury, Ont., since 2010.

“Becoming part of Castle will open new horizons for us in this small town,” Liu said in a release. “Our story matters and for an independent retailer wanting to expand our building supplies and hardware business, Castle offers us a professional team and the support needed, yet [we can] maintain our brand within the community.”

Costco Wholesale reported Q1 adjusted earnings of $3.58 per share, beating analyst projections of $3.41. Revenues of $57.8 billion were up by six percent year-over-year, and ahead of a Bloomberg projection of $57.7 billion. Comp sales were up by 3.8 percent overall but rose by a full 6.4 percent in Canada. In e-commerce, sales grew by 6.3 percent.

The annualized pace of housing starts declined by 22 percent in November to 212,624 units, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The rate of urban starts fell 23 percent, with 195,363 units recorded. Single-detached urban starts decreased by seven percent to 44,066 units. Rural starts were estimated at a rate of 17,261 units.

A survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business has found members are increasingly concerned about holding their own against big e-retail players like Amazon. Just under half of business owners surveyed in January agreed or strongly disagreed that it’s tough to compete against these players. Two-thirds said they had noticed an increased presence on the part of online giants like Amazon.

The report comes after the U.S. Federal Trade Commission filed suit against Amazon in September. Among other allegations, the agency says Amazon penalizes third-party sellers for offering lower prices for the same products on other platforms.

Sales of existing Canadian homes dipped 0.9 percent in November from the previous month, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. It was the smallest decline since July. The actual (not seasonally adjusted) number of transactions came in just 0.9 percent below November 2022. “I wouldn’t expect anything too headline-grabbing from the resale housing market for the next few months,” CREA chair Larry Cerqua said in a release.