February 29, 2016 Volume
xxii, #8
“Be yourself. No one can say you're doing it wrong.”
—Charles M. Schultz(American cartoonist, 1922-2000)
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Canadians gather in unprecedented numbers at Orgill Market
ORLANDO, Fla. — Some 400 retail outlets from Canada were present at the latest Orgill Dealer Market, held at the Orlando Convention Centre this past weekend.
The show has been gaining popularity among Canadian independents in recent years, especially among Castle dealers, thanks to an earlier partnership between Orgill and Castle. But the recent acquisition by Orgill of hardware wholesaler Chalifour Canada effectively doubled that number of attendees.
The show marked that stunning increase by creating a Canadian “show within a show,” putting the Canadian vendors into a special section of the show floor. The move forced a number of exhibitors that had both U.S. and Canadian operations to essentially add an extra booth at an additional cost. However, most vendors admitted the focused venue was a great draw for Canadian dealers, who made a point of heading there early on, resulting in a positive experience of the show for the Canadian vendors.
Another indicator of the overwhelming presence of Canadians was a Canada Night reception held at the end of day one. Hosted by HARDLINES, the event drew more than 400 people to a casual meet-and-greet at the nearby B.B. King Blues Club.
For first-time attendees, the show featured an overwhelming array of products and support services for independents, which more than one dealer referred to as “overwhelming.”
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Attendance up at TIMBER MART's sixth annual buying show
MONTREAL ― TIMBER MART held its National Buying Show on Friday, February 19, at Montreal‘s Palais des congrès, where the crowd represented a 15% boost from last year’s attendance. All told, more than 1,300 visitors passed through the exhibition, including some 400 dealer participants. The event was preceded the evening before by the group’s National Dealer Meeting, and by a breakfast seminar the morning of the show featuring motivational speaker Martin Latulippe.
Vendors noted that traffic was steady as soon as the floor opened at 9 a.m., in contrast to the usual staggered pacing of buying shows. TIMBER MART’s “Solutions Centre” was front and centre, featuring information hubs for all services and programs the group offers, including lumber and building materials, TIMBER MART Essentials, marketing, merchandising, and banner support.
With Orgill’s acquisition of Chalifour Canada―TIMBER MART’s wholesale distribution arm―Orgill Canada was showcased with a prominent centre zone dedicated to many of its top products, in addition to an information booth with senior officers. David Mobley, senior VP of North American sales, commented that the TIMBER MART buying show is “one of the busiest, and this is one of its busiest years.”
Apart from Orgill, Richelieu was far and away the largest hardware exhibitor, perhaps signalling that the company is ready to take a greater profile on the retail side.
Several of the vendors who spoke to HARDLINES said they also planned to be among the dealers in Orlando the following week for Orgill’s Spring Dealer Market, a testimony to the popularity of both events.
TIMBER MART president Bernie Owens expressed his satisfaction with the success of the show, noting that it is “truly a national buying show in the sense of offering a competitive advantage” to dealers, bringing TIMBER MART “back to our roots of being a buying group.” Touting the 15% spike in attendance at a time when many buying shows are struggling to keep numbers afloat, Owens said, “As an organization, we need to know what we’ve been doing right to continue getting that support.”
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Home Depot and Lowe’s post strong year-end results
MOORESVILLE, N.C. & ATLANTA — Both Lowe’s and Home Depot are riding the wave of the recovering economy and surging housing market in the U.S., with strong year-end results. That includes 17 consecutive quarters for Home Depot Canada of positive same-store sales growth and double-digit same-store growth by Lowe’s in Canada for the third year in a row.
Sales for Home Depot in fiscal 2015 were $88.5 billion, an increase of 6.4% from fiscal 2014. Same-store sales were up 5.6%, with U.S. same-store sales positive 7.1%. Net earnings for the year reached $7 billion, up a healthy 10.5% from the previous year. The company ended the year on a strong note, as well: fourth-quarter sales were up 9.5% to $21 billion and same-store sales soared by 7.1%. Home Depot announced a $5 billion share buy-back plan at the same it released the results.
Lowe’s posted results that lagged behind Home Depot’s, but were still strong: sales for the fourth quarter were up 5.1% and same-store sales were positive 5.2%.
For the fiscal year ended January 29, sales were $59.1 billion, an increase of 5.1%, and same-store sales increased 4.8%. Net earnings were $2.5 billion, reflecting the impact of the cost of exiting an Australian joint venture. Excluding the impact of this charge, adjusted net earnings were $3.1 billion, an increase of 14.0%.
Lowe’s in Canada is counting on the pending RONA acquisition to help drive growth in North America. “With this transaction, we see opportunities to further increase revenue and operating profitability in Canada,” said Robert Niblock, chairman, president and CEO of Lowe’s Cos. Those opportunities include leveraging its omnichannel strategy, applying its expertise in categories such as appliances, and driving increased profitability by leveraging shared supplier relationships.
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Home Hardware honoured for leadership
ST. JACOBS, Ont. — Home Hardware has been recognized with the 2016 Business of the Year Award in the Over 50 Employees category by the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce at the 2016 Business Excellence Awards.
Presented at a gala event at Bingeman’s conference centre in Kitchener recently, the award recognized Home Hardware for innovative and proactive leadership, measurable success as a business and employer, good corporate citizenship, and for exceptional contributions to community betterment.
“We are pleased to receive this prestigious award,” says Home Hardware CEO Terry Davis. “It is truly the people that make Home Hardware the successful company that it is.”
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CLASSIFIED ADS
Senior director – Business development
Under the supervision of the CEO, the candidate selected will assume the following responsibilities:
- Creating and contributing to the implementation of strategies to develop the hardware and LBM market (Quebec, Ontario, Maritime Provinces);
- Making sure our dealers receive a high-quality service and maintaining a high level of loyalty;
- Optimizing and developing marketing on the territory (analyzing market studies to optimize store localization, participating to store expansions and acquisitions, etc.);
- Managing and mobilizing a team of advisors, merchandisers and customer service clerks;
- Monitoring and developing the sales of Groupe BMR;
- Contributing to the improvement of the corporate image of Groupe BMR stores;
- Other related duties.
Required skills:
- Client oriented
- Business development
- Strategy development
- Leadership and courage to take action
- Persuasion skills
- Good judgement
- Ability to motivate and mobilize a team
- Ability to monitor performance indicators
- Interpersonal communication skills
Must have:
- Excellent knowledge of the retail market
- Great IT skills: MS Office Suite
- Bilingualism: Mandatory
Training and experience:
A combination of:
Bachelor's degree in business administration or the equivalent, and a minimum of 10 years of experience in the retail industry.
Groupe BMR offers a competitive total compensation package
Please email your candidacy at the following address: rh@bmr.co.
Thank you for your interest; however, only selected candidates will be contacted.
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