Garant is streamlining its brands as part of a plan to double brand recognition across Canada, increase sales by 50 percent, and boost project design revenues by 20 percent within the next five years.

“We have decided to concentrate all our activities under the Garant brand by gradually eliminating several of our sub-brands,” general manager Pierre-Yves Martin, Garant’s general manager. As part of the same initiative, the company has unveiled a new logo, designed by Montreal-based firm LG2.

(We’ll do a deeper dive into the power of the brand, and Garant’s strategy to streamline its message, in next Monday’s searing edition of Hardlines Weekly Report. Don’t miss it! Click here to try out Hardlines Weekly Report for yourself!)

Ipex has held the grand opening of its new U.S. flagship manufacturing facility in Pineville, N.C. The event was attended by more than 150 people, including members of government and other local representatives. The 200,000-square-foot injection moulding plant features fully electric injection moulding machines, proprietary automation, and cloud connectivity.

The total monthly value of building permits in Canada increased 3.4 percent in August to $11.9 billion, StatCan reports. The value of residential permits declined 3.7 percent to $6.8 billion, largely due to weaker multi-unit construction intentions in Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia.

These declines were partly offset by monthly gains in the value of single-family home permits. Across Canada, this component was up 5.5 percent to $2.9 billion in August, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase for this component.

The latest edition of Hardlines Dealer News hits inboxes tomorrow. In this issue, we look at how banners are wooing pro customers, Home Hardware’s private label push, and winning social media strategies. Hardlines Dealer News is monthly and it’s free: click here to subscribe now!

Home Depot is among the major North American retailers facing larger and increasingly better organized theft rings. But where does all this stolen merch go? An investigation in Florida has found that a pastor in Tampa was behind a years-long crime ring that was responsible for stealing $3 million worth of products.

Robert Dell is a pastor who ran a drug recovery program. He is accused of recruiting vulnerable individuals in the program to shoplift the products, then in turn selling them online.

Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has partnered with local artists across Canada to mark World Mental Health Day. Local Home Hardware stores have selected community organizations and presented indoor murals featuring colours from BeautiTone’s 2024 Colour Trends Card. “Public art not only inspires and delights but brings people together, and at Home Hardware, we are in the business of community building,” Samantha Wright, private brands manager for Home Hardware, said in a release.

Canadian Tire’s JumpStart charity aims to foster equality in sport and recreation. It funds sports fees for the children of families in need—and it also builds sports and recreation infrastructure. The largest playground ever built by JumpStart was officially opened last week in Barrie, Ont. The city’s Painswick Park is the location of the Muriel and A.J. Billes Family Playground.

“Our dream was the inspiration to help in creating a Canada where every child has the opportunity to play, to learn, and to grow. And, oh my, with the help of many, many thousands of supporters, JumpStart has come a very long way towards that goal,” said Martha Billes, the program’s founder. The highly accessible playground is named after her parents. Her father was the co-founder of Canadian Tire with his brother, J.W. Billes.

Richelieu Hardware said this week its Q3 profits fell by $30.7 million to $0.53 a share, from $0.82 a share a year ago. Consolidated sales declined by 2.9 percent to $459 million, a total that beat analyst estimates of $439 million. The company pointed to a weaker loonie and higher warehousing costs as contributing to its financial results.

The largest private employer in the world has been testing AI to help its employees to serve customers. Walmart employees at a store in New Jersey, among others, use a special app to gauge what needs restocking, plotting the most efficient route they should take between the stockroom and the shelves. The app shaves 30 percent off employees’ time to complete restocking tasks, the company has said.

Quartz, a news site, says that it has been told that Walmart employees are asking the app 600,000 questions a week—mostly on behalf of customers. Walmart has said that, within five years, 65 percent of its stores will have this technology.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. data for the first half of 2023 shows an uptick in new home construction for several major cities during the period. The increase, however, is slight, and largely on the strength of the multi-family sector. The Crown corporation warns that factors like higher building and borrowing costs will likely put a damper on the pace of homebuilding. Housing starts were up in just two of the six cities CMHC reviewed (Toronto and Vancouver) over the comparable period of 2022.