Matériaux Pont-Masson is moving its seven stores to BMR’s banner. Founded in 1979 by Monique and Richard Bailey, Matériaux Pont-Masson serves Quebec (Mirabel, Rigaud, Roxboro, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Châteauguay, and Valleyfield) and eastern Ontario (Alfred and Casselman).

Its stores have been under the RONA banner for nearly 35 years. With an estimated $100 million in annual sales, it’s considered one of the largest affiliate dealers in the RONA stable. The transition to BMR takes effect on Aug. 11.

In a release, Matériaux Pont-Masson president Éric Bailey said he was seeking to enhance the business’s offerings. “As a major player in the hardware industry in Quebec and Canada, BMR represents for Matériaux Pont-Masson an outstanding business partner to ensure the continuity of our success.”

“I am very pleased to see Éric Bailey and the entire Matériaux Pont-Masson team join the ranks of Groupe BMR, a decision that Éric has carefully considered over the past few years,” said Alexandre Lefebvre, CEO of BMR Group. He expects BMR to increase its sales among its nearly 300 dealer members by $200 million in 2021.

A Lowe's Canada spokesperson said that the giant retailer “values collaborative business relationships with its dealers where the priority is the mutual success of the parties involved.” For its part, Lowe's Canada reiterated its ongoing commitment to its independent affiliates, “who remain a priority within our business model.”

Given the dealer’s size and its number of locations, the recruitment of Pont-Masson represents a solid gain for BMR, which has been working to make meaningful moves outside its home province of Quebec, especially in Ontario, where two of the stores are located.

“This alliance will not only allow us to increase our presence in key markets, particularly in Ontario but also to enhance our product offering to our customers with the wide range of products that are exclusive to Matériaux Pont-Masson, all at competitive prices,” said Jonathan Gendreau, vice president, strategy and network development at BMR.

Home Hardware has announced the launch of the Home Hardware Return to Sport Matching Grant. A partnership with shopping rewards app FlipGive, the initiative will offer $25,000 in grants to help get kids back in the game after being sidelined by COVID-19.

The program invites youth sports teams across Canada to register on FlipGive, a shopping rewards app. The alliance with Home Hardware is designed to help parents lower the cost of their involvement in sports by offering rebates on products purchased through FlipGive. The first 250 teams to raise $100 in rebates through purchases will receive a $100 matching grant from Home Hardware.

“Sport runs deep for us,” says Jessica Kuepfer, director, communications, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. She mentions the company’s participation in the Special Olympics. “But it’s also a continuation of everything that our dealers are doing. When you look at how our dealers are supporting their local communities, they are doing it in so many different ways.

“We’re looking to our dealers and seeing where their hearts and charities lie and just trying to align that. It’s really something that’s deep in our DNA.”

In addition, FlipGive is a Canadian company, she says, further making it a good fit for Home Hardware.

Does the program indicate any greater involvement in sporting goods by Home Hardware than in the past? Kuepfer admits that sports and recreational products sold well during the pandemic. She points out though that “we sold a lot more of everything over the past year and a half. But people are definitely looking for ways to have fun at home.”

The Home Hardware Return to Sport initiative is open to youth sports teams across Canada and will run until Nov. 30.

Peavey Industries has entered into a five-year agreement with Westerner Park, central Alberta’s largest convention, agricultural, sports, and entertainment facility. Under the deal, Peavey secures the naming rights to Red Deer’s landmark Westerner Park Centrium as its official agricultural supply partner. The complex is now known as the Peavey Mart Centrium.

“Peavey Industries’ head office has been located here for decades, making Peavey Mart truly ‘Red Deer’ at its very core,” said CEO and president Doug Anderson. The company owns the Peavey Mart and MainStreet Hardware banners, as well as the licence for the Ace Hardware brand in Canada.

Peavey’s marketing efforts are part of a long tradition of big retailers buying up naming rights to sports complexes—though it’s more common in the U.S. There, Lowe’s was a loyal supporter of NASCAR racing dating back as far as 1960. In 1999, the retailer bought up naming rights to a popular racetrack in Charlotte, N.C., renaming it the Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the next 11 years. It also sponsored racing superstar Jimmie Johnson from 2001 until 2018. Home Depot also got involved in NASCAR in 1999, ending its sponsorships in 2014.

In Canada, Canadian Tire drew a lot of attention in 2013 when it secured naming rights for the Scotiabank Arena in Kanata, Ont., which is the home ice for the Ottawa Senators. To this day, it is known as the Canadian Tire Centre.

As Peavey establishes itself as a national retail presence, the renaming of the Westerner Park Centrium gives the company a valuable boost to its brand at home.

“We are thrilled to partner with Westerner Park and further our local connection while showcasing the overarching dedication we have for a city we are also very proud to call our hometown,” Anderson said.

Provinces loosen retail rules as vaccination rates continue to climb nationally

With vaccination rates continuing to rise across Canada, several provinces advanced in their reopening plans last week. That meant further relaxation of rules for retailers, particularly around the number of in-person shoppers.

Quebec dropped fixed capacity limits in stores last week. Instead, retailers must ensure that there is enough room for customers to maintain physical distance. That distance was also cut from two metres to one. Similar rules are in place in Newfoundland and Labrador.
 
