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April 10, 2017 Volume
xxiii, #15
“It’s better to walk alone than with a crowd going in the wrong direction.”
—Diane Grant (Canadian playwright and screenwriter)
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Home Hardware is changing up its marketing big time: here’s how
ST. JACOBS, Ont. — How do you go about freshening up your company’s brand, while staying true to its strong, family-oriented corporate culture that values tradition? That has been the challenge for Rick McNabb since joining Home Hardware Stores Ltd. as vice president of marketing and sales just over a year ago.
One of the first places he started with was a review of the company’s ad agency. Morris Saffer had been working with Home for 40 years—an unprecedented length of time for a business cycle that typically lasts five years at most. The hiring last May of a downtown Toronto shop, john st., began a process of evolving Home Hardware’s marketing strategy in a new direction.
The result: a new slogan and a new strategy that targets a younger demographic, which was introduced at Home Hardware’s dealer market in St. Jacobs last week. The tag line, “Here’s how,” reflects the co-op retailer’s efforts to attract millennial customers using a project-oriented sales message.
“Here’s how” replaces “Home owners helping homeowners,” a folksier message that reflected the role dealers play in their communities. It was one of a series of slogans developed over the years by the team at Saffer, including “We’ve got your wood” and the iconic “Home of the Handyman.”
Saffer remains a force to be reckoned with, however. Just two weeks ago, the group acquired the Ace Canada business. Richard Hill, managing partner for Saffer Retail, has been named marketing director for Ace Canada, based in Ace Canada’s new Mississauga, Ont., offices.
“There was a desire, for sure, to shift downward [in age] in the demographic,” says McNabb, speaking with HARDLINES during the market. He acknowledges the importance of the baby boomer generation that has driven sales for decades, but adds that the new homeowner has a different profile. “It’s really important for our organization to see and target a different demographic.”
The new slogan aims to put the service orientation of Home dealers front and centre, emphasizing their knowledge and expertise that can give customers the confidence to take on and complete projects at home. “The objective was to have a call to action that reflects the knowledge and service Home Hardware can bring to consumers.”
Home’s television advertising had been dominated in recent years by a focus on unique products available exclusively through its stores. By shifting the focus to project selling, says McNabb, the stores will come to be recognized as being the destination for a wider range of products, backed by a service component that enables young homeowners to tackle projects.
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Lowe’s Canada introduces next-gen virtual-reality project planning
BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Lowe’s Canada has taken its virtual-reality “Holoroom” to the next level. The Holoroom, designed by Lowe’s own Innovation Labs, is an immersive design and visualization tool that was first tested in Canada. It lets users customize the Holoroom with paint colours and décor features that simulate their own home. Now, the virtual reality experience of the Holoroom’s latest iteration, “How To,” will allow customers to simulate using and installing products in a virtual skills clinic.
The technology is debuting this month in a Lowe’s store in Burlington, Ont., to be followed by a RONA store in Beloeil, Que., in a few weeks. Lowe’s claims it’s the first retailer to apply augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology beyond design assistance, to actually address the evolution of home improvement learning and skills.
The Holoroom How To proof-of-concept made its first appearance at a Lowe’s store in Framingham, Mass., in the Boston area.
“We are excited to be a partner of Lowe’s Innovation Labs and to make the Holoroom How To experience available to our Canadian customers, as it clearly illustrates how innovation can enable us to go one step further in supporting and inspiring our customers in their renovation projects,” said Claire Bara, vice-president, strategy and business insights for Lowe’s Canada.
(Go to HARDLINES TV to take a tour of the Lowe’s Holoroom How To experience for yourself. —Editor)
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Ace Canada welcomes three new stores in Quebec
WINNIPEG — Ace Canada has added three new dealers to its roster in Quebec, bringing its total to 21 locations in the province. Rejean Bouchard and Germain Mercier have owned the St-David De Farladeau Handyman Centre in Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean for 22 years. They will expand their 2,800-square-foot store later this year to increase their selection of hardware products.
Robichaud Hardware in Caplan just celebrated its 30th anniversary in January. The 3,200-square-foot store specializes in bathroom projects and heating. Store owner Maryse Robichaud is planning a complete store redesign for the fall in order to offer new products, along with a builders’ centre.
Distributions Rioux, located in Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!, will move to its new location this month and celebrate with a grand opening sale. Owner Guy Rioux plans to increase the store’s size and will have a drive-through for building materials, as well as a large lumber yard of nearly 25,000 square feet.
These latest recruits bring the number of stand-alone Ace stores in Canada to 74. Another 92 stores are still co-branded with the TRU banner. Lowe’s Canada’s commitment to the Ace banner was reinforced with the recent signing of Saffer Retail as its ad agency to market and promote the Ace banner in Canada.
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Who are the top home improvement retailers by province?
SPECIAL REPORT — The biggest players by province for the most part reflect the leaders nationally. However, there are some unique regional differences.
An analysis of the top home improvement retailers in each province by sales indicates that most regions are dominated by the country’s largest player, Home Depot Canada. With sales exceeding $7 billion in this country (all calculations based on 2015 sales), Home Depot Canada is particularly strong in provinces with large urban hubs, namely British Columbia, where it has 26 stores, and in Ontario, where it has 88 outlets.
Conversely, in Quebec, Lowe’s/RONA is by far the largest player there, with more than a quarter of the market from 225 stores. Its biggest competitor is Groupe BMR, which has 17 percent of the market from 303 stores.
In smaller, and especially more rural, provinces, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. is most often the market leader. The exceptions are in Saskatchewan, where Federated Co-operatives Ltd. has the top spot, with 112 hardware and home improvement stores representing 14% of that province’s market.
(This story is excerpted from the latest issue of our sister publication, Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly, which is in the mail now to more than 11,000 dealer-owners and managers across Canada. For more information, click here!)
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The North American Retail Hardware Association has recognized eight dealers as Young Retailers of the Year. The program, now in its 21st year, recognizes individual achievements of retailers up to the age of 35 from the U.S. and Canada. The Canadian winner, in the multiple stores category, is Matthew Payzant, general manager of Payzant Home Hardware Building Centre in Lower Sackville, N.S. “These honourees have reached impressive professional milestones, are strong leaders in their communities and are committed to moving the independent home improvement industry forward,” says Bill Lee, NRHA president and CEO. The awards banquet will be held May 8 at the Renaissance Las Vegas Hotel, prior to the opening of the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas. (For more information on the awards program and conference, go to nrhaconference.com.)
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