Most hardware stores welcome pet dogs, especially given the importance of the pet category to so many retailers. At Canadian Tire, the head office has a long-standing policy of leaving pet dog policies to its individual stores. And the chain’s Petco store-within-a-store has been one of the best performing departments in Canadian Tire since the pandemic.

But dogs can create messes that some customers find, well, offensive. As a result, the Grande Prairie, Alta., Canadian Tire has introduced a No Dogs Allowed policy (except for service animals) in its store. Its Facebook page features a poster that explains the new policy, referring to “an excessive amount of unfortunate incidents with allowing dogs in our store,” saying the reason was to ensure “the safety and convenience of all our customers.”

Comments on the post expressed outrage over dogs that leave messes and act aggressively with other customers.

The challenge of accommodating pets in stores is an ongoing one that has been exacerbated by the rise of service and therapy dogs. Dogs are becoming a common sight in grocery stores and even some restaurants, especially if they have therapy dog status.

But how to deal with unruly pets is not a new phenomenon. In 2011, an infamous incident at an Ottawa Home Depot store created havoc for the retailer’s policy makers—and communications team—following an incident that resulted in injuries to a worker there. A greeter for the Home Depot in East Ottawa was attacked in the store by a nine-pound Shih Tzu dog. Anne Riel’s nose was bitten by the dog when she leaned in to welcome it. Stitches and cosmetic surgery were required to repair the woman’s nose.

Home Depot Canada felt obliged to issue a statement banning dogs from all its stores as a result of the incident. Soon after, a number of competing home improvement retailers, including Orillia Home Hardware Building Centre in Orillia, Ont., erected signs of their own across the front of their stores saying, “Dogs welcome here.” Home Depot Canada would eventually roll back their no-dogs policy.

(Just how dangerous are Shih Tzu dogs? Here at Hardlines, we attempted to recreate the vicious Shih Tzu incident in our state-of-the-art Hardlines forensic retail lab. The video of this heart-pounding re-enactment went viral at the time—at least at Home Depot Canada’s head office. Click here to watch it for yourself.)

In 2011, a Home Depot cashier at a Florida Home Depot store was left with scratches and four bite wounds from a spider monkey. Spanky the monkey would accompany her human owner everywhere, but when left in the owner’s car in the parking lot of the Home Depot, Spanky got upset. The animal managed to escape and attacked the staffer, who was on her break at the time, leaving her with bites on her arms and head, along with scratches on her face.

The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate steady at five percent in its last three decisions of 2023. However, that was up steeply from 0.25 percent in March 2022, when the central bank decided to hike interest rates in an attempt to cool inflation.

In a series of year-end speeches, Tiff Macklem, the governor of the Bank of Canada, acknowledged that the multiple interest rate increases had indeed cut inflation (which was last measured by StatCan at 3.1 percent, year-over-year, in November).

So, when will interest rates fall? Economists are divided on the issue, not surprisingly. Some of them expect the Bank of Canada to lower its benchmark rate early in 2024. Others expect the central bank to wait until later in the year. And some economists thinks interest rates may still go higher.

Banks have already begun to cut five-year fixed-rate mortgage rates, presumably in anticipation of rate cuts to come. And also because some 2.2 million Canadian household mortgages are due for renewal over the next two years, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The competition for better rates will be stiff.

A recent presentation to members of the Canadian Home Products Trade Association offered a more upbeat forecast. Rishi Sondhi, an economist at TD Bank, spoke to the CHPTA before Christmas. He suggested an end to rate increases is in sight. “We think the Bank of Canada is done hiking interest rates.” He forecasted that they’ll begin falling gradually by the middle of 2024 and expected them to reach 4.5 percent by October.

For the last word on this perplexing situation, we turned to our resident economic guru, Peter Norman, vice-president and chief economist at Altus Group—and a regular presenter at the annual Hardlines Conference.

“Recent hold announcements by both the Fed and the Bank of Canada, and a string of softer economic data, have injected a certain amount of optimism into the market that rates will be unwinding in 2024, presaging some relief to the housing market,” Norman told Hardlines, expressing less optimism than some of his fellow economists. “But as long as the Canadian employment numbers remain relatively buoyant and inflationary pressures keep lurking under the surface, the Bank is going to continue to hold for longer than many think.”

In fact, Norman suggests that the worst may be yet to come. “There is still a small chance that we’ll see rates higher before lower. Expect 2024 to be another pretty soft year in the economy and look to 2025 for some resurgence in residential investment.”

Home Depot Canada has undertaken a major investment in its supply chain to better serve its contractor customers in this country. The new facility is designed to get products onto job sites quickly.

Called a Flatbed Distribution Centre (FDC), it’s one of several new types of delivery centres that have been developed by Home Depot in the U.S., in a $1.2 billion investment to build about 150 new facilities across the U.S. that will aim to reach 90 percent of U.S. customers with same-day and next-day delivery.

