April 20, 2015 Volume xxi, #16

“It is better to live rich than to die rich. ” — Samuel Johnson (poet, essayist, moralist, and literary critic, 1709-1784)

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Federated builds new hardware/LBM buying team

SASKATOON — Federated Co-operatives Limited's Home and Building Supplies unit has restructured its Home Office and Regional teams. The changes reflect an ongoing focus on the home improvement side of FCL’s business.

Rob Williams is now the Category Development Manager – Building Materials. Cody Smith is now the Category Development Manager – Hardware. Both Williams and Smith have a team of category managers, category co-ordinators, and planogramming staff reporting to them.

“Home and Building Supplies is a key strategic business category within the Co-operative Retailing System, which adds value through the offering of products and services to meet the needs of Western Canadian consumers,” says Tony Steier, Director of Home and Building Supplies, who heads up the entire division. “These changes are designed to better serve the needs arising from the continued growth and investment taking place at Co-op retail locations throughout Western Canada.”

Despite having a bigger focus on farm and feed and energy products, FCL remains a key player in Canada’s retail home improvement scene. With more than half a billion dollars in sales, it is one of the Who’s Who Top 20 Retail Groups .

Under Steier’s leadership, the team will work alongside Co-op retails, “in providing outstanding service to make customers feel at home in their local Co-op stores.” He notes that a broader investment is being made in the entire division. More resources have been added to bolster support in marketing, training, technology and procurement.

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Canadian Tire redefines its buyers as “experts”

TORONTO — Once infamous for moving buyers around from portfolio to portfolio, Canadian Tire is now seeing the value of grooming buyers in roles that position them as experts in the categories they represent.

Canadian Tire president and CEO Michael Medline explained the new approach at an analysts’ conference held recently by CIBC. Now, buyers are being cultivated for their expertise—and their passion—for their respective categories. They will actually be left in place to cultivate and strengthen that expertise.

“We used to change buyers around all the time. Not anymore,” he said.

That approach was first tried out in Canadian Tire’s automotive business, which Medline headed up before taking over the top job. Now, it’s being expanded to Canadian Tire’s other core businesses of Living, Fixing, and Playing.

The arrival of Target to Canada sharpened his company’s desire to strengthen its buying focus, as a way to solidify CTR’s expertise in core categories. The strength of Canadian Tire “and a bunch of other Canadian champions” gave Target a run for its money in categories such as paint and housewares.

The buying teams also rely on the dealers. “We work with the best dealers in each category to improve these sections, so it’s not just [up to] a bunch of buyers on laptops.”

(Get face-to-face with Canadian Tire’s own Darren Snyder, Category Business Manager for Stationary Power Tools & Wet/Dry Vacuums, at our upcoming Hardlines Meet the Buyers Breakfast, April 30 at the Toronto Airport Westin Bristol Place Hotel. He will be there representing the entire CTR buying team. So regardless of your category, you’ll want to be there! Click here for more details. —Editor)

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UFA names new president and CEO

CALGARY — United Farmers of Alberta has a new boss. Carol Kitchen has been named president and CEO of UFA, coming over from Land O’Lakes Inc., a Minneapolis-based farm co-op with $1.8 billion of annual revenue. She was senior vice-president and general manager of a business unit there that sold dairy products. She also worked in financial roles at the Growmark co-op in both Illinois and Ontario from 1992 to 2000.

Kitchen, a certified public accountant with an M.B.A., also worked for an international accounting firm for two years. The rest of her career has been in agricultural co-operatives. After growing up on a century-old family farm in Illinois, Kitchen has lived in many parts of the U.S. and in Ontario.

Besides its farm and feed businesses, UFA has 35 farm and ranch stores, plus one building centre in Fort McMurray, that fall under UFA’s Agribusiness unit. That business is headed up by Keith Jones, director, Farm and Ranch Solutions and has retail sales in the hardware and home improvement industry of $400 million (source: Hardlines Who’s Who Directory).

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Women’s golf will raise $$ for abused women and children

Another great organization is celebrating two decades in existence. The Women Fore Women networking group started in 1995—just like HARDLINES. The organization provides a forum for women in hardware and housewares to network.

To celebrate the 20-year milestone, the group is hosting a special golf tournament June 24 at Granite Ridge Golf and Country Club, 9503 Dublin Line, Milton, Ont. All tee times are at 12:00 noon, followed by dinner at 5:30 p.m. The evening will include a live auction and raffle to raise funds for the group’s charity of choice, Yellow Brick House , which support abused women and children. So goodie bag, raffle, and auction prize donations will be gratefully accepted.

Wendy Hanson, vice president sales for Canada at Neatfreak, the home organization company, is one of the organizers; you can email her directly if you want more information and wish to donate prizes, etc. Wendy invites everyone to pass this one along to all of the women in both your personal and professional life.

Wendy would also welcome any help from anyone with a bit of spare time on their hands to volunteer to help out, either ahead of time or on the day itself.

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Orgill to expand distribution network

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Orgill Inc. has announced plans to increase the size of its Sikeston, Mo., distribution centre by more than 250,000 square feet. This expansion will bring the total size of the facility to more than one million square feet.

“This next phase in the growth of our Mid-America DC is a testament to the growth both Orgill and our retail customers have experienced,” says Orgill chairman, president, and CEO Ron Beal.

First opened in August of 2009, the Mid-America “SuperCentre” is Orgill’s largest distribution facility and this expansion will increase its capacity by more than 25%. The expansion will accommodate Orgill’s direct import products/containers from around the world, which is expected to result in lower acquisition costs to help its retail customers be more competitive. Construction is expected to be finished by year end.

Operating five distribution facilities in the U.S., a stocking flow-through centre in Canada, and three export consolidation centres, Orgill distributes hardware and home improvement products to customers in all 50 states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 50-plus countries.

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