UFA is on the move, building new bricks-and-mortar stores, expanding in Saskatchewan, and even introducing an enhanced online platform.

The next new store is a replacement location being built in the southwest corner of Red Deer, Alta. The 16,000-square-foot Farm & Ranch Supply store will have a yard, chem shed, and a three-bay drive-through warehouse. It will replace an existing location in the city’s “Gasoline Alley” in the southwest corner of the city. The new store will be located near a Costco and right beside a Peavey Mart—in Peavey’s hometown.

According to UFA, the location will also feature a cardlock fuelling station with wide lanes and state-of-the-art high-speed pumps serving clear and dyed fuel, including UFA’s own premium diesel.

Construction for the project will begin this year, with an anticipated opening in late 2024. During construction, UFA’s existing Farm & Ranch Supply store in Red Deer will remain open. But once the new site opens, that store will be closed down.

“Red Deer is a vibrant and strong market, and we are pleased to be able to enhance our service offering to its residents with the improvements we are making,” said Glenn Bingley, vice president of UFA’s AgriBusiness and Supply Chain.

Over the past year, UFA has been expanding in other directions, as well, including more forays outside its home province of Alberta, where it has 34 Farm & Ranch Supply stores. This year, it’s opening two cardlocks in Saskatchewan. The UFA Petroleum Agency in Weyburn is now open for bulk fuel delivery and lubricant sales. Cardlock construction there is almost finished, and it will be open in the coming weeks. A second cardlock has been installed in Yorkton and will likewise be fully operational later this month. The new fuelling stations join existing cardlocks in Kindersley and Swift Current. The locations are part of a multi-phase expansion by UFA into Saskatchewan.

UFA has also made upgrades across its other petroleum sites and refreshes at many of its other Farm & Ranch Supply stores as part of an ongoing, years-long initiative.

UFA has also launched an expanded e-commerce service called “MarketPLACE.” Online shoppers can add MarketPLACE products and any products carried by UFA to their cart. Items can then be picked up from their local Farm & Ranch Supply store. MarketPLACE vendors can also choose to ship their products directly to members or customers.

Scott Bolton, president and CEO of UFA, said the company is “making considerable investments” to support farmers and ranchers on the Prairies, calling them the driving force behind western Canadian food production. “UFA has a responsibility to support the farmers and ranchers who feed the world. It’s a responsibility our co-operative takes seriously,” he added.

National Hardware Show regains momentum, announces new dates for 2024

The National Hardware Show wrapped up last week in Las Vegas, where it co-located with the NAHB International Builders’ Show and NKBA’s Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, making it a big draw. Attendance included a strong showing of Canadians—exhibitors as well as retailers and retail buyers.

Many of them gathered for a cocktail reception after day one of the show, hosted by the Canadian Home Products Trade Association. Sam Moncada, head of the CHPTA, told us more than 140 people pre-registered for the event.

Buyers from Canada at the show included two from TIMBER MART: Randy Martin, vice president of procurement, and Aaron Gilmoure, LBM procurement manager. Doug Bitter, director of purchasing at Spancan, was also spotted. Independent dealers were present at the show too, including some Home Hardware dealers.

NHS has just announced new show dates for 2024 that will return the event to a spring time frame. Next year NHS will be in the new West Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, March 26 to 28, 2024. Organizers say this will better accommodate the lawn and garden and outdoor living community while continuing to expand the show into new categories. Those include gift, hobby, craft, sporting goods, and services.

NHS will also expand its education series. With an enhanced range of content, the series will be designed for both buyers and sellers.

“We are thrilled to bring the entire NHS community back together, and welcome new members, as we continue to grow to accommodate the needs of the home improvement industry,” said Beth Casson, event vice president for the show. “[Next year’s] spring time frame will be the new norm for NHS, so mark your calendars and stay tuned for updates as we move forward!”

AD group reports annual results including new LBM division in Canada

AD is reporting record results for 2022 in all aspects of its business, which includes owner-member sales, member purchases from AD suppliers, AD warehouse sales to members, net distributions to members, and operational efficiency (all figures in USD).

Sales by owner-members for the year reached $74.9 billion, a 28 percent increase from the previous year. Purchases by member companies from AD supplier partners were $20.3 billion. Net distributions to owner/members reached $1.4 billion.

AD’s member community grew to 866 separately owned independents across 14 divisions and three countries.

The group touts itself as the largest contractor and industrial products wholesale buying group in North America. It provides independent industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) distributors and manufacturers with products and services. It boasts 866 independent owner-members that span 14 divisions in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.

By country, same-store sales of U.S. members were up 21 percent; Canada same-store member sales increased by eight percent and Mexico same-store sales increased by 19 percent. A spokesperson for AD Canada pointed out that its building materials division in the U.S., AD Gypsum Supply, “focuses primarily on gypsum and steel, which both increased in value quite substantially in 2022.” In Canada, the building materials division represents a broader assortment of commodities and LBM.

