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| CANADIAN DIVISION LEADS CASTORAMA'S STRONG YEAR END |
 Canadian operations led the growth of Castorama Group in 2001, which had a consolidated sales increase of 12.9% company wide. But the most significant growth came from the international division, which includes its Canadian division, Réno-Dépôt. International sales grew 24.1% and Réno-Dépôt represented the most buoyant growth within that division - even though it's the only place where Castorama competes directly with Home Depot.
Besides 14 Réno-Dépôt stores in Québec - mainly in and around Montréal - Castorama now has five Building Boxes in Ontario and plans to open another six there by 2004. Estimated sales for 2001 were approximately $800 million, up more than 20% over 2000, a year that marked what the company referred to as "a considerable slowdown in the Canadian market," based on weather and deflation. Sales that year grew by an estimated 9% to $650 million.
Réno-Dépôt was bought by Castorama in Spring 1997.
Castorama Group has a total of 540 stores worldwide, and its total sales in 2001 reached Eur9.52 billion (CDN$13.3 billion), up from Eur8.43 billion (CDN$11.8 billion) in 2000. In Europe, Castorama is converting traditional centres in Germany to the large-surface Casto-Dépôt banner. In France, the company has launched its first Castorama L'Entrepôt, a big box format developed with expertise from the Montréal office.
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| CASTLE'S COMMERCIAL DIVISION SIGNS FIRST MEMBERS |
| Commercial Builders Supplies Inc., which was launched January 1, 2002 as a commercial division of Castle Building Centres Group, has signed its first two members.
Universal Building Supplies in Saskatoon, SK is the Western Canadian distributor for Royal Building Systems, a vinyl forms system for footings. It was formerly unaffiliated with a group. In the East, Corcom, with two stores, in Stroud and Lefroy, ON, has also signed up.
CBS targets yards that cater to commercial, industrial and institutional accounts. The growth strategy lets Castle woo dealers whose business is at least 90% builder/contractor and therefore do not compete directly with existing Castle members.
Castle hopes eventually to grow the CBS division to 100 dealers and add $100 million in purchasing power. |
| ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS TRACK
HEALTHY GROWTH OF DIY MARKET |
Debit and credit card spending in home improvement retailing was up 10% in the fourth quarter of 2001 over 2000. In addition, this category was far ahead of general retail spending averages - both in volumes and average dollars spent per purchase.
Moneris Solutions, a processor of credit and debit card transactions in Canada, says it processed more than 6.3 million Visa, MasterCard and Interac transactions in the home improvement category in the fourth quarter of 2001, up 10% from 5.7 million during the same period in 2000.
In addition, total dollars spent in the household/home improvement industry increased 16% from 4Q 2000 to 4Q 2001. Spending in the entire retail segment only realized a 7% increase during the same period.
Dollar volume growth in some of the key home improvement categories breaks down as:
· floor covering: up 15%
· furniture expenditures: up 14%
· drapery and upholstery: up 22%
· paint and wallpaper: up 20%
· appliances: up 26%
· lumber and building supplies: up 27%
Not only has the overall dollar volume grown in this segment but the average amount spent per purchase in the household industry grew 5.7% as the average purchase increased from $183.00 to $193.50. Overall retail, by comparison, was up by only 0.39%.
Moneris Solutions was formed in 2000 as a joint investment between the RBC Financial Group and Bank of Montreal. It also handles loyalty programs, electronic gift cards and wireless payment processing.
