BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — BMR Group has reached a deal to acquire a stake in Lefebvre & Benoit, a Laval-based dealer selling construction materials to contractors and builders, and a fellow member of the buying group Independent Lumber Dealers Co-operative (ILDC).

The two Quebec companies aim to combine their expertise to improve their offerings and drive growth across Canada. Where BMR’s stores provide retail hardware and building materials to DIY customers and contractors, Lefebvre & Benoit furnishes large-scale industrial and multi-family residential projects. It also has three outlets in the Greater Toronto Area, specializing in residential roofing, industrial flooring and drywall respectively.

“BMR’s dealers right now are in the residential part of the business,” CEO Pascal Houle explains (shown here, far right, with Marc-André Lefebvre, Alexandre Lefebvre and Caroline Lefebvre, co-owners of Lefebvre & Benoit). “The big towers in Montreal and Toronto—we’re not there. Lefebvre & Benoit has the equipment and the management to understand and serve this market.”

“They are real entrepreneurs and know how to build a business,” he adds. “I believe it’s a good move for both of us. The culture of the two businesses is similar.”

Co-owner Alexandre Lefebvre says the partnership will ensure the viability of the family business in the face of mounting pressure from large U.S. chains.

“We think there’s room for a large Canadian player that can act as a consolidator for the market,” he says. “We’re strong financially. La Coop is a large business. We felt that by partnering with them—for them, it’s a platform to grow in the commercial segment,” he adds, referring to BMR’s parent company, La Coop fédérée, “and for us, it gives the credibility to consolidate coast to coast.”

In terms of the family business’s succession plan, Lefebvre explains that with the growth of multinationals, “it would have been difficult to continue on our own.” The deal with BMR, however, is no slippery slope toward losing more family control. “On the commercial side of the business, a lot of it is based on relationship. BMR wouldn’t invest in us if we weren’t committed to running the business for the long term. We are not going away.”

ST. JACOBS, Ont. ― Home Hardware Stores Limited has been actively reorganizing its merchandising teams at head office, having broken them clearly into a hardware team and a lumber and building materials team.

Most recently, on the Hardlines side, Renee Gratton Veaudry was named merchandise manager for plumbing and fashion. She reports to Dave Martin, director of merchandise hardlines. Gratton Veaudry has nearly 20 years of experience in category management, marketing and merchandising. Previously, she was VP of sales at Talon Systems Inc. and president and owner of Mercari Marketing.

The merchandise teams fall under two camps: hardware, headed by VP of merchandise, hardlines, Joel Marks, and on the LBM side, Marianne Thompson, VP of merchandise for LBM, who only joined in January. They both report to Kevin Macnab, Home’s president and CEO.

The new merchandise manager roles fall under another, fairly new, management level―merchandise directors. Brian Straus and Dave Martin were appointed as directors, merchandise hardlines back in May. Merchandise director for lumber and building materials is Doug Shantz.

Gratton Veaudry’s hire is one in a string of changes at Home Hardware. Just a few weeks earlier, the co-op announced the appointment of Susan Ryan to the newly created position of merchandise manager, millwork. Then Mark Pardue was promoted to merchandise manager, building materials. Both report to Shantz.

VANCOUVER — Blame it on falling prices, wildfires, low inventories and even beetles. Western Canada’s logging industry is facing some real challenges to get enough supply at a reasonable cost. The situation is affecting some of the country’s biggest producers.

Canfor’s announcement that it will cut production at two Prince George sawmills this summer is the latest of more than 20 such cutbacks, CBC News reports. Hundreds of employees are out of work thanks to challenges to the forestry sector, including 150 at Quesnel’s Tolko Industries mill, which will close in August, and 172 at the Canfor mill in Vavenby, which is due to close this month.

“It’s definitely going to be a struggle because there’s not a great deal of jobs that have around the same pay or benefits,” Tolko employee Jennifer Johnson told the CBC.

Quesnel Mayor Bob Simpson says the city saw the closure coming after the annual timber allotment was cut two years ago. “We’ve been here before and we have a transition team in place based on the lessons learned from that,” he said, adding that city council in its last term froze taxes on the industry in an effort to reduce the city’s dependence on it. Quesnel is promoting growth in its tourism and agriculture sectors in an effort to diversify the local economy.

The problem is affecting towns throughout the West. West Fraser Timber suspended production for two weeks this month at two facilities. Its Alberta plywood operations and High Prairie sawmill had to address low log inventories, which have been adversely impacted by wildfire-related logging curtailments compounded by recent wet weather. Plywood production is anticipated to be reduced by approximately 13 million square feet, while the impact on Alberta lumber production is anticipated to be minor.

A month earlier, West Fraser announced it would close its Chasm lumber mill permanently and eliminate the third shift from its 100 Mile House lumber mill by the fall of this year. The closings were attributed to timber supply constraints owing to B.C.’s growing Mountain Pine Beetle infestation, recent record wildfires, price declines and high saw log costs.

Shortages have led to continued consolidation, as well. Vancouver-based Conifex Timber announced last month the sales of its Fort St. James sawmill and associated forest license to Hampton Lumber. That company operates nine sawmills in Oregon, Washington and B.C.

