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

Ten years ago, the Ace banner in Canada was in the process of changing from the stewardship of TIMBER MART (then spelled TIM-BR Mart) to RONA. We wrote a story in our Aug. 11, 2014, edition of the Hardlines Weekly Report entitled, “RONA will hand Ace portfolio to its Winnipeg team.”

“This agreement will enable us to improve our offering to small dealers across the country, to leverage our existing distribution infrastructure, and to strengthen our portfolio of banners,” said Robert Sawyer, then president and CEO of RONA. He added, we reported, that the Ace brand would complement the existing RONA and TRU brands and help with recruitment of dealers in areas of the country where RONA had a limited presence.

Western Forest Products has promoted Glen Nontell to the role of CFO, effective Aug. 1. He has been with the firm since 2018, most recently as VP of corporate development. Outgoing CFO Stephen Williams will stay on as EVP through the end of this calendar year and in an advisory capacity to the end of 2026.

Amazon has made use of machine learning in upgrading the Just Walk Out technology it offers third-party bricks-and-mortar stores. The e-commerce giant said it’s boosting the system’s accuracy and scalability for global use. Just Walk Out allows customers to avoid checkout lines by automatically logging what products they take from shelves.

Rebecca Dumais

AD reports that member sales in the first six months of 2024 increased by 7.0 percent to a record US$40.4 billion. Same-store sales increased by 4.0 percent in the U.S. and 1.0 percent in Canada. Member purchases from AD suppliers grew 4.0 percent to $10.1 billion.

Crown Building Supplies will open its third location on Sept. 3. in Burnaby, B.C. The retailer marks its tenth anniversary next month. CEO Gary Sangha also serves as chair of AD Canada.

Menards is the top performer among U.S. home improvement retailers, according to a new report by Market Force Information. The banner excels in value for dollar, scoring 58.1 percent compared to the 39.8 percent average. Key decision drivers include convenience, value, and positive experiences. Menards leads in overall brand satisfaction, cleanliness, and merchandise variety, and captures 77 percent of customers’ next 10 purchases, outperforming Lowe’s and Home Depot.

Rebecca Dumais

WernerCo announced it will now be called ProDriven Global Brands. The company manufactures and distributes construction equipment, fall protection equipment, and aluminum and fibreglass ladders.

“As we’ve continued to grow the Werner brand, we’ve also developed an expansive brand portfolio serving a variety of professionals and industries across the globe,” Gary Scott, global CEO of ProDriven, said in a release. “The new name is representative of the company’s focus, scope and global reach.”

Hardlines will be publishing one issue of the Weekly Report this month on Aug. 19. Dealer News will be published on Aug. 14, and HR Advisor will be published on Aug. 21. In the meantime, these free daily updates will keep you in the loop! HWR will return to its regular schedule on Sept. 1.

RONA inc. celebrated the grand opening of the RONA+ Waterdown store in the Dundas district of Hamilton, Ont. The conversion of the former RONA Home & Garden store was originally announced in May. The new features include stores-within-the-store for the DeWalt and Bouclair brands. Eleven RONA+ stores in the province have adopted the store-within-a-store model in celebration of the banner’s one-year anniversary.

Investment in U.S. building construction fell unexpectedly by 0.3 percent in June, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. May’s decline meanwhile was revised downward to 0.4 percent. In a Reuters poll, economists projected a 0.2 percent increase in spending. Investment in residential construction also fell by 0.3 percent, including a 1.2 percent drop in spending on single-family projects.