After posting gains of 15.5 percent in 2020 and 11.3 percent in 2021, the retail home improvement industry in Canada plateaued in 2022. This was to be expected. Those two years under Covid were a great ride for the majority of dealers in the country.

However, the consumer frenzy for hardware and building supply products was dampened in the past year by multiple interest rate increases and declining commodity prices. Plus, the opening up of other places for customers to spend their money, as pandemic restrictions lifted, further slowed sales.

Hardlines estimates the industry grew 4.6 percent in 2022 to $61.14 billion, based on analysis of the growth by the large players, feedback from independent dealers through our annual Business Conditions Survey, and careful analysis of economic conditions and retail growth figures from StatCan. The data will be used in the 2023 Hardlines Retail Report, available in July.

Even after three pandemic years from 2020 to 2022, in which the industry grew 34.4 percent, the industry still managed last year to grow 4.6 percent. However, the Consumer Price Index was up nationally 6.8 percent in 2022, so the industry experienced a 2.2 percent decline in real terms, after inflation.

In 2019, pre-Covid, Hardlines reported an industry size of $45.5 billion. Last year’s gain was a tremendous feat, especially in a year in which commodity prices tumbled. The industry is still being impacted by commodity price declines and this will likely continue throughout the rest of this year.

(The final figures on the size and growth of the Canadian retail home improvement industry will be featured in our 2023 Hardlines Retail Report. This massive report, in a handy PowerPoint format, will be available in July. Click here for more details on this important body of research and to pre-order yours. As a Hardlines Premium Member-Subscriber, you’ll save over $400 on the price!)

Calgary’s Star Building Materials plans massive expansion

Star Building Materials, headquartered in Calgary, has unveiled an ambitious expansion plan that will greatly increase its output and capacity. The $53 million investment is expected to double the dealer’s production of trusses, engineered wood products, prefabricated wall panels, and interior finishing production. It will also add more than 140 new jobs.

Star Building Materials is a division of Qualico, a vertically integrated and fully diversified real estate and commercial construction company. Star has locations in Calgary and Winnipeg as well as a components division in Edmonton that supplies engineered wood products and trusses. It is also a member of Independent Lumber Dealers Co-operative.

Qualico Properties was instrumental in facilitating the acquisition of an 18-acre parcel of land adjacent to the company’s existing 12-acre facility in Balzac, Alta., in the Calgary Metropolitan Region. The expansion program is expected to help alleviate some of the stresses on the construction industry post-Covid as it confronts ongoing labour and material shortages.

“Through the past couple of years, we've learned how vital the supply chain is to the construction industry and we feel this expansion will add solutions to these challenges for years to come,” Ken Crockett (shown here), vice-president of Star Building Materials, told Hardlines. “Using new technologies, added automation, and expanding our production capacities will certainly help to alleviate these challenges.”

He says the expansion will double the capacity of Star’s existing operations and represents an overall investment in people, technology, automation, and the building industry.

The planned expansion follows another investment in growth in late 2019, when Star tripled the size of its distribution yard. That involved relocating from the Alyth Road operations site to its new North Star location near Stoney Trail.

Work on the expansion will begin in the fall and the site should be fully operational in late 2024 or early 2025. It will consist of three new buildings for production, adding to the existing two at the Balzac location. The company’s current operations in its Alyth yard located just off Deerfoot Trail will be consolidated at the facility in Balzac.

“Our plan is to have zero disruptions in service to all our clients throughout this process. Customer service is what has built our business and this expansion will only improve our customers’ experience with Star Building Materials.” Crockett adds.

RONA affiliate dealers open first urban store in the West

Amidst all the changes at RONA inc., with new ownership (Sycamore Partners) and a new boss (former Loblaw exec Garry Senecal), the company continues to develop its retail footprint.

One format that has been growing quietly is RONA’s urban store. It’s smaller than RONA’s building centres or big boxes, and the stores are strategically located in urban settings to better serve the surrounding communities. They can be in a shopping centre or in a downtown area.

With their small retail footprint, they also carry a reduced selection of building materials, but with no lumber yard. The stores also offer a small selection of appliances, supported by online ordering.

“In essence, regular RONA hardware stores are in every market throughout Canada, while an urban RONA store is one in the heart of a major city only,” says a spokesperson from RONA inc. A few of the urban stores already exist in Ontario and Quebec—RONA Bélanger in Montreal’s east-end neighborhood of Rosemont is one example.

Now, the retailer has established its first urban format store in western Canada. Two former RONA employees, Al Tsuchiya and Michael Trentalance (shown here), now the owners of the T&T Hardware Group, have joined RONA’s affiliated dealer network, with their store, RONA Walnut Grove in Langley B.C. The 5,500-square-foot location is getting a 2,200-square-foot expansion to offer up to 650 new SKUs of select building materials and plumbing products.

‘‘With the uniqueness of our distribution network and corporate stores within the Canadian markets, we can support this type of store better than anyone in our industry,” says Philippe Element, vice-president, RONA dealer sales and support.

On Gary Rasor’s 80th birthday, his children asked him to retire because there was no financial need for him to work. Rasor refused and told his children that he loved working at Home Depot, where he trained young employees and enjoyed interacting with customers.

Rasor continued to work for more than two years at The Home Depot in Hillsborough, N.C., until he was confronted by a man stealing three pressure washers last October. The man violently pushed Rancor, who crashed to the floor and was taken to the hospital—where he died from his injuries a few days after turning 83.

