Canadian Tire names new vps following shake-up

TORONTO - Recent defections and a promotion have spurred a number of personnel changes at Canadian Tire Corp. Pamela Griffith-Jones has left the retailer, and her role as vice-president of the leisure products division, to join Sears Canada as vice-president and chief marketing officer. In her new position, she will lead Sears' marketing organization, which includes developing the Sears brand and its private-label products. Replacing Griffith-Jones is Canadian Tire vp Todd Sharman, who has stepped in as vice-president of leisure products. Tony Whitehouse, who had been line of business director for tools at Canadian Tire, has joined Loblaw as senior vice-president of hardlines. His role has yet to be filled at Canadian Tire. T.J. Flood and Steve Noble remain in place as line of business directors for kitchens and consumables and for electrical and home organization respectively. John Jobin continues as line of business director for décor and repair. Last, but by no means least, our old friend Tony Kuczynski has been promoted to vice-president of automotive for Canadian Tire Retail. Most recently vice-president of store operations and commercial sales for Canadian Tire's PartSource business, Kuczynski was well known in this industry as the driving force behind Ace Hardware Canada's dealer recruitment efforts a decade ago.

↑ top

Vendors make contact with buyers at Hardlines event

MONTREAL & TORONTO - Vendors got a chance to meet face to face with Canada's top buyers at Meet the Buyer events hosted by Hardlines in both Toronto and Montreal last week. Senior buyers from Home Depot, RONA, Home Hardware Stores, TruServ Canada and Hbc (Zellers) were represented in Toronto. In Montreal, buyers from RONA, Home Depot and Pro retail services were on hand to talk about their latest merchandising initiatives. In Toronto, Alim Esmail, senior merchant for hardware at Home Depot Canada, shared the latest retail innovations being offered through that retailer's stores, and the impact they will have on vendors, as well as identifying the need for more cohesive merchandising programs developed in tandem with vendors. His comments were echoed in Montreal by Sylvio Pintal and Anne Legault, district sales merchants for Home Depot. Jim McDonald, hardlines merchant for Hbc, spoke to vendors in Toronto about the opportunities for providing product for Zellers' convenience hardware assortment. Zellers stores are geared to the female shopper and vendors should look new ways to serve that customer, he said. The Toronto event was rounded out by presentations from Ken Robb, buyer for hand & power tools and hardware, TruServ Canada; and Andrew Pantelides, LBM product manager for Home Hardware. In both Toronto and Montreal, RONA's merchant for electrical, Eric Cantin, announced details of a new vendor procedure that will be launched in April. This program will require all vendors, both new and existing, to go online to register their company and products. Vendors must satisfy a set of requirements and provide competitive information that will remain on file regardless of who assumes the buyer role for that category.

↑ top

RONA CEO says he'll increase focus on ICI customer

TORONTO - RONA sees big potential in the business-to-business sector inside its stores, and wants to increase its share of sales to the industrial and building maintenance market. Speaking at the recent CIBC World Markets Retail Conference, Robert Dutton, president and CEO of RONA, was accompanied by EVP and CFO Claude Guevin, and Stéphane Milot, the newly hired senior director of investor relations. With $5.7 billion in retail sales in 2006, RONA is firmly entrenched as Canada's number-two home improvement retailer, after Home Depot Canada. But recent acquisitions have focused on dealers that are strongly contractor oriented, such as Matèriaux Coupal in the Montreal area, and Curtis Lumber in Burnaby, B.C. Now, through a new division of RONA created last year called "RONA Pro Services", the company intends to streamline its services to its pro customers. That focus will distinguish two sides of the business: the building and renovation trades and industrial-commercial-institutional (ICI) customers, especially in existing RONA categories such as plumbing and HVAC. About 12% of RONA's sales are currently in HVAC and plumbing (8% and 4% respectively), and RONA's executive team stated that the plumbing, HVAC and ICI market in Canada is worth about $11 billion, providing lots of growth potential for RONA. Earlier this year, RONA made its first outright acquisition of a wholesale distributor, when it bought Noble Trade, a plumbing and heating supply wholesaler with 19 outlets in Ontario that serves a commercial and professional customer base.

↑ top

TruServ Canada to work with First Nation communities

WINNIPEG - TruServ Canada has entered into a wholesale agreement with Wasaya Group Inc. of Thunder Bay, Ont., which works to acquire viable businesses that can make money while maintaining the traditional principles and values of First Nation communities in Northern Ontario. Under the agreement, TruServ will supply product in concert with Wasaya Group, and will also provide retail training programs for the community-run stores. "We are extremely grateful to have the opportunity to supply the Wasaya community stores with our program," Dave Leonzio, national business development manager for TruServ Canada, said in a prepared statement. "We have been working hard to make sure the agreement fits the kinds of business models in the Wasaya communities. We have taken the time to visit most communities over the last year and believe the program fits the individual needs of each community." The first three communities to sign under the new agreement are Muskrat Dam, Big Trout Lake, and Summer Beaver, Ont.

↑ top

Home Depot creates "Innovation Centre"

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - In an effort to hasten reset times in its stores, Home Depot Canada has created a virtual store where its merchants and their vendors can work together on new merchandising and planograms. The so-called Innovation Centre will give the Home Depot merchandising team a place "where they can rip apart merchandising and try new sets and planograms, perfecting their methodology without disrupting a store," said Gino DiGioacchino, vice-president of merchandising for Home Depot Canada. He spoke last week to a room full of vendors during a breakfast meeting held by the Canadian Hardware and Housewares Manufacturers Association. DiGioacchino likened the new facility to a "playground" for the merchants. Right now, he said, "it can be painful to go into a store to do a reset." In the new Innovation Centre, vendors can work with the merchants to create and evaluate a new reset before taking it into a particular store. The new facility, attached to Home Depot's LBM distribution centre in the north end of Mississauga, just west of Toronto, is modeled after a similar concept created by Canadian Tire Corp. about four years ago. That hardlines mass merchant turned its former DC in the north end of Toronto into a "Retail City", complete with a store within a store, a variety of fixtures, and training rooms. DiGioacchino admitted to borrowing the idea from Canadian Tire for Home Depot, and to hiring away Canadian Tire's retail services person who worked on the concept in the first place, John Ferrera. The Innovation Centre, which was built with money from Home Depot's vendors, will open officially later this spring. With it, DiGioacchino wants to see reset times shortened from as long as 12-24 weeks down to eight weeks. "And I'm adamant about this," he added.

↑ top