Kent Building Supplies, the Saint John, N.B.-based building supply chain, has joined the A.R.E.N.A. Alliance. The move puts it in the company of the French franchisor Groupement Les Mousquetaires, Gruppo Bricofer in Italy, and Germany’s hagebau. BMR Group became a member of A.R.E.N.A last June.

A.R.E.N.A. is an international alliance of hardware and home improvement retailers, which are generally called DIY stores in Europe. The group is focused on sourcing, negotiation, and quality benchmarks for hardware, garden, and home improvement products. It maintains offices in Paris, Shanghai, Ho Chi Minh City, Warsaw, and New Delhi.

Kent is the purchasing alliance’s ninth partner. Collectively, the nine retail companies represent groups of independent dealers like BMR, and also retail brands that have a mix of both corporate and dealer-owned stores. Kent is a solely-owned chain, part of the J.D. Irving group of companies. A.R.E.N.A. members account for more than €16 billion ($23.2 billion) in sales, and are located in 12 European countries plus Canada.

“We are delighted to be able to join the A.R.E.N.A. Alliance. The opportunity for us to share best practices with some of the biggest and best home improvement leaders in the world will be transformative for our business,” said Michael Simms, VP retail at Kent parent J.D. Irving Ltd.

When BMR joined A.R.E.N.A. last summer, BMR’s VP of merchandising, Charles Grégoire-Béliveau, said at the time he expected the affiliation to help level the playing field, especially for products that the European group sources overseas. The result, Grégoire-Béliveau added, would be broader assortments, better prices, and improved margins for dealers.

Like BMR, Kent is a member of the Canadian LBM buying group I.L.D.C. Both retail groups also buy hardlines through the hardware buying group, Spancan.

Some vendors may be reviewing their order volumes over the past couple of years to find that the groups representing independent dealers were doing better than the large-surface retailers.

That trend is borne out by data in the 2023 Hardlines Retail Report, which gathers sales and intel to the end of 2022 to track the size and growth of the retail home improvement industry in Canada. (The updated 2024 Hardlines Retail Report, with data from year-end 2023, will be available in July.—your ever-thoughtful Editor)

During the first two years of the pandemic, 2020 and 2021, the industry enjoyed tremendous growth. According to the 2023 Hardlines Retail Report, by 2022, sales remained strong, but year-over-year increases started to normalize. While overall sales growth by the industry was up over 11 percent in 2021, those gains were tempered in 2022, up overall by 4.6 percent—still a healthy increase.

Broken down by store format, those increases varied according to retail type. Building centres enjoyed the strongest growth by far in 2022, with overall estimated sales by that retail category up 6.5 percent from 2021. At the other end of the spectrum, hardware stores had the smallest gain, up only 1.3 percent year over year, following strong gains in 2021 of almost 16 percent, as consumers sought out the convenience factor of local hardware retailers.

Big box stores, however, with their larger formats and bigger overheads, were impacted more seriously by the slowdowns in 2022. Their estimated collective sales were up only 2.7 percent.

This sales analysis represents just a fraction of the information available in the 2023 Hardlines Retail Report. It’s our annual deep dive into the size of the retail market for hardware and home improvement sales in Canada. We examine the leading retail groups, and break down the industry’s sales by province, banner, and store type. The report explores topics ranging from online sales and big box strategies for growth to the importance of private labels.

Because you are a Hardlines Premium Member, you can save 20 percent on The 2023 Hardlines Retail Report, as we begin to work on this year’s report, which will be ready in July. You can save another 15 percent by using this coupon code: 2023report. Wait! Get even more savings by purchasing the current Hardlines Retail Report in a bundle with our 2023 Hardlines Market Share Report.

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RONA has made news in recent weeks for the closure of two DCs, and more recently, has restructured its affiliate (independent) corporate management.

That includes the hiring of a new VP to head up the new affiliate division. “Consistent with our focus on growing our valued partnership with our dealers, RONA’s executive team welcomed at the end of January Alain Ménard as senior vice-president, RONA dealers and affiliates,” a company spokesperson told Hardlines.

Ménard spent the past 20 years in upper management with grocery giant Sobeys. He was most recently in charge of the affiliate division of Sobeys, which includes IGA, Tradition, and Bonichoix, as VP of business development and commercial relations, affiliated merchants. He replaces the former head of RONA’s affiliates, Jean-Sébastien Lamoureux, who left RONA on Jan. 25.

The move represents a renewed dedication to the dealers in the RONA organization. In a memo to dealers, RONA president and CEO Andrew Iacobucci affirmed the company’s commitment to the independent owners. AQMAT, the Quebec trade association, partially quoted the memo as follows: “You, our affiliate dealers, play a key role in the growth and success of our business and we are committed to strengthening our relations with you as we enter this new chapter in the history of RONA.”

Another newcomer to RONA is Bruno Baldessari, who has joined as SVP of lumber and building materials, after stints at TIMBER MART and BMR, as well as RONA almost two decades ago.

But RONA continues to make changes at store level, as well. Early last week the company announced it would convert one of its Réno-Dépôt stores to the new RONA+ banner. The Hull store, located in Gatineau across the Ottawa River, and part of the National Capital Region, is one of 21 stores carrying the Réno-Dépôt banner, which exists only in Quebec. The Hull store is closest to English-speaking markets that are already seeing stores convert to the RONA+ brand, as the Réno-Dépot stores are concentrated largely around the Montreal and Quebec City markets.

