February 15, 2016 Volume xxii, #7

“Only a man who knows what it is like to be defeated can reach down to the bottom of his soul and come up with the extra ounce of power it takes to win when the match is even.”
—Muhammad Ali (American heavyweight boxer, named Sportsman of the Century, 1942- )

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Exclusive interview: Ace, independents all part of Lowe’s mix

TORONTO — What will Lowe’s Canada do with the independent dealers in RONA’s affiliate network of stores after its acquisition of RONA is complete? The answer, says Lowe’s Canada President Sylvain Prud’homme, is simple: keep them all.

Lowe’s plans to maintain the RONA network, including the existing banners and store formats, without disruption. “We have no plans to remove these banners,” he says. “It’s part of our strategy to operate multiple store formats.”

That concept of stores beyond the rigid big box format that has been the secret to Lowe’s growth for decades is one Lowe’s has been working on for a few years. In fact, before it made its first bid for RONA in 2012, then-vice president of international development Doug Robinson told HARDLINES that it was interested in opening smaller stores. And when the company entered Australia soon after its foray into Canada, it did so through a joint venture with Aussie retail giant Woolworths.

It then acquired Danks, a wholesaler serving both corporate stores and independents—much like RONA itself.

While the Australian venture has turned into a money loser, due to the failure of its big box Masters stores to gain acceptance down under, the wholesale business, which sells to 1,500 independents, has been doing well. Prud’homme himself served on the board of directors for the Aussie operation, but he doesn’t have to look that far to find value in multiple banners and ownership models. As a former VP at grocery giant Sobeys, he dealt with “10 or 11 banners. It’s very interesting—and very effective,” he adds. “Independent dealers are very important to the model we have in mind. They can really connect with their communities.”

Another banner that will be part of Lowe’s strategy is Ace, which was licensed by RONA last year and is operated out of Winnipeg. “Ace will be part of the omnichannel strategy—I can’t say how yet. It’s too early to say anything, from a detail perspective, but we want the brand and that’s part of [our growth].”

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New eRetailer Summit will connect online buyers and vendors

TRUMBULL, Conn. — Retailers and suppliers alike are looking for ways to maximize their sales in the burgeoning world of online retailing. That’s why a symposium strictly for the retail home improvement industry has been created.

The eRetailer Summit is a top-level conference for industry-leading retailers doing business online. The event will provide a forum for them to collaborate with progressive vendors and distributors to develop new partnerships and new strategies for success. The eRetailer Summit will be held at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, October 26 to 28, 2016 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Over a day and a half, a small, select group of eRetail executives and buyers will develop their business ambitions and strategies with a group of suppliers. The event will combine one-on-one meetings; understandings, and learnings directly from the eRetailers; leading keynote speakers; seminars for eRetailers clarifying confusing topics; and true networking in an intimate setting. 

“The eRetailer Summit will provide a great opportunity for internet retailers and the hardware/home improvement manufacturers to gain beneficial knowledge of the dynamic workings of e-commerce,” said Michael Hargrave, divisional merchandise manager for online tools at Sears.com and Kmart.com.

“In this industry, eRetailers are moving together to make home improvement online a more powerful presence,” added Sonya Ruff Jarvis, manager, Jarvis Consultants, who is mounting the event in partnership with Hardlines Inc. “By bringing together a focused group of high-calibre retailers interested in pursuing and increasing their online product sell, we’re creating an environment for these retail leaders to share their goals for increasing online sales with select supplier partners.”

For more information about the Home Improvement eRetailer Summit, contact Sonya Ruff Jarvis: 347-886-0275; or Beverly Allen at Hardlines: 647-880-4589.

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RONA to open three new Réno-Dépôts in Quebec

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. ― RONA inc. is continuing its store expansion strategy, with a number of new and expanded outlets in multiple formats being opened in coming months. Three of those openings will be new Réno-Dépôts in Quebec—in Boucherville, Trois-Rivières, and Valleyfield, along with two new traditional RONA “proximity” stores, in Saint-Félix-de-Valois, Que., and Moose Jaw, Sask. Two more proximity stores, in Saskatoon and in Châteauguay, Que., are being expanded and converted into big boxes, under the RONA Home and Garden and RONA L’entrepôt banners respectively.

