“Why didn’t Hertz invent Uber? Why didn’t Hilton invent Airbnb? Why didn’t Domino’s Pizza invent DoorDash? Because they were focused on their assets and not on what their customers wanted.”

Ken Hughes, internationally renowned retail expert, challenged his audience with these notions at the Global DIY Summit, being held this week in Lisbon, Portugal.

Creating a meaningful relationship with your customers is paramount, he added. “Connecting with your customer is the key to your success.”

Watch for more coverage of this important international event in upcoming additions of our sister publication, Hardlines Weekly Report. Not getting your own copy of HWR? Click here to subscribe.

EvoX, the industry’s newest buying group, has announced the addition of Pilon Ltd. as a new member. Based in the Gatineau region, the pro-focused business has been in operation for over 125 years, since 2023 under the ownership of Groupe Dumont. It boasts over 56,000 square feet of sales space and over 225,000 square feet of outdoor storage, along with a fleet of 17 trucks. Carl Dumont is CEO and president.

Hardlines is in Lisbon, Portugal, for the 11th annual Global DIY Summit. The day before the conference, delegates were treated to a day of store tours. One stop presented a pro-focused dealer that knows how to stack and push high volumes of building materials out of a relatively small space. Another location, more DIY-oriented, owes as its layout and merchandising as much to IKEA as it does to Home Depot.

(We’ll have more coverage of the best European home improvement retail, and coverage of the Global DIY Summit, in the pages of our sister publication, Hardlines Weekly Report. Not getting HWR each Monday morning? Click here to subscribe)

More than 500 AD Canada members, industry leaders, and partners took part in the 2025 AD Canada Annual Meeting in May at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto. The event featured 2,600 strategic booth sessions, where members and suppliers engaged in focused, one-on-one discussions to align on key initiatives and drive relationships. Special guest Clara Hughes, Canadian Olympic medallist and mental health advocate, shared her insights on building resilience and the importance of breaking down stigmas around mental health.

“The 2025 AD Canada annual meeting was an extraordinary opportunity to unite our closely connected divisions for another outstanding event,” said Rob Dewar, president of AD Canada.

The next annual meeting will be held May 25 to 28, 2026, in Vancouver.

Canadian Tire Corp.’s midtown Toronto head office building will undergo a $200 million retrofit. The project is a cooperative venture between CTC, its Real Estate Investment Trust, and OMERS, the pension fund for Ontario’s municipal employees. Construction is slated to begin later this year.

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

In our final issue of May 2000, we reported that Michael S. Schurman, president of legendary P.E.I. building supply operation M.F. Schurman Ltd., had been inducted into the province’s Business Hall of Fame. The Schurman business had five stores, three concrete plants, a steel fabrication business, and a rental operation. Kent Building Supplies bought out the assets of the M.F. Schurman Co. in 2004, eventually bringing the building supply operation under the Kent brand. Michael S. Schurman died in 2016 at the age of 79.

Dollarama Inc. reported its Q1 sales rose by 8.2 percent to C$1.52 billion, compared to a year earlier. That was higher than analyst estimates of $1.5 billion. Net earnings of $273.8 million were above both the previous Q1’s $215.8 million and a consensus estimate of $233.3 million. Comp sales for the quarter were up 4.9 percent.

The 11th Global DIY Summit starts today at the MEO Arena in Lisbon, Portugal. And Hardlines is there! Michael McLarney will have a report from this international learning and networking opportunity. Almost 1,000 people from 50 countries are attending the summit. Today will include tours of home improvement retailers in Lisbon. First stop is a Brico Depot store—and coffee!

Richard Darveau, president of the Quebec industry association AQMAT, has announced he is throwing his hat into the ring in Quebec’s municipal elections this fall.

He will seek election as warden of the regional county municipality of Les Pays-d’En-Haut north of Montreal, which includes the communities of Saint-Sauveur and Morin-Heights. If elected, he says, he will step down from his role at the helm of AQMAT.

Home Hardware Stores Ltd. said this week it is responding to a gap in farm product availability in Canada by expanding access to products such as livestock feed, equipment, and agricultural tools. It will launch a new Farm Assortment Catalogue on June 19 to highlight existing ag products along with new additions to its lineup. At the same time, the company’s e-Commerce team has added a Farming Supplies page to the website to ensure products are accessible to Canadian farmers shopping online.