Also last week, Ontario entered Step 3 of its reopening plan—five days ahead of schedule. It too has dropped percentage-based capacity limits in favour of a simple physical distancing requirement. Nova Scotia did the same, moving into the fourth of its five planned phases.  
 
Since July 1, British Columbia has been in Step 3. Masks are recommended but no longer required in indoor public spaces. Store occupancy is at the discretion of the retailer. Alberta entered its final stage on the same date; all retail restrictions are now lifted. Saskatchewan entered its Phase 3 on July 11, lifting all public health orders including the mask mandate.

Similarly, Prince Edward Island encourages but no longer requires masks in indoor public spaces. Those serving the public, like retail employees, should continue to wear them, however.
 
This week, Manitoba’s premier, Brian Pallister, and the province’s top physician are slated to hold a press conference outlining the province’s next steps. Manitoba reached Milestone 1 in late June. Retail stores can currently open at 25 percent capacity, to a maximum of 250 individuals. The province has now hit its vaccination target for the second of the three milestones. Pallister is expected to offer details of what the easing of restrictions will look like.

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Sexton Group has become a supporter of the buy-Canadian initiative Well Made Here (WMH). Eric Palmer, Sexton’s VP and GM, will hold a seat on WMH’s board of directors alongside the executives of the other participating banners.

“As a proud Canadian company, Sexton Group supports quality domestically made products,” he said in a release. “A partnership with Well Made Here is very much aligned with our values.” As a major partner of Well Made Here, Sexton gives its stores the opportunity to advertise themselves as destinations of choice for accredited Canadian-made products.

Lowe’s Canada has partnered with the Charles-Bruneau Foundation to support pediatric cancer research in Quebec. Through the participation of more than 15 of its suppliers and the fundraising campaign led by its cycling team, the organization presented a $400,000 cheque to the foundation as part of the 25th Tour CIBC Charles-Bruneau. The 57 cyclists of the Lowe’s Canada team took part in various treks of the tour earlier this month, including the 50 km, the 80 km, the 141 km, and the remote tour.

Castle Building Centres Group has announced the addition of Hometown Flooring as its newest member in Nova Scotia. Under Castle, the Truro specialty flooring retailer will be expanding its business into a full-service building materials retailer. Owners Paul and Janet Harris purchased the business in 2017. Paul has decades of experience in the retail building supplies industry working alongside his father Ron and brother Doug, who founded the business over 25 years ago. After a renovation to expand the store, it will have a grand reopening sometime in 2022.

Castle Building Centres also welcomes Quincaillerie Shipek in Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan, Que., as its newest Castle Centre du Rénovation. After Mingan’s original hardware store closed, locals found they had to travel over 40 km to get to the nearest store. After four years, the Pekuashipi and Ekuanitshit Innu Nations bought the hardware business. Quincaillerie Shipek will celebrate a grand opening in the late summer.

Lowe’s Cos. is teaming up again with Daymond John for the next round of Making It…With Lowe’s. The pitch program gives entrepreneurs who are members of minority groups across the U.S. a chance to sell their wares on Lowes.com and in Lowe’s stores nationwide. John is a star of ABC’s Shark Tank, the U.S. version of the international Dragon’s Den franchise. The program “shines a light on the remarkable stories of diverse small business owners who are often overlooked and underrepresented,” says John, who will return as host and advisor to the finalists.

SUPPLIER NEWS

Richelieu Hardware Ltd. more than doubled its Q2 profits, as net income amounted to $37.4 million, up from $17.8 million a year ago. Sales increased to $371.4 million from $248.3 million, due to same-store sales growth of 60 percent in Canada and 50 percent in the U.S.

Manufacturers of wooden pallets are caught between lumber shortages and unpredictability in the supply chain, The Globe and Mail reported. Between wait times for machinery and pressures on the labour market, boosting production is not an option, according to Shawn Hicks, CEO of CPS Wood Products in Cobourg, Ont. “We’ve had to turn away new opportunities from big companies—we just can’t handle the extra demand.” Experts say unless pricing cools down, consumers will see costs passed on to them.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Investment in building construction cooled slightly in May, decreasing 1.9 percent to $19.4 billion. This was the first drop in seven months. Residential construction investment declined for the first time since April 2020, while non-residential construction increased slightly. Residential construction was down 2.7 percent in May, bringing total investment to $14.8 billion, with declines in both single and multi-unit construction. Investment in single-family homes was also down 2.7 percent to $8.3 billion. Quebec and Ontario posted the largest declines. Still, single-unit investment remained approximately 60 percent above pre-COVID-19 levels. (StatCanada)

NOTED

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OVERHEARD...

“If the last 18 months have taught us anything, it’s how important it is to have access to high-quality healthcare. In this context, we are particularly pleased to once again be a Diamond Partner of the Tour CIBC Charles-Bruneau and to financially support cutting-edge pediatric hemato-oncology research.”
—Jean-Sébastien Lamoureux, senior VP, public affairs, asset protection, and sustainable development at Lowe’s Canada, on his company’s fundraising campaign that generated $400,000 for kids with cancer.