| COMPANY |
52-WEEK HIGH |
52-WEEK LOW |
CLOSE (FRI.) |
| Canadian Tire |
28.20 |
18.50 |
24.30 |
| Canfor |
12.60 |
8.08 |
9.94 |
| Emco |
7.85 |
3.35 |
7.30 |
| Goodfellow |
9.69 |
8.00 |
9.60 |
| Home Depot |
53.73 |
30.30 |
50.52 |
| Hudson's Bay |
20.10 |
12.50 |
14.29 |
| Lowe's Cos. |
48.88 |
24.99 |
45.60 |
| Sears Canada |
26.75 |
12.50 |
17.70 |
| Sodisco-Howden |
2.65 |
0.75 |
1.50 |
| Taiga Forest |
11.05 |
6.80 |
10.80 |
| West Fraser |
42.50 |
28.75 |
41.70 |
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| NOTED |
| Jello Biafra, former lead singer of the rock band The Dead Kennedys, has emerged as an unlikely poster boy for independent business owners. Speaking to a CBC Radio reporter last week, he suggested that consumers could create a saner world by avoiding making purchases from big box stores and supporting local retailers instead.
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| HARDLINES BREAKFAST A SUCCESS |
| The latest Hardlines Breakfast was a great success, with almost 200 people crammed into that little room (we'll have to get a bigger room next year!) Thanks to you, our subscribers, and the following sponsors for making it a success!
-Michael, Beverly and Nancy
COLOGNE INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOWS
JDA SOFTWARE CANADA LTD.
TRANS CANADA RETAIL SERVICES
STERLING COMMERCE
NEWS MARKETING CANADA
BLACK EAGLE CONSULTING
CANADIAN HARDWARE AND BUILDING MATERIALS SHOW
DIMENSIONS RETAIL SYSTEMS/SILK
HARDWARE MERCHANDISING/CONTRACTOR CONNECTION
NESBITT BURNS, PRIVATE CLIENT DIVISION
COLLETT DESIGNS INC.
NORAL INSTORE
PROFORMA
WOLF GUGLER & ASSOCIATES |
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| COMPANIES IN THE NEWS |
| At its recent annual meeting, Sexton Group introduced some new product lines to its private label Builders Choice brand, including paint sundries, steel entrance doors and Citation vinyl siding. Also introduced: interior POP and exterior signage materials and new Builders Choice credit card promotions.
Castle Building Centres Group is expanding its dealer base in the West. Since Alan Schoemperlen, development manager for Western business, came on board last year from TruServ Canada, Western membership has increased from 29 to 40 dealers. One of the ways this national group is dealing regionally with members is with deals through its regionally based pool buying program.
ReStore, a retail outlet of Habitat for Humanity that sells donated used and new building materials, opened its second store in Toronto last Tuesday on Caledonia Road near Dufferin and Lawrence. Profits from the stores are used to build homes for the underprivileged. Home Depot Canada, which supports Habitat for Humanity, has donated about $500,000 to ReStore outlets nationwide.
Wal-Mart's Puerto Rican division will spend an undisclosed sum to acquire Supermercados Amigo, the leading grocer on the island. The 35-store chain will continue to operate under the Amigo name and be managed by José Revuelta, president of Supermercados Amigo. Wal-Mart plans to invest more than US$400 million in Puerto Rico over the next five years. |
| MARKET INDICATORS |
| Housing starts in January were up an amazing 17.3%, says CMHC. Seasonally adjusted starts grew to 204,300 units from 174,100 units in December. Urban singles were up 4.0% to an annual rate of 89,100 units from 85,700 in December, while urban multiple starts jumped 39.4% to an annual rate of 95,200 units from 68,300. Estimated rural starts slipped 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,000 units.