For large loads to contractors, the retailer has established the FDC concept—including this one, west of Toronto, the first of its kind in Canada.

Located in Mississauga, Ont., in the west end of the Greater Toronto Area, the new 300,000 square-foot FDC is part of a 600,000-square-foot facility DC receiving and fulfilling orders. In a video aimed at stores, Jamal Hamad, senior director of contractor services at Home Depot Canada, says, “We’re going to be able to pick, pack, and ship orders to our pros to be delivered every single day out of this facility, instead of your store.”

Products in the FDC include materials for baths, basements, and deck and fence projects. But in addition to commodities such as drywall and concrete, some 500 SKUs of finishing products are also inventoried in the warehouse. “We’ve got some of the interior projects’ finishing SKUs that will be able to finish the complete project every time a contractor comes into your store.”

The service is initially being promoted using Home Depot’s outside sales teams, Hamad says in the video.

The European DIY Retail Association (EDRA) and Global Home Improvement Network (GHIN) are continuing their efforts to establish standards and goals to help the industry identify and reduce “Scope 3” emissions for its members.

As a result, the combined organization, which represents large home improvement retailers around the world, has announced it’s working with Ricardo, a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consultancy. Jamie Pitcairn, Ricardo’s technical director for corporate sustainability, will lead the initiative.

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RETAILER NEWS

Sexton Group has added Maison Nordique as its newest member. The family-run business in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Que., has been manufacturing prefabricated homes in the region for over 50 years. The company specializes in building homes that are designed for the surrounding communities in the northwestern region of the province. Maurice Poirier is Maison Nordique’s general manager and treasurer.

“Christmas trees give us so much joy,” a new Lee Valley Tools video on social media says. “And then we give them to the chipper.” The Ottawa-based specialty retailer wants to change that, so it has launched a social media campaign under the brand’s "Let’s Do Something" mantra. Lee Valley says it wants to “inspire Canadians to embrace crafting and woodworking by creating ‘look what I made moments’ out of their old Christmas trees.” Participants are encouraged to email Lee Valley photos of their projects or post them under the hashtag #LVSecondLife.

Lowe’s has introduced a loyalty program for DIY customers. The program is designed to help them save on items they need for their homes and earn rewards toward future purchases. Called MyLowe’s Rewards, it offers savings as well as exclusive perks for members such as free shipping on standard deliveries. Customers who used a MyLowe’s Rewards credit card will save five percent on eligible purchases.

Ace Hardware, of Oak Brook, Ill., placed first in the home improvement category in Forbes magazine’s 2024 customer service rankings. Forbes evaluated 3,000 companies with a survey of 201,000 people in the U.S. who provided 4.2 million ratings. Survey participants were asked to rate brands on online and in-store customer service, consisting of “people, speed, services, and resolution.” Ace was the 33rd company on the list.

Just what bricks-and-mortar dealers wanted—another extremely wealthy and ubiquitous online competitor. TikTok, the Chinese social media behemoth, is aiming for a tenfold increase in its U.S. e-commerce business in 2024, according to Bloomberg. The news agency claimed, though the numbers were immediately denied by TikTok, that TikTok Shopping is aiming at US$17.5 billion in merchandise sales this year.

Attention Dealers: If you’re attending the Orgill Spring Dealer Market in Orlando, Feb. 22 to 24, 2024, you are invited to be our guests at a special reception for Canadians. Join Hardlines and our sponsors for Canada Night on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 6 p.m., at The Pub for an informal meet-and-greet over drinks and snacks before you head out for the night in Orlando! Snacks and drink tickets will be provided by Hardlines. For more information and to RSVP, click here!

The Western Retail Lumber Association is holding the 30th anniversary edition of its Building & Hardware Showcase this week. From Jan. 17 to 19, members will gather at the Winnipeg Convention Centre for new product launches and the latest tech, trends, and topics hitting the LBM industry. (Click here for more information and to register!)

West Fraser Timber will close its sawmill in Maxville, Fla., and indefinitely curtail operations at its sawmill in Huttig, Ark., by the end of this month. The decision is the result of high fibre costs and soft lumber markets, says the company. The closure of Maxville Sawmill will impact approximately 80 employees, while the indefinite curtailment of Huttig will impact 140 employees. In aggregate, this will reduce West Fraser's U.S. lumber capacity by approximately 270 million board feet. West Fraser expects to mitigate the impact on affected employees by providing work opportunities at other company operations.

The total monthly value of building permits in Canada fell by 3.9 percent from October to $10.9 billion in November. Although eight provinces posted monthly gains in residential construction intentions, the total value of residential permits declined 2.8 percent overall to $7 billion. Declines in the multi-unit sector in British Columbia and Quebec more than offset the residential gains in the rest of the country. (StatCan)