OTTAWA ― Lee Valley Tools is renowned for its unique tools valued by woodworkers and specialty DIY users. But less known is the fact that it has a collection of antique and vintage tools at its manufacturing facility in Ottawa. These relics not only reflect the legacy of the company, they provide a treasure trove for research and development, as well.

“We have a very extensive collection of hand tools. There are more than 100,000 pieces right now,” says Robin Lee, president of the retailer. He calls them “a physical library” and designers at Lee Valley’s sister company, Veritas Tools, can refer to old styles of products for hands-on testing.

At Veritas, 140 people work in the manufacturing operation, which has a full machine shop, a woodworking shop and two assembly operations that make parts, do finishing and assembly. The facility manufactures 1,200 different products―“all highly complex, small runs. For example, we have a run of 50 to 100 for a rabbit plane,” says Lee.

Any effort to remake or update such a product benefits from access to older models. “You can put it in your hand to feel, to use it,” he says. “It becomes a tremendous way to learn from those who have gone before.” Building on that history, the team at Veritas can add innovation and modern manufacturing methods.

The result is a line of products distinct to Lee Valley Tools―and one that is difficult to find at generalist sites like Amazon. Through its stores and its popular catalogues, both in print and online, the company can share the stories of those tools with its customers―and create stronger relationships with those customers.

The commitment to product innovation is ongoing. The R&D team is designing and planning two to three years ahead of production. Lee says three new machines, worth millions of dollars, are being added over the next three years.

 “History is a very important part of our business. We believe tradition and technique are embodied in our tools.”

... that the latest edition of our newest publication, Hardlines Dealer News, has stories about how a Quebec Home Hardware dealer used eBay to save his business, a B.C. RONA dealer who carried the Olympic torch brought it back to a RONA store and where Lee Valley Tools will open its next store (hint: it’s in Quebec). Hardlines Dealer News is a monthly e-newsletter available at no charge. Click here now to get your free subscription today!

VERONA, Ont. — RONA VeRONA Hardware celebrates its 90th anniversary this year, making it the oldest business in Verona, Ont. To mark the occasion, owners Nicole and Chad Van Camp invited customers and local dignitaries for a celebratory day earlier this month. The hardware store was founded in 1929 by Steven and Victor Merrill in what is now Nicole’s Gifts, also owned by the Van Camps.

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Ace Hardware has changed its paint supplier from Sherwin-Williams to Benjamin Moore. Sherwin-Williams made a deal last year with Lowe’s Cos. to supply that retailer’s paint. Ace sold its own paint manufacturing operation to Valspar in 2012 and currently carries Valspar along with its own house brands. Valspar in turn was bought by Sherwin-Williams in 2017. Benjamin Moore, a Berkshire Hathaway company, will start by making the dealer-owned co-op’s high-end private-label line, Clark + Kensington, and expand to handle all of Ace’s paint supply later this year.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. ― Costco had June net sales of $14.57 billion, up 7.5% from $13.55 billion last year. For the 44-week year to date, the company reported net sales of $126.13 billion, an increase of 8% over the same period last year. Company-wide comp sales were up 5.4% for the month and up 6.2% for the year to date.

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Lowe’s Canada presented $1.3 million last week to the Charles-Bruneau Foundation in support of pediatric cancer research. The donation was part of the company’s second fundraising campaign as a Diamond Partner. A team of some 120 employees, affiliate dealers and vendor partners cycled more than 13,000 kilometres as part of the Tour CIBC Charles-Bruneau. “The cause championed by the Charles-Bruneau Foundation is one that is very dear to us at Lowe’s Canada,” said President Sylvain Prud’homme. “I am moved to see our people come together to help offer children the hope of a cancer-free childhood.”

SUPPLIER NEWS

MONTREAL — Richelieu Hardware’s sales increased 6.8% to $281.2 million in the second quarter. For the first six months of the year, sales were up 4.6% to $507.4 million. Diluted earnings per share rose by 9.7% to $0.34 in the quarter, which saw the company’s fourth acquisition of the fiscal year: Euro Architectural Components, a distributor operating two warehouses in Toronto and Montreal. In Canada, Richelieu recorded sales of $183 million, an increase of $2.3 million, or 1.3%, over the second quarter of 2018, entirely from acquisition growth. Q2 net earnings grew 6.3%.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Housing starts soared by 26% in June, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 245,657 units compared to 196,809 in May. The SAAR of urban starts also increased by 26% in June, to 234,238 units, primarily due to higher trending row and apartment starts. Multiple urban starts rose by 31% to 185,804 units while single-detached urban starts increased by 8% to 48,434 units. Rural starts were estimated at a SAAR of 11,419 units. (CMHC)

Housing intentions dropped in May, with $8.2 billion worth of building permits issued. That represents a 13% decline after a record $9.5 billion in April. Increases in six provinces and all three territories were not enough to offset the decrease in British Columbia, where the value of permits for multi-family dwellings stabilized after a spike in April. Higher development costs taking effect in Metro Vancouver in May drove the April rush. (StatCan)

OVERHEARD

“We have known for some time that lumber industry rationalization is inevitable because too little sawlog supply is available to maintain the existing manufacturing base in the interior region of B.C.” ― Ken Shields, chairman and CEO of Conifex Timber, on the sale of some of Conifex’s assets to Hampton Lumber in Oregon