BOUCHERVILLE, Que. ― Senior executives from Lowe’s Canada met with vendors at a special Meet the Buyers Breakfast last week. The event was organized and presented by Hardlines, with the support of the Quebec industry association, AQMAT, and Le Bureau du Québec in Toronto.

Held at the new Imperia Hotel in Boucherville, Que., the room was filled with almost 180 people, as vendors heard from the Lowe’s Canada team, headed by Igor Halencak, vice-president, merchandising and marketing, to get a better understanding of how these teams are currently working with suppliers. In addition, a number of merchandising directors joined the vendors in the audience for breakfast.

The morning kicked off with introductory remarks by Hardlines’ own Michael McLarney, who welcomed the vendors and thanked the team from Lowe’s Canada for agreeing to provide fresh insight into the merchandising team’s structure and focus this year. He was followed by Jean-Sébastien Lamoureux, vice president of communications and public affairs for Lowe’s Canada. He showed a new corporate video that outlines the banners and the reach of Lowe’s Canada.

Halencak took the stage after him, to explain in detail what he called “a new, unified structure” for the buying teams within the company.

While the buying function is important, the need for strong execution was underlined by the mandate of Anne-Sophie Konrad, senior director, field merchandising. She leads a merchandising execution team and area field merchandising across Canada. She explained that her team is the first point of contact between the stores and the buyers. It is consistently working toward bringing forward the unique strengths of each banner while delivering on the needs of Lowe’s Canada’s entire merchandising network.

Both Josée Dumas, VP of merchandising, home décor and Carol Crystal, VP of merchandising, seasonal and appliances, explained how their teams are organized, along with their priorities and what to watch for this coming summer.

To cap off the presentations, David Gaudet, merchandising category director in building and maintenance, explained the importance of tools, including the Craftsman brand. Finally, Charles Valois, VP of marketing, laid out some of Lowe’s Canada’s strategic initiatives through its various banners.

Following the formal presentations, Halencak returned to the stage to take questions. The team from Lowe’s Canada stayed on afterwards to network and speak with the vendors one-on-one.

HARDLINES WORLD HQ, Toronto ― In an ongoing effort to deliver a premium experience to the retail home improvement industry, Hardlines is pleased to announce the first-ever Hardlines Home Improvement Blues Cruise. The four-day cruise, scheduled for this coming September, will give retail leaders and vendors an opportunity to network while enjoying some of the finest blues players in this industry.

The cruise, being held in partnership with Halifax-based SeaFun Cruises, will be carefully curated with a robust itinerary of face-to-face group meetings, round tables and sharing of best practices, culminating each evening with rollicking blues jams and a featured performer.

Along with these business-building sessions, delegates will enjoy the musicianship of some of the industry’s top executives. While the schedule of musicians is yet to be finalized, the lineup so far will include the Texas-style blues guitar stylings of one of Home Hardware’s newest top executives, accompanied by the saxophone licks of a top buyer from Lowe’s Canada. Home Depot Canada’s marketing team has committed to provide their in-house rhythm section, “The Pumpkin Patch”, with a solid back beat with bass, tambourine and drums.

An executive from one of the country’s leading door and window suppliers is stepping up on singing duties, providing vocals that are rumoured to rival Billie Holiday’s.

The buying groups will face off on the last night of the cruise with a battle of the bands, featuring “The Rebate Brothers”, an organ trio from TIMBER MART; “Buckle Up”, a Motown-inspired band from Sexton Group and “Turret of Power”, a horns-driven sextet courtesy of Castle Building Centres.

Tickets for the first-ever Hardlines Home Improvement Blues Cruise will go on sale by the middle of the month. Space for this exclusive event will be limited, so don’t delay. (Click here for the full itinerary and to register!)

SPECIAL REPORT ― A common misconception about brand is that it’s just about the final packaging—the marketing and communications around selling a product or service. But Catherine Vaugh, Orgill’s brand building manager for Canada, says a company’s brand identity goes much deeper.

“Brand identity is something you build for yourself,” says Vaugh. “You need a mission statement, to understand where you want to go, what you want to be and how you want to convey it to your marketplace. It’s your mantra, your mission statement.”

Vaugh works for Orgill, the giant hardware wholesaler, to provide marketing tools for independent dealers. She adds there is also the concept of brand image, which covers how your consumer perceives your brand and what they hear and observe you doing. Both components are equally important, she says. “When we take brand identity and brand image together, that sweet spot where it overlaps in the middle is really what we’re trying to accomplish.”

The more those two concepts overlap, Vaugh says, the more successfully a company is communicating its message to its audience, and the healthier its brand recognition will be.

(This is excerpted from a story in our sister publication, Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly. The latest issue of HHIQ is in the mail right now to 11,000 retail dealers and managers across Canada. Click here for more info! —Editor)

CHICAGO ― True Value’s historic decision to reduce its shareholders’ stake has enabled the banner to offer locally customized marketing, Forbes reports. Customers get geographically targeted promotions and the opportunity to receive relevant mobile messages, while hardware and home improvement retailers who operate under the True Value banner get access to a personalized digital marketing program.

