Under new owners, RONA has begun actively communicating its intention to eventually eliminate the Lowe’s banner in Canada. Online ads have appeared nationally that are aimed at customers who shop Lowe’s. The ads tell those customers that Lowe’s Canada stores will convert to the RONA brand.

The headline to one of the online ads is, “Lowe’s knows warranties.” The text that follows reads: “And we know you care about those warranties. Heck, why wouldn’t you? They’re WARRANTIES after all. So, we want you to know that any and all warranties issued by Lowe’s will be honoured. Yes, even after we change our name to RONA.” Another web page assures customers that, “Lowe’s knows we owe everything to our customers. So we want you to know this: We got you.”

The ads link to a page on the Lowes.ca site outlining what customers can expect from the transition.

Lowe’s sold off its Canadian division earlier this year (the finalized deal was announced Feb. 3). The Lowe’s Canada business was acquired by a New York City-based private equity firm, Sycamore Partners. All of Lowe’s Canada’s retail brands, consisting of RONA, Lowe’s, Réno-Dépôt, and Dick’s Lumber, are now owned by Sycamore.

The banner conversion process involves keeping those Lowe’s customers loyal to RONA. As a result, the Lowe’s Canada site indicates that the RONA stores will continue to carry Lowe’s private-label brands, including Craftsman. In addition, the retailer intends to honour all Lowe’s Canada gift cards, service agreements, financing arrangements, and warranties.

The company also intends to continue to offer its VIPpro program, a loyalty platform for contractors and pros.

The messaging from RONA inc. about the conversion is meant to assure customers that they will continue to be well looked after. “The conversion of the Lowe’s stores will have no impact on you,” says the online messaging. “You can count on our 26,000 employees across Canada to be there for you as you have always been there for us. We thank you for your business, your trust, and your loyalty.”

The Hardlines Conference takes to the road starting in 2023 and our first destination will be Whistler, B.C. Our 27th annual conference will take place Oct. 17 and 18 at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.

The Hardlines Conference is the only national event for the home improvement industry that is open to all banners and suppliers. We take great pride in being able to host top retailers and buying group executives from across the country, as well as leading wholesalers and manufacturers. And this year we are proud to work closely with the Building Supply Industry Association of British Columbia to provide a world-class event to match the world-class destination.

The association is celebrating its 85th anniversary this year, so involvement in the conference has even greater significance, says Thomas Foreman, president of the BSIA of B.C. The association’s birthday celebration will be an important part of the proceedings.

“With 85 years behind us, we are celebrating a very significant milestone,” says Foreman. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join the Hardlines Conference and a great lineup of inspiring, insightful speakers who will stretch your imagination. And it’s in our backyard—so take advantage of it!”

The BSIA’s birthday bash will be held during its annual social event and industry awards program, the Orion Awards. It will take place the day before the conference, Oct. 16, from 4 pm to 5 pm right at the event hotel, the Fairmont Chateau Whistler. All BSIA members have access to special pricing for the conference of almost one-third off regular registration. (Click here for more details or contact Michelle Porter at Hardlines.)

Foreman is working with his team to feature a trade show at the conference. The tabletop show will give supplier members of the BSIA the opportunity to present their products and services to industry leaders from across the country. So far, says Foreman, 12 exhibitors are confirmed, and he anticipates at least another 10 are already committed to participate.

Exhibiting companies must be registered delegates at the Hardlines Conference, but through their BSIA membership, they are eligible for the BSIA discount off the regular admission. (Click here to learn more about the BSIA and the tabletop show!)

The speaker line-up at the 27th Hardlines Conference includes executives from RONA, Federated Co-operatives Ltd., and Taiga Building Materials. In addition, our presenters include thought leaders and analysts from the North American Hardware & Paint Association and economics advisory firm Altus Group.

(The 27th Annual Hardlines Conference will be held at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler resort Oct. 17 and 18, 2023. As a Faithful Hardlines Member-Subscriber, you can use the code HARDLINES23 to get 20 percent off registration! Register here!)