“He was just going to ask him for a receipt,” Rasor’s son Jeff said of his father and the man who attacked him.

The elder Rasor was attacked in the course of what authorities call organized retail crime—the large-scale theft of high-value items, which are then illegally resold. In an interview airing tonight on Nightline, Jeff Rasor told ABC News’ Erielle Reshef that he wants authorities to crack down on the growing phenomenon.

“There has to be consequences in my mind, and the consequences have to fit the crime,” he said. “I can’t imagine that any piece of equipment in Home Depot is worth a life—and so when you find out it’s $837, it’s just pretty bad.”

Five months after Gary Rasor’s death, another Home Depot employee was killed after confronting a shoplifter in a California store. Blake Mohs, a 26-year-old loss prevention employee, was shot in the chest while trying to stop a theft at a Home Depot in April. Two people have been arrested on murder charges in the case.

The two deaths come as law enforcement officials and advocates warn of an increase in violent and brazen acts during the commission of organized retail crimes. According to a report released by the National Retail Federation in the U.S., stores and retailers reported that the number of organized retail crime incidents increased by an average of 26.5 percent between 2020 and 2021.

More recently, a Florida man has been arrested on charges of being part of an organized theft ring that targeted Home Depot stores throughout Florida. The group would make fraudulent returns of stolen goods. He is allegedly responsible for a loss of $60,000 at stores in Orlando and Miami.

“It’s growing double-digit year over year,” Scott Glenn, Home Depot’s vice-president of asset protection, told ABC News. “We don’t have enough resources to handle it, [so] we have to prioritize the biggest impacts.”

Tony Cioffi, former president of Lowe’s Canada until March of this year—shortly after Sycamore Partners, a New York City-based private equity firm took over—has been appointed VP finance at Belron Inc. in Montreal. Belron is a giant automotive glass replacement firm with 32,000 employees in 34 countries. Its brands include Apple Auto Glass, Speedy Glass, and Lebeau. Cioffi was replaced as head of RONA inc. (formerly Lowe’s Canada) by Garry Senecal, a former Loblaw executive, who serves as RONA’s interim CEO.

DID YOU KNOW...?

... that the latest episode of our Hardlines podcast series features a great conversation with the current owners of BMR Paulin Moisan in Saint-Raymond, Que., cousins Mathieu Moisan and Marianne Moisan? The grandchildren of the store’s founders, they are also winners of our Young Retailer of the Year Award and have a great story to tell. But wait. It’s in French! Yup, this is our first podcast entirely in French, so ecoutez ici!

RETAILER NEWS

Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has signed a three-year extension as the official home improvement retailer of the Toronto Blue Jays. Under the new partnership, the Rogers Centre in Toronto will feature permanent signage promoting Home’s BeautiTone paint brand as the official paint of the Blue Jays. The retailer has been supporting the baseball team since 2005.

The A.R.E.N.A. Alliance has added BMR Group as its Canadian partner for the supply of renovation and home equipment products. A.R.E.N.A. is dedicated to sourcing and negotiation for DIY, garden, and home improvement products. BMR is its eighth national partner, and the first outside Europe.

Red Deer-based Peavey Industries has acquired its freight partner, Guy’s Freightways. The company is a logistics and transport company and a long-term partner of Peavey. Established in 1975 by Bernie Schwartz, Guy’s Freightways began as a single-truck operation delivering to six Peavey Mart stores. Now headed by Todd Schwartz, the company consists of 16 full-time trucks and 43 trailers. As part of Peavey Industries, it will continue to service Peavey’s retail network across Canada.

Home Depot Canada, through its charitable arm, the Home Depot Canada Foundation, has kicked off its Spring Orange Door Project. Until June 25, the fundraising drive will raise money online and through Home Depot stores across Canada on behalf of 126 local charities supporting youth within the local communities. The Home Depot Canada Foundation is committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness in Canada.

Calgary’s Mountain View Building Materials Ltd. has joined Sexton Group. Tracy Seibert and her late husband Doug founded Mountain View in early 2006. Today, the family business is owned and operated by their sons Joel and Brad, recently joined by a third partner, Sheila Carr.

The RONA Foundation, RONA inc.’s philanthropic arm, has contributed over $1 million to Opération Enfant Soleil and Children’s Miracle Network. In Quebec, RONA was once again the official materials supplier for the Maison Enfant Soleil, designed by Bonneville Homes. With the help of 14 suppliers and a corporate contribution, the network sponsorship was valued at $129,645.

Liesemer Home Hardware in Mildmay, Ont., celebrates its 150th anniversary from June 15 to 17. Founded in 1873 by Conrad Liesemer, the hardware store has been family-owned and operated for five generations. It was among the first stores to join Home Hardware back in 1964. The original building with its hardwood floors continues to serve the business after 150 years.

Princess Auto, the Winnipeg-based hardware and automotive products retailer, has opened its 70th location. The newest store is in Abbotsford, B.C. and marks its seventh location in British Columbia.

SUPPLIER NEWS

Taiga Building Products of Burnaby, B.C., has donated $20,000 to the Red Cross to support relief efforts after the recent wildfires in Alberta. “Taiga stands in solidarity with our customers, suppliers, and families directly affected by these devastating forest fires,” said COO Michael Sivucha.

Aliaxis, parent company of Ipex in North America, announced it has registered in Hydro-Québec’s Renewable Energy Certificates Pilot Project. The company intends to seek certificates covering 100 percent renewable electricity consumption for all its Quebec sites for the year 2023.