“We stopped charging a national advertising fee so that our local store owners could optimize their approach to traditional and digital advertising,” says CEO and President John Hartmann. “It all boils down into one word: customizable.”

The move comes one year after True Value, then a dealer-owned co-op, sold off 70% of the company to private equity firm Acon Investments. True Value shareholders resoundingly approved the sale, with more than 80% voting to give it the green light.

With the deal, True Value departed from the co-op model it had been identified with for 70 years. At the time, Hartmann expressed his “great respect” for the model but said it is now dated and inflexible. The sale was designed to “unlock value” for the dealer members, who share in the value generated by the company through the new True Value Co., which was set up to hold the remaining 30% of True Value’s assets.

“In 2019, each store will have its own individual marketing program, and they will be able to adjust it as the dollars go up and down, right on the screen,” Dave Elliott, senior VP of Marketing, told Hardware Retailing. As part of that effort, the company is redefining location-based services by using metrics that track shoppers’ movements and habits more accurately than a simple radius.

Each year, the North American Retail Hardware Association (NRHA) names high-performing retailers in two programs. The first is its retail “Top Guns”. These retailers are individuals who are innovating in their communities and pushing other members of the channel to continue to differentiate and elevate the independent home improvement industry. From Canada, Christine Hand has been named one this year’s Top Guns. She is the owner of Handyman Home Hardware in Conception Bay, Nfld., and chairman of the board of Home Hardware Stores Ltd. Second, the NRHA identifies a group of young retailers under the age of 35 who have excelled in their careers. Again, a Home Hardware dealer has garnered a prize for this year’s awards. Kevin Harris, of Harris Home Hardware in London, Ont., has won in the category of store over $2 million in annual sales.

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ST. JACOBS, Ont. ― Cannington Home Hardware in Cannington, Ont., is coming back to life after a two-year closure, under the ownership of Nancy and Dave Jackett, who also own nearby Fenelon Falls Home Hardware. Store manager Paul Sadler said that once the shelves are stocked and point-of-sale systems are set up, the store was working to have a soft opening. “There’s merchandise moving onto the shelves as we speak,” he told the Brock Citizen, adding that inventory may be limited in the store’s first days. “We’re going guns blazing. We’re pushing hard to make this happen.”

DEUX PIEDS A GAUCHE, Man. — A leading Prairie retailer has unveiled its spring outdoor collection. BS Building Supplies in Deux Pieds à Gauche, Man., is going to market with a range of rakes, shovels, swivel chairs and metal coat racks. Jock Shitely, the owner of BS, explains the strategy behind the new assortments: “It’s pretty simple, actually. I finally managed to find the damn key for the drive shed, where all this junk had been piling up all winter.”

SUPPLIER NEWS

VANCOUVER ― CanWel Building Materials Group announced it has reached an agreement with Conifex Timber Inc. to acquire Lignum Forest Products, a private partnership which operates a lumber marketing and distribution business. “Lignum is a well-respected brand in many of our markets and we are extremely pleased to be able to further solidify our North American lumber marketing and distribution capabilities with this acquisition,” said Amar Doman, CanWel’s chairman and CEO. The purchase price will be satisfied from CanWel’s current balance sheet.

MADISON, Wis. ― Spectrum Brands Holdings dismissed as “meritless” a shareholder class action suit accusing the company of misleading the public to drive up its stock price. The filing claims former CEO Andreas Rouvé and CFO Douglas Martin concealed hiccups in the construction of two distribution centres, including one in Kansas for Spectrum’s hardware and home improvement segment. Executives, the plaintiffs say, insisted that the developments were “on track” as Spectrum’s profits suffered during the first half of 2017. In July of that year, the company owned up to “temporary, transitional challenges” but only in April 2018 did it acknowledge more serious challenges in getting the facilities underway, at which point the value of the shareholders’ investment declined even more sharply.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

U.S. housing starts fell by a more-than-expected 8.7% in February, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.162 million units. The percentage decline was the largest in eight months, with inclement weather a possible factor. Construction of single-family dwellings plunged by 17% to its lowest rate in more than 18 months. Building permits dropped 1.6% to a rate of 1.296 million units. (U.S. Commerce Dept.)

OVERHEARD

“Every day, Lowe’s Canada’s merchandising team works to satisfy customers and offer them the best products at attractive prices. As we made clear during the Hardlines Meet the Buyers event, we’re always looking for new ways to strengthen our partnerships and create new ones. We consider that working closely with our suppliers is crucial to our delivery, especially in making a fresh and innovative product assortment available every season.”
―Igor Halencak, vice-president, merchandising and marketing at Lowe’s Canada, on his team’s presentation to vendors at last week’s Hardlines Meet the Buyers Breakfast.

OUT & ABOUT

Next week, Michael McLarney and David Chestnut will be at the CHHMA’s AGM and Hall of Fame luncheon. Then, on the weekend, Michael will head down to St. Jacobs, Ont., for the Home Hardware Spring Dealer Market.