In what will be welcome news to the industry, the Bank of Canada lowered its key “policy rate”—the rate at which it lends out money to financial institutions—on Wednesday. The quarter-percentage point cut dropped the interest rate to 4.25 percent. The policy rate started the year at 5.0 percent and there have now been three consecutive rate cuts. BOC governor Tiff Macklem said it was “reasonable to expect further cuts in our policy rate” as long as inflation stays under control.

Theft from hardware stores has doubled in the past decade, according to data collected by AQMAT, the Quebec hardware and building materials association. AQMAT president Richard Darveau told Radio-Canada that tools, including power tools, are particularly appealing to shoplifters, as is anything containing copper.

Whereas someone who can’t afford groceries might once have stolen from a supermarket, he said, “it’s even more profitable to steal something they don’t really need and resell it on platforms like Marketplace and Kijiji.”

Alimentation Couche-Tard reported earnings of US$791 million (or $0.83 per share) in the first quarter of its fiscal 2025, down from $834.1 million ($0.85) a year earlier. That was almost on par with analysts’ estimate of a $0.84 per share. Revenues rose by 17 percent to $18.3 billion.

The Montreal-based retailer, which recently announced it’s negotiating the acquisition of 7-Eleven parent company Seven & i, is bidding farewell to CEO Brian Hannasch at its annual meeting today. Current COO Alex Miller steps into the top job tomorrow.

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

About 10 years ago we reported that, effective Sept. 2, 2014, Yves Gagnon had stepped down as president of BMR. “Pascal Houle, who came over from La Coop fédérée in March 2014 as executive vice president of BMR,” we wrote, “is currently in charge.”

Pictured is Yves Gagnon with his daughter Geneviève Gagnon, currently president of Groupe Gagnon, a multi-store regional chain in Quebec.

We also summed up Gagnon’s contribution to BMR this way: “Gagnon has shepherded BMR through some dramatic changes over the years, during which time the buying group grew to more than 185 dealers. Those changes included the addition of a full-line distribution business that serves its dealers with hardware and building materials and expansion of the membership beyond the Quebec border. And at the end of this year, BMR completed a merger with La Coop fédérée, which took a 20 percent ownership stake in BMR.”

The union representing rail workers announced on Friday that it has begun proceedings to overturn a federal labour board ruling ordering its members back to work pending binding arbitration.

In a statement, Teamsters rail union president Paul Boucher said the order sets “a dangerous precedent where a single politician can bust a union at will.” According to Reuters, the process could drag out for years and thus is unlikely to directly impact the Teamsters’ negotiations, but could set a precedent for future disputes.

All Weather Windows has announced it is rebranding after nearly 50 years to become All Weather At Home. It describes the move as “part of a broader effort to modernize its look and position the company for future growth, supported by the brand architecture of the recently formed All Weather Group.”

LP Building Solutions’ new VP of oriented strand board (OSB) sales and marketing is the aptly named Jeremy Sellers, a 15-year veteran of the building products industry. Sellers started his career as product specialist at Wolf Home Products, where he has been SVP of sales since 2022. His new role will include oversight of the company’s LP Structural Solutions portfolio.

Unifor has applied to the Ontario Labour Relations Board to represent workers at Walmart in Mississauga to form a union in their workplace. Unifor is Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 315,000 workers.

After the board processes the application, it will determine if a vote must be held. If the cards submitted by Unifor represent at least 40 percent of the eligible workforce at a facility, a vote will be called within five business days. Earlier this year, warehouse workers at Amazon in Metro Vancouver successfully filed for a union vote.

Sarah McGoldrick

Last week’s Independent Home Improvement Conference played host to hardware and home improvement dealers from throughout North America. The gathering represented the union of two events, NHPA Independents Conference and The Hardware Conference, and was sponsored in part by Orgill, the U.S. hardware wholesaler.

While dealers have been facing a slow year generally, prospects for dealers looking forward were summed up by Orgill CEO Boyden Moore, in conversation with Hardlines. Boyden said that indicators such as falling interest rates are good signs for the industry.

“We think that’s good news. The challenge now is to make sure your business is ready for the good times. This is important,” Moore said, during a reception sponsored by Orgill on the second evening of the conference. “We see good things ahead. Things are going to get better.”

(Find out more about the the recent IHI Conference in Marco Island in this week’s edition of Hardlines Weekly Report. You can check out HWR on us for one month at no charge. Simply click here now!)

The Bank of Canada will lower its benchmark interest rate tomorrow by a quarter of a percentage point to 4.25 percent, according to the consensus of economists. The rate of inflation is approaching the central bank’s target of 2.0 percent, while unemployment is on the rise and consumer spending is slowing.

“Clearly their rates should be lower than where they are now, and the bank’s moving slowly and surely in that direction,” the Bank of Montreal’s Benjamin Reitzes told The Globe and Mail.