AD’s Canadian operations were established in 2021 as a business unit within AD, bringing together four Canadian AD divisions under one umbrella. The Canadian division was expanded to include the LBM buying group TORBSA in July 2022. That partnership resulted in the creation of AD Building Supplies - Canada Division. Those members represent some traditional building centres, but most of its dealers are focused on commodities, like Bernardi Building Supply (shown here delivering to a condo project in downtown Toronto). Another example of a merger that took place recently in AD was its 2019 acquisition of IDI Independent Distributors Inc., which became the AD Industrial & Safety - Canada division.

Today, AD Canada consists of four divisions: AD Plumbing & Heating, Electrical, Industrial and Safety, and Building Supplies. Collectively, the Canadian presence now accounts for over 20 percent of AD’s total business. The Canadian market represents a significant focus for AD. The company says continued growth in both new and existing markets is a cornerstone of its long-term strategic plan.

The federal privacy watchdog rebuked Home Depot Canada recently for failing to get customer consent before sharing personal data. The retailer shared info with Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram.

After investigating Home Depot Canada’s sharing of data from customers who elected to receive an emailed receipt between 2018 and October 2022, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner issued a report detailing the means by which Home Depot Canada shared the personal data. Commissioner Philippe Dufresne said explicit prior consent should have been sought from customers.

According to the Privacy Commission, “Home Depot confirmed to our Office that it was in fact sending in-store customers’ data to Meta through a business tool known as ‘Offline Conversions,’ which allows businesses to measure the effectiveness of Meta ads. Specifically, Home Depot forwarded customers’ hashed e-mail addresses and off-line purchase details to Meta when the customers provided their email address to Home Depot at check-out to obtain an e-receipt.

“Meta then matches the email to the customer’s Facebook account,” the report continues. “If the customer has a Facebook account, Meta compares offline purchase information to ads delivered to the customer on Facebook, to measure effectiveness of those ads, and provides results of that analysis back to Home Depot in the form of an aggregated report. Meta can also use the customer’s information for its own business purposes, including targeted advertising, unrelated to Home Depot.”

The Privacy Commission has asserted that this process did not include the necessary “implied consent” from customers.

In a statement, Home Depot Canada said that Meta’s analytics tool was used for “only non-sensitive information” and that “as a precaution we stopped using the tool once the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada expressed concerns about it in October 2022.”

Since the news was released, a Regina lawyer has launched a class action lawsuit on behalf of some of the affected Home Depot customers.

Castle Building Centres has hired a new member for its business development team. Jaana Reinikka has joined as business development manager for the British Columbia and Alberta regions. She brings over 20 years of experience in the LBM industry, most recently as LG sales manager for western Canada at Vicwest Building Products.

DID YOU KNOW...?

Peavey Industries has announced the construction of a new Peavey Mart store, this time in Steinbach, Man. It joins existing stores in the province in Winnipeg, Brandon, Swan River, and Winkler. The 28,800-square-foot store will feature a 1,440-square-foot greenhouse and is expected to employ up to 40 people. A soft opening is anticipated for spring 2024.

Centre de rénovation Senneterre is the latest dealer to join BMR Group, effective March 11. The business has served the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec since the 1960s and was bought by the Allaire family in 2013. It employs a staff of 18. The owners are Eric and Olivier Allaire.

The city of Lacombe, Alta., will not get a Canadian Tire store—at least not yet. The Red Deer Advocate reports that Canadian Tire Real Estate Ltd. has returned a $750,000 “deposit” given to it by the city “to spur commercial development.” The city spent $3.325 million to buy the land in 2018, hoping to attract commercial development. Council voted to give $750,000 to Canadian Tire, as a “non-refundable deposit” to encourage it to build a store in the city, but after the onset of the pandemic the retailer was unable to meet the agreed deadlines.

Federated Co-op is reprising its Co-op Community Spaces Program. In 2023, $1 million is available to support capital projects dedicated to recreation, environmental conservation, and urban agriculture. The program invests in local projects throughout the Prairies that will protect, beautify, and improve local spaces. Since it started in 2015, the program has provided $11.5 million to 160 projects across western Canada in the communities served by local Co-ops. These include educational spaces, community gardens, and recreational facilities.  Funding between $25,000 and $150,000 is available per project.

Another lumberyard has suffered a major theft. Langford Home Hardware Building Centre in Lucan, Ont., was the victim of a heist that resulted in the loss of about $24,000 worth of lumber, according to LondonNewsToday.com. During the night, a black pickup truck with a stolen trailer was used to load the materials. The crime is reminiscent of the thefts that dealers started experiencing during the height of the pandemic, when LBM prices climbed dramatically.

Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has made it onto Forbes’ list of Canada’s Best Employers for the third year in a row. The ranking is developed annually by Forbes and Statista Inc. Evaluations were based on direct and indirect recommendations from employees who were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their employer to friends and family on a series of work-related topics such as working conditions, salary potential, and company image.