Throwback Thursday is a weekly feature in which we dip into the archives of the Hardlines Weekly Report.
This was the week, 25 years ago, when Home Hardware announced that it would commence discontinuation of Beaver Lumber’s brand name, starting Dec. 15, 2000. The 1,000-strong hardware co-op had shocked the industry in August 1999 when it announced that it had bought Beaver Lumber from Molson Cos. for $68 million. Home Hardware got an instant boost to its LBM operations by acquiring what was then a 138-location building materials chain. “Beaver dealers will become either Home Building Centres if they are traditional lumber yards, or Home Hardware Building Centres if they offer broader assortments of hardware, housewares, and giftwares in their stores,” we wrote.
