HARDLINES™
Five years serving Canada's home improvement industry
June 19, 2000 - Volume vi, #24
Michael
McLarney ,
Editor & Publisher
Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154
E-mail: buzz@hardlinesfax.com Classifieds
section! HARDLINES
APPOINTMENTS I am pleased
to announce the following appointments at
Hardlines/McLarneyCom:
In light of
her contribution to the growth of the business, Beverly Allen has
been promoted to Marketing Manager for Hardlines, in addition to her
duties as Business Manager of McLarneyCom.
Nancy Wright
joins us at the World Headquarters as Administrative Assistant for
Hardlines/McLarneyCom. Thanks to your support, our team keeps
growing! - Michael
* * * * *
*
CANADIAN
TIRE VP GETS EXECUTIVE TRAINING Wayne Sales,
executive vice-president retail at Canadian Tire Corp., has just
returned from an advanced management course at Harvard Business
School in Boston, renewing speculation about his candidacy for the
top job at CTC.
Stephen
Bachand, the current president and CEO, announced earlier this year
that he will retire at the end of 2000.
However, the
decision to send Sales back to school was made some months before
Bachand made his announcement, says CTC. "It doesn't mean Wayne's not
a possible candidate," says Alan Goddard, CTC's vice-president,
corporate affairs. "But the board is conducting a North America-wide
search and expects a decision sometime later in the
summer."
The Harvard
courses run from six to nine weeks in length and cost anywhere from
US$30,000-US$45,000.
David
Grubbe, president and CEO of TruServ Canada, took a crash MBA course
at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., when he was chosen to run
that company eight years ago. "Normally, when a company spends that
kind of money to send you to one of those things, it's not to make
you look better," says Grubbe.
Sales
graduated from his course this past weekend.
SODISCO-HOWDEN
WILL SUPPLY HARDWARE TO WINDSOR PLYWOOD The
Smith-Barregar division of Sodisco-Howden Group has concluded an
agreement to be dominant supplier of hardware to Windsor Plywood.
Sodisco bought hardware distributor Smith-Barregar in March and
retained its sales staff to service BC.
Surrey,
BC-based Windsor operates 48 franchise building centres and 13
corporately owned outlets. With the exception of two in the U.S., the
stores are in Western Canada. "We have had a strong relationship with
Smith-Barregar for many years," says Al Wightman, operations manager
for Windsor Plywood. "With the acquisition by Sodisco-Howden, they
are now more strategic to us."
According to
the Hardlines Who's Who, Windsor Plywood is one of Canada's top ten
building centre chains.
COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
Hudson's Bay
Co. will acquire three former Eaton's locations, two in Ontario
(Bramalea and Orleans) and the third in Red Deer, AB. That brings the
total number of Eaton's acquisitions by Hudson's Bay to
16.
PartSource,
the stand-alone automotive retail concept by Canadian Tire, has
purchased the assets of Drivers/Auto Village, an automotive chain
with nine stores located in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina and
Moose Jaw. They will be converted to franchises, like the 15 existing
PartSource stores, which are located in Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Ontario. Wayne Scrivens, owner of Drivers/Auto Village, joins the
management of PartSource. Canadian Tire expects to roll out as many
as 200 PartSource stores across the country.
Canadian
Tire opened its latest "next generation" store in Mississauga, ON,
last week. The 80,000-sq.ft. store has 53,000 sq.ft. of retail
(including a 5,000-sq.ft. Kitchen Place) and has an additional
20,000-sq.ft. garden centre. The store replaces a 24,000-sq.ft.
outlet.
ICI Paints,
through its Glidden Paint division, will take over production of the
Ralph Lauren Home line of of paints in an exclusive license agreement
that becomes effective January 1, 2001. Sherwin Williams will
continue to distribute Ralph Lauren paint until that time. Under the
new agreement, Glidden will be responsible for the sales,
distribution and manufacturing of Ralph Lauren paint, while Ralph
Lauren Home will be responsible for the design and marketing.
CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH
"A desk is a
dangerous place from which to watch the world." - John Le
Carré (British diplomat and novelist)
Jack Hayes
has departed from Home Depot Canada, where he was vice-president,
merchandising. No replacement has been named yet. (604-736-8501)
Two Canadian
retailers have been awarded International "Young Retailer of the
Year." They are Kevin Steckler, co-owner of the True Value hardware
store in Sylvan Lake, AB; and Philip Fynbo, manager of Essex Home
Hardware in Essex, ON. The prize, jointly sponsored by American
Tools, 3M, the American Hardware Manufacturers Association and the
National Retail Hardware Association, will be presented at the NRHA's
annual convention, which is being held in Canada this year at
Deerhurst Inn in Huntsville, ON, July 23-25.
(317-290-0338)
Home Depot
is feeling the heat in Florida, but not because of the weather.
According to a report in the Globe & Mail last week, it's "Adult
Depot," a club in West Palm Beach that not only borrows from the Home
Depot name, but rips off its trademark orange colour and "Homer"
mascot. The only tool in this character's pouch is a sex toy. The
world's second largest retailer is suing the club for "degrading" and
"diluting" its trademarks.
MARKET INDICATORS
Building
permits issued by municipalities declined 8.9% in April from March,
according to Stats Canada. A big drop in residential intentions was
the main reason. They declined 15.2% in April compared with March,
while non-residential permits dropped only 0.7%. The value of
building permits for single-family dwellings went down 10.7% to $1.2
billion, the third consecutive monthly decline. Multiple-family
building intentions fell 26.9% to $366 million. However, year over
year, residential building permits were up 11.8% for the first four
months of 2000, compared with 1999.
UNDERSTANDING THE CANADIAN MARKET:
Seminar and reception for foreign consulates, international trade
offices, commercial services and potential importers: June 28, 2000,
in Toronto. Presented in partnership with the Canadian Hardware and
Building Materials Show. If you're one of the above and didn't get an
invite, call us!
HARDLINES
WHO'S WHO:
Directory of Canadian Hardware & Home Improvement Retailers,
Wholesalers, Buying Groups and Mass Merchants. This has become an
industry standard. With more than 100 listings of the key companies
in the country, including executives, buyers, sales and more. No
salesperson should be without this little beauty in their briefcase.
Third edition available in July.HARDLINES
INDUSTRY REPORT:
HOME IMPROVEMENT RETAILING IN CANADA: Back by popular demand! This
incredible report is a soup-to-nuts on how the home improvement
business works in Canada. It tells who the players are, what the
trends are, how the industry is responding to the big boxes, etc. It
also updates home improvement and renovation spending and figures out
just how big this business is! FIFTH
ANNUAL HARDLINES MARKETING CONFERENCE:
September 14, 2000. An incredible one-day symposium featuring some of
North America's leaders in retail! Expect about 200 retail and vendor
executives to attend! THE
WOMEN'S CONSUMER PRODUCTS NETWORK
June 27: WCPN Golf Tournament (Sorry - sold out!). August 15:
Breakfast meeting during the CGTA Show. Featuring the proven
communication methods of Robin Kennedy, vice-president of
Communicare. For more
information about these events, please phone: (905) 212-3826; fax:
(905) 274-7646; email: wcpn99@yahoo.com ,
or check out their website: www.wcpncanada.org Hardlines
Classifieds Got new
products? Looking for new staff or lines? Hardlines Classifieds are
read each