Orgill’s family-owned status offers advantages to workers, says its senior HR exec

Laura Freeman is the executive vice-president of human resources and chief human resources officer at Orgill, Inc. She joined the company earlier this year and Hardlines had the chance to sit down and talk with her.

Before joining the giant Memphis-based hardware wholesaler, Freeman spent seven years heading up HR as chief people officer at Schnucks Markets, a family-run chain of supermarkets in the American Midwest.

Despite the differences in the two businesses, Freeman found some similarities that made the transition an easy one. One similarity between Orgill and her previous employer is the fact that Schnucks Markets is a privately held family-owned business, “and Orgill is the same. There’s some really great things about that—not being publicly traded—but more importantly, it’s the foundation that’s there.”

Her grocery gig was with a company that’s almost 90 years old, while Orgill is likewise venerable, having been founded more than 175 years ago, “and you don’t find companies like that very much, that are kept in the family.” Freeman says the values and culture of a family-based business is something “that really means a lot.”

She says the changes happening in the workforce during the pandemic had started well before the arrival of Covid. “Even pre-Covid we were seeing our workforce change. It did not all of a sudden started changing; it was just accelerated.”

With up to four generations working side by side, they all have different needs and goals. “From an HR perspective, you really have to think about that employee proposition across all different areas and then across all the different generations you have in your workforce today.”

(We have a more in-depth interview with Laura Freeman in the latest edition of our sister publication, Hardlines HR Advisor. This free monthly newsletter will help you manage the people side of your business more effectively. To subscribe at no charge, click here now!)

Loyalty means more than points, something smart retailers are figuring out

As retailers have become larger and more powerful, pursuing their own programs has also become an increasingly popular option. According to one loyalty program executive who asked not to be named, “They want to deal with their own databases, they want to be dealing with their own customers. They want to keep their information to themselves. I think it’s more sensitive now.”

The executive stresses that the heart of data collection is that it’s not personal. These platforms are not trying to get personal data on individuals so much as create a consumer profile they can cater to more effectively, she adds.

Ken Hughes sees elements like points programs as part of a larger vision of the future of retail that dealers would be wise not to overlook. Hughes is a consumer behaviouralist affiliated with University College Cork, Ireland. An internationally renowned speaker on retailing, Hughes believes that success in retail will always require retailers to understand their customers. But Hughes urges retailers to go beyond that thinking. “You have to get inside the head of today’s consumer.”

Through all that the digital, virtual world embodies, it will remain crucial to maintain the capacity for connecting with other people. For retailers, the idea of the “customer lifetime model” is still strictly transactional, which is no longer enough. The connection has to be deeper; it has to be real. “We need to get to that place with our customers. We need to give them some reason to connect with us as a brand,” says Hughes.

That’s where loyalty programs come in. Their real advantage lies in the data, something that smart retailers are identifying and counting on to drive awareness of who their customers are and what they want.

(This article is excerpted from a larger story that appears in the latest edition of our print publication, Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly. HHIQ is mailed out to 11,000 dealers and store managers across the country. It’s a free publication for retailers. Click here for a free subscription or to update who should get it at your store!)

Martin Lecomte, BMR’s VP of corporate store operations and dealer service, has left the company. He had spent almost nine years there in various store operations roles at BMR, and served as far back as 2006 at BMR’s parent company, Sollio (then La Coop fédérée). According to a post on LinkedIn, Lecomte is “carrying out some personal projects in the coming months.” A BMR spokesperson says to watch for Lecomte to assume a new professional challenge within the BMR family.

BP Canada has promoted Yves St-Cyr to senior national director, national accounts. He remains primarily responsible for business development and maintenance of national accounts, as well as contributing to the development of sales for specialized distributors. St-Cyr joined BP in 2017 as national account manager after more than 10 years at Roxul.