Despite the announced takeover of RONA by Lowe’s, business is continuing as usual. The deal isn’t expected to close until after March 31, when RONA will hold a special meeting to let shareholders vote on the Lowe’s offer. The acquisition must also be cleared by the Canadian Competition Board, a process which could prolong the closing several weeks more.

“Last year, we were very active with our plans to open new stores and we are pleased to begin 2016 with all these projects under way. The markets for the stores were carefully selected to increase our reach and to provide better service to surrounding-area communities,’’ says Luc Rodier, RONA’s executive vice-president, retail.

With the addition of the three new stores, the number of Réno-Dépôt locations will increase to 22. However, these latest ones will be smaller than the big box footprint of the original Réno-Dépôt concept. The 70,000-square-foot Boucherville store will be located in a former Maxi store on Nobel Street and will open its doors in July. The two other Réno-Dépôt stores will each occupy 50,000 square feet. The Trois-Rivières outlet will be in a former Target location at Les Rivières shopping centre and is scheduled to open in June. Construction of the new Réno-Dépôt store in Valleyfield on Monseigneur-Langlois Boulevard will begin this year with a planned opening in early 2017.

“The new Réno-Dépôt store concept that occupies 50,000 square feet allows us to optimize our retail space and gives us access to a greater number of markets across the country, compared to the traditional 80,000-square-foot space reserved for big-box stores,” adds Luc Rodier.

The new proximity stores will be smaller still. In Saint-Félix-de-Valois, in the Lanaudière region, construction of a new 25,000-square-foot store will begin this year, with a scheduled opening in early 2017. In Moose Jaw, the new RONA store will occupy 35,000 square feet of space in a former Sobeys location. That one is expected to open in March.

As for the conversions of two RONA stores into big-box stores, the proximity store in Saskatoon recently became a RONA Home and Garden with the addition of 25,000 square feet. Work at the location lasted five months and was completed in January. The Châteauguay RONA store will see its retail space increase by 40%, adding 15,000 square feet, and will become a RONA L’entrepôt location. The interior of the store is being completely redesigned with work set to be completed in early March.

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Smart home products get awards at Consumer Electronics Show

LAS VEGAS ― The Consumer Electronics Show has become the place to see innovative and breakthrough technologies, and this year, home improvement products for the smart home got a lot of attention. At the latest edition of CES, manufacturers and developers from around the world wowed attendees with award-winning innovations in appliances, home security, lighting, and more.

Home safety and security was a theme with several manufacturers. The EYE smoke detector from the Altyor Group uses LED technology instead of an optical chamber to eliminate false alarms and reduce response times over traditional smoke detectors. Halo Smart Labs also won an award for its Halo and Halo+, which combines a smoke and CO alarm with weather alerts for external threats such as tornadoes and hurricanes.

Schlage won an award for its Sense lock system. It works with Apple HomeKit technology for key-free access, and users can control the lock with their voice using Siri. Engie Group introduced the Homnistat, a smart thermostat with a gas meter reading. Users can set their preferred temperature and maximum budget, and the thermostat will manage energy consumption accordingly.

Smart appliances were also a highlight of the smart home category. Whirlpool presented a couple of smart home appliances that won awards for their innovation. The Smart Dishwasher is programmable and can be stopped, started, and monitored remotely with a device. It will even automatically order more detergent by using Amazon’s Dash program.

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Gary Gill has left Graham & Brown and started at Apex Tool Group as national account manager on the Canadian Tire business. Apex supplies not only private-label sockets and ratchets under the Mastercraft and Maximum names to Canadian Tire, but also branded hand tools including Lufkin, Weller, and Wiss.  (Gary.gill@apextoolgroup.com)

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