Réno-Dépôt was acquired by RONA in 2003.

“The conversions to the RONA+ banner that took place in other Canadian provinces had a very positive impact on store performance,” said the spokesperson from RONA. Réno-Dépôt is a banner that targets decorators, contractors and knowledgeable DIY customers. “We are confident that this pilot project at the Réno-Dépôt store in Hull will bring positive results and lead the way for the upcoming arrival of this new banner in Quebec.”

Over the past 12 months, 41 stores have converted to the RONA+ banner in other Canadian provinces. Another 15 stores will be added by March 1, 2024, all in British Columbia and Alberta.

Mayfair Lumber Sales Ltd. has maintained a steady business supplying lumber to western markets from its Calgary facility. But the addition of a warehouse in Edmonton has opened up new possibilities and new markets for the wholesaler.

The new distribution centre sits on 10 acres in the Edmonton area, and has manufacturing in place, along with cold storage. “So we’re now shipping into northern Alberta and over to northern Manitoba,” says Randy Aikens, president of Mayfair Lumber (shown here at the recent WRLA Building & Hardware Showcase in Winnipeg).

Aikens says the proximity of the new DC to northern markets is part of the strategy for growth. “Dealers want to see that you’re committed to their community, so that’s why we’re there.”

But the new location has another advantage for Mayfair: it gives the company better access to the timber supply from northern Canada.

Mayfair specializes in wood, fibre, and OSB, leaving wider commodity supply to the larger wholesalers. Aikens notes that his company’s targeted approach fills a niche in comparison to the large nationals. “We’re strictly lumber, as opposed to the big guys that offer broad commodities. And a couple of our guys, commodity lumber traders, they’ve got a sixth sense for what’s going to take off next.”

That specialty approach has paid off for Mayfair, setting it apart from the larger wholesalers, “and we compete very well with them in the south. This new location gives us more presence in the north as well.” That “grassroots” approach, says Aikens, is drawing more business from the buying groups.

However, product and proximity are only two parts of the equation. Aikens says that price remains a huge consideration for dealers. “It’s always about price. But it is relationship-based. If you don’t have a relationship, you don’t have a chance.

At Wolseley Canada, Brad Rutledge has been appointed VP, Waterworks, effective Feb. 1. Rutledge joined Wolseley in 2018 and led the national quotations team. He’s held progressive leadership roles since then, including branch area manager in Alberta and eventually director for Wolseley Industrial. Prior to joining Wolseley, he worked at MRC Supply and at Lockwood.

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RETAILER NEWS

Castle Building Centres Group has signed Lumberville Co. Ltd., a former independent in Milton, Ont. Founded by Maria and Pasquale Mercurio Sr. almost 40 years ago, Lumberville is now managed by their son Pasquale Jr. Another Castle member has added a new location in Quebec. Produits Boréal, a pre-fab home builder, has taken over Boréal Rive Nord Inc. in Chertsey, a location in the southwestern region of the province.

The RONA store in La Ronge, Sask., has new owners. Matthew Klassen and Krista Funk have taken over the 2,700-square-foot proximity store, which serves pros with building materials, as well as continuing to serve the community of La Ronge. The pro assortments will be expanded with products such as standard windows and doors, metal products, and insulation.

Canadian Tire has been running multicultural OLV (online videos) and commercials for years, so it’s no surprise that they are back this winter with a new campaign. Under the theme, “Canada’s Winter Store,” an apparently immigrant family gets their initial experience of a Canadian winter. The 30-second spots are in English, French, and Hindi. The campaign ran until Feb. 11.

Tractor Supply Co.’s Q4 net sales declined by 8.6 percent to $3.66 billion, compared to $4.01 billion in the comparable period of 2022. The latter included an extra sales week, which contributed to the decline, as did a 4.2 percent drop in comp sales. Net income fell 8.5 percent to $247.9 million. For the full fiscal year, sales were down 2.5 percent to $14.56 billion, while net income rose by 1.7 percent to $1.11 billion.

The board of directors of Indigo Books & Music has received a non-binding proposal from a consortium controlled by Gerald Schwartz, a member of the board and husband of Indigo founder and CEO Heather Reisman. Trilogy Retail Holdings and Trilogy Investments have made the offer to acquire all of Indigo’s common shares not already owned by Trilogy and related investors.

Lowe’s has introduced Style Studio, a platform available through Apple Vision Pro. The app enables customers to get “an immersive 3D kitchen scene” that lets them explore preset styles created by Lowe’s designers and customize hundreds of materials, fixtures, and appliances. Style Studio uses spatial computing to help customers visualize and design their kitchen reno virtually.

West Fraser Timber Co. has announced the closure of the sale of its Hinton, Alta., pulp mill to Mondi Group PLC. The transaction was first announced last summer. Hinton Pulp produces unbleached kraft pulp. West Fraser will continue to support the mill through a long-term fibre supply agreement.

The total value of building permits decreased 14 percent from November to $9.2 billion in December, the lowest monthly level since October 2020. Declines were recorded in both the residential and non-residential sectors, with residential permits down 17.9 percent, driven by a significant decline in multi-unit intentions. Construction intentions in single-family dwellings edged up 0.8 percent to $2.9 billion. A 15.3 percent gain in Alberta more than offset declines in seven other provinces. (StatCan)

The Greater Toronto Area logged 6,448 home resale transactions in January. The 9.6 percent monthly increase (seasonally adjusted) is the second in a row, following November’s 19.5 percent hike. (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board)