The New Housing Price Index rose 0.2% in December from November. Compared with December 2000, this index of contractors' selling prices increased 2.8%. Monthly rises occurred in 11 of the 21 urban centres surveyed. |
| PEOPLE ON THE MOVE |
| Brian P. Bailley has recently been appointed director of sales for Canpar Industries, a leading producer of particleboard doorcore. Formerly with Georgia-Pacific and Domtar in sales and marketing roles in Canada and the U.S., Bailley will move to Grand Forks, BC to join the senior management team and head the sales operations. (250-442-5521)
Keith Prew has joined Kenroc Building Materials, in the Calgary branch as sales manager. He was formerly at Westroc. (403-276-2262)
Ryan Forsyth has been promoted to regional account team leader - Ontario for LePage. He will be responsible for development of the food channel for LePage across Canada. (905-459-1140, ext. 2808)
The Outstanding Buyer of the Year Award, presented by Centre magazine at the recent Canadian Hardware and Building Materials Show, went to John Dyksterhuis, building products buyer for Home Hardware Stores Ltd. (519-664-2252)
James Gillies has been appointed managing director of Fiskars Canada Inc. Gillies brings 30 years experience in the Canadian durable packaged goods market, including a stint at Newell Rubbermaid. He will relocate to Toronto from Chicago and work out of the Fiskars office in Markham, ON. (905-940-8460)
Jerry Edwards has been promoted to executive vice-president of merchandising at Home Depot Inc. He is now responsible for the company's merchandising operations and reports to CEO Bob Nardelli. Most recently Edwards was senior vice president - merchandising … Robert DeRodes, CEO of the technology unit of Delta Air Lines, has moved to Home Depot as chief information officer. The move signals the home improvement retailer's increasing focus on technology as part of its growth strategy. |
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****HARDLINES MARKETPLACE****
Check out Hardlines Classifieds on the web:
https://hardlines.ca/html/classifieds_new.asp
ACCOUNT MANAGER AND SALES MANAGER/SALES EXECUTIVE:
Maxtech Manufacturing is one of the fastest growing designers, manufacturers and distributors of hand & power tool accessories. We are looking for an Account Manager and a Sales Manager/Sales Executive to grow our expanding Canadian & U.S. customer base and market share. Maxtech is an innovation leader that owns 28 U.S. utility patents with many more pending. We offer a dynamic work environment, a solid customer base and innovative product lines to sell that are unique to any other products available in the market today.
The ideal candidate will have experience in the hardware/home improvement market, ability to travel, highly motivated and proven sales abilities.
If you are interested, please forward your cover letter and resumé to Greg Schlosser:
gregs@maxtech-mfg.com or fax: 519-885-6066.
(040302)
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NATIONAL ACCOUNTS MANAGER
Are you an up and comer with major account management experience? If so, this premiere opportunity will be of interest to you. Our Client, a well known and well positioned category leader (Rona's Vendor Of The Year for 2001 in their category) just finished another year of stellar performance and due to an internal promotion, needs to add a high performer to their accomplished team.
You'll hold responsibility for defending your brand position and supervising a merchandising sales team for Rona and Home Depot while being the "corporate face" of the company to these high-level Retailers. Challenges include growing the current business while adding to your market share with new products and innovative programs. Looking for an employer who continually demonstrates a commitment to improving Customer satisfaction and employee development? To explore this Toronto-based opportunity in complete confidence, please contact Wolf Gugler, quoting file #C-02.
Wolf Gugler & Associates Limited, 300-1370 Don Mills Road, North York, Ontario M3B 3N7 Telephone: 416-386-1719 Email: admin@wolfgugler.com
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 NORAL INSTORE:
Don't leave your products' display management to chance!
Let Noral Instore take care of your instore merchandising.
Visit http://www.noralmarketing.com
or call 519-439-6800 ext. 201
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Dazzle your bosses and impress your friends with this one! ($179 + taxes for subscribers, $449 + taxes for non-subscribers.)
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Boy, have I been getting a lot of queries about Cologne! If you're thinking of going, this is definitely the year to go. All the big guys will be exhibiting. For information about the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY'TEC, March 3-6, 2002, contact:
Edel Wichmann, 416-598-3343; colognet@idirect.com. To book your flight and hotel, contact Carol-Ann Itel at Trade Show Travel by phone: 1-877-873-7469; fax: 403-247-2448; or tradeshowtravel@shaw.ca to arrange your trip. Packages include return airfare and accommodations, as well as admission to the Exhibition. BOOK EARLY!
Packages also include an invitation to the internationally famous Canada Night Reception on Sunday, March 3, 2002, sponsored by Hardlines and Cologne International Trade Shows. We'll see you in Cologne! - Michael
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