George Weston Ltd. and Loblaw Cos. have announced the appointment of Per Bank as president and CEO of Loblaw. Bank will formally join the company by Q1 2024. He comes over from Salling Group A/S, a giant Danish grocery retailer with 1,700 supermarkets in three countries. The appointment anticipates the planned retirement of Robert Sawyer, Loblaw’s COO, at the end of this year. Sawyer is known in this industry for his stint as president and CEO of RONA inc. from 2013 to 2016. Before joining RONA, he had been COO at grocery retailer Metro inc. He replaced Robert Dutton, who had been at RONA for 35 years and built the company into a national player. Sawyer’s mandate was to slash costs, effectively readying the company for sale to Lowe’s Cos. That deal happened in May 2016.

DID YOU KNOW...?

… that the latest instalment of the Hardlines podcast series, What’s In Store, is now available? This episode features Joel Seibert, an owner and the business development manager at Calgary’s Mountain View Building Materials. Seibert talks to Hardlines about strategies for identifying different personalities on a sales team and rewarding them according to their distinctive needs (hint: communication and transparency are key). Sign up now for free and get updates about our latest podcasts right to your inbox!

RETAILER NEWS

Slack Lumber is the latest dealer to join the Sexton Group. The business is located in York, Ont., south of Hamilton. The owners are Mykel Spinks, Nicholas McCollum, and Jonathan Lowenberg.

Peavey Mart has renewed its partnership with prominent Canadian athlete Brooklyn McDougall. A decorated long-track speed skater, McDougall has represented Canada at numerous international competitions, setting new records. As part of the renewed partnership, McDougall will appear at various Peavey events, including store openings and community initiatives. She will also be featured in Peavey Mart marketing campaigns.

RONA has been named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers for a third consecutive year as part of Mediacorp’s Canada’s Top 100 Employers contest. “Creating a culture of sustainability that reaches all areas of the company is very important to us at RONA,” said Mélanie Lussier, director of external communications and sustainable development, in a release.

Walmart Canada Store 1033 in Edmundston, N.B., was recently named the retailer’s 2022 Store of the Year, beating out more than 400 stores across the country, the mass market retailer announced.

SUPPLIER NEWS

PPG’s Glidden paint will become Walmart’s primary paint brand in the U.S., in a multi-year agreement that expands the existing relationship between manufacturer and retailer. Starting this month, U.S. customers at more than 3,800 Walmart stores can choose from 25 premixed colours. At the same time, PPG is not neglecting its independent dealers in the U.S. From May 1, it is expanding its offering to independents. That includes the addition of Glidden Fundamentals exterior paint and a wider selection of ready-mixed paints for DIYers.

Last month, Loyalty Ventures Inc., the U.S. parent of Air Miles, filed for bankruptcy protection south of the border, while the same day its Canadian subsidiary sought bankruptcy protection under the Canadian Creditors Arrangement Act. Now, shares of Loyalty Ventures Inc. have reached penny stock status. They closed at $0.013 on the NASDAQ last week. A year ago, the shares traded at $16. Five years ago, their price was $28. BMO is trying to rescue the Air Miles program by buying it.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

The annualized rate of housing starts fell by 11 percent in March to 213,865 units, compared to February’s 240,927 units. The rate of urban starts fell by 12 percent to 192,545 units, with single-detached urban starts down 16 percent. (CMHC)

Sales of existing Canadian homes rose by 1.4 percent in March compared to the previous month. That followed an identical increase in February, the first back-to-back monthly gains in more than a year. However, the actual number of transactions in March, not seasonally adjusted, came in 34.4 percent below a historically strong March 2022. (Canadian Real Estate Assoc.)

NOTED

The shuttering of the Sears chain is still reverberating on the landscape of Canada’s malls more than five years later, The Globe and Mail reports. At some locations, like Toronto’s Fairview Mall and McAllister Place in Saint John, major overhauls followed the banner’s exit. Kate Camenzuli, VP of retail at realty services firm CBRE, told the Globe that most of the former Sears properties remain dedicated to retail, but have been subdivided into smaller units, “allowing new product to come into the market.”

OVERHEARD...

“From an HR perspective, you really have to think about that employee proposition across all different areas and then across all the different generations you have in your workforce today.” —Laura Freeman, executive vice-president of human resources and chief human resources officer at Orgill, Inc., in an exclusive interview that appears in full in the latest issue of our sister publication, Hardlines HR Advisor.