July 4, 2016 Volume xxii, #27

“When I'm in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like.”
—Jane Fonda (American actor, writer, and political activist, 1937- )

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Happy Canada Day to all our Faithful Subscribers across this great country. And for our growing ranks of American subscribers, happy Fourth of July!
—The Hardlines Team

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Lowe’s latest store opens in Toronto’s East End

TORONTO — Lowe’s Canada opened its sixth store in Toronto, and its 45th nationwide, last Thursday. The store is one of a dozen former Target locations that Lowe’s acquired in July 2015, and reflects the company’s efforts to fit the Lowe’s footprint into a slightly smaller store size, with less than 90,000 square feet of retail.

The store features 40,000 SKUs in 20 product categories, including a wide array of heavy appliances that features some very high-end price points. One Bosch oven was priced at $6,000. Another category here is furniture, a category Lowe’s is expected to grow further.

As part of the board-cutting ceremony at the grand opening, Lowe’s Canada donated $10,000 to a local charity, Neighbourhood Link Support Services.

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Federated Co-op helps bring the colour back to Fort Mac

SASKATOON — The effort to help Fort McMurray residents rebuild their homes and community has received a colourful boost from Federated Co-operatives Limited. FCL has donated 400 cans of paint to restore buildings that were damaged or are being rebuilt.

“Co-op is fundamentally committed to serving and caring for Western Canadian communities—it’s part of our identity,” said Ron Healey, associate vice-president, Ag and Home (shown here with Tony Steier, FCL’s director Home and Building Supplies; and Grant Wicks, general manager of Saskatoon Co-op). “We’re glad that we can play a small part in helping Fort McMurray, a community in need right now, with resources and encouragement so that it can thrive again.”

The donation was made at the Saskatoon Co-op Home Centre on Circle Drive. To celebrate the donation, representatives from FCL, Saskatoon Co-op, and the mayor of Saskatoon began painting a mural and writing messages of encouragement to Fort McMurray. Saskatoon residents are being invited to help paint the mural and send their own messages throughout the week. “Most people in Western Canada have a connection with Fort McMurray through friends or family. I believe we are all looking for an opportunity to provide support to that community,” said Grant Wicks, general manager of Saskatoon Co-op.

The mural and messages will be applied to the semi-trailer that delivers the paint donation. The trailer will also make stops at Co-op home centres in North Battleford, Sask., Stony Plain, Alta., and St. Paul, Alta., this summer. Residents of those communities will be able to complete the painting and send messages from their communities to Fort McMurray.

This is the first donation made from the new Co-op Communities in Full Colour program. Through this program, more than $400,000 worth of Co-op paint will be donated annually to community projects. Local community groups can apply for a paint donation at their local Co-op home centre.

In addition to the paint initiative, FCL, its co-ops, their members, and customers have donated more than $400,000 at their local co-ops to Red Cross efforts to date. Local retail co-ops across Western Canada have given more than $160,000, and FCL has provided $100,000 directly to the Red Cross relief efforts in Fort McMurray.

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Ace continues to add stores in Canada

WINNIPEG — Ace Canada continues to gain ground with independent dealers across the country. Two more stores have celebrated grand openings in recent weeks.

In Grand Valley, Ont., a 2,600-square-foot store, formerly a Home Hardware location, has been re-branded as Ace. The owners, Tania and Ralph Scheiwiller, carry a wide range of products, including paint, lawn and garden, hardware, electrical, plumbing, automotive, and home décor, as well as niche products such as housewares, farm, and higher-end pet food and supplies.

(Meanwhile, the Home Hardware business in Grand Valley has reopened under new ownership in a new location, with 4,100 square feet of space. Dealer-owners Terri, Scott, and Corrine Arthurs also run another business in town, Arthurs Fuel.)

A 4,000-square-foot Ace Building Centre opened on June 16 in Mackenzie, B.C., two hours north of Prince George. Victory Ace Building Centre is owned by Sylvain and Marilyne Laferriere. “Marilyne, the staff, and I have been extremely busy with the changes, installing a new banner, learning a new POS system, learning what is available with the Ace Canada organization... all during the busiest time of year,” said Sylvain Laferriere.

“Having the support of the Ace team has been fantastic, as well as from Dick’s Lumber.” Dick’s, RONA’s contractor yard in the Lower Mainland, supplies all the LBM for Ace and RONA stores in the region.

Ace Hardware, licensed here by Lowe’s Canada, now has close to 70 stores flying the banner. It is managed out of Lowe’s Ace Canada facility in Winnipeg.

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Reno intentions down as spending rises

TORONTO ― The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has reported that the housing market is in the grip of “gridlock”, with homeowners looking for new homes but hamstrung by a lack of affordable options.

In this climate, the Financial Post reports, home improvement spending rises, yet most is currently directed at landscaping, which adds little to home values. “The shift in focus from indoors to outdoors is surprising,” said Barry Gollom, CIBC’s VP of mortgages and lending.

Independently, Altus Group has found that renovation spending in 2014 exceeded investment in new homes by $20 billion, and the amount is expected to continue growing this year, a forecast backed up by the CIBC data.

Meanwhile, retail sales for the country bear out strong performance for the year so far. Total Canadian retail sales grew 6.1% year-over-year in April on a not seasonally adjusted basis, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. For the first four months of 2016, retail was up 5.8%, marking the strongest start to a year since 2010.

And that the rebound in retail sales trends is fairly widespread. Sales for building material and garden equipment/supplies category were up 10.3% for April, and up 10.5% for the first four months of the year. The sector enjoyed a healthy year-over-year increase of 7.6%.

While the numbers look good, retail consultant Ed Strapagiel is taking a more sombre view. “Spikes in retail sales growth typically come back down to earth in a few months, so enjoy it while you can,” he cautions. “There’s little on the economic front that suggests this level of retail sales growth is sustainable.”

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CLASSIFIED ADS


Position: Sourcing Manager

Wholesale/distribution company in the GTA,  building on 25 years of industry experience selling to home centre chains is searching for candidates with home and outdoor living experience (preferred). Must excel in entrepreneurial environments, building and scaling a business. Ability to wear many hats, contributing individually and as part of a team

• Identify and source partners and product opportunities
• Work with partners (Asia), bringing products to market
• Comp. shopping, pricing models, launch plans, roadmaps
• Trade show support, presentations, catalog development

3-5 years sourcing and negotiation experience. International (Asia) and domestic travel required. Exceptional Excel, PowerPoint, MSWord skills. Send resumes to zaftej@gmail.com

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Product Manager, Building Products—Mitten Building Products

As one of North America's largest building products manufacturers, Ply Gem makes it possible for every homeowner to enjoy a beautiful, custom-looking home exterior that's also energy efficient and low maintenance. The Mitten Building Products division is growing their marketing department and has retained Wolf Gugler Executive Search to identify a star building products marketer in search of their next career opportunity.
Reporting to the VP Marketing, you’ll enjoy category leadership for assigned product lines managing a significant product portfolio including:

• Managing the Stage Gage process, situation analysis including industry trends, field and customer input, gap analysis to identify and capitalize on opportunities
• Sku rationalization/evaluation with margin contribution in mind at all times
• Define marketing communications strategy to support product, channel and brand strategies
• Liaise with engineering and manufacturing on long term product planning
• Be an information conduit with internal and external customers including company branches, retailers, sales and customer service
• Work closely with Purchasing to negotiate programs and distribution agreements

Qualifications:

• Five years’ plus product marketing expertise in the building products field
• Demonstrated analytic, problem solving and planning skills
• A proven presenter in order to educate and influence others both internally and externally
• Stage Gage knowledge or similar product development road mapping experience

This position is based in Brantford, ON. Very competitive salary, bonus and benefits package offered in addition to advancement within the company.
We’ve had the privilege of working with the company on previous occasions and have known the VP, Marketing for many years. He’s a dynamic building products subject matter expert and both a good leader and delegator with no ego. What more can you ask for in your next career move?
You can expect complete discretion in exploring this great opportunity by contacting Wolf Gugler via email or phone at (888)848-3006 for a confidential exchange of information. You may also apply online by clicking this link. We respond to all inquiries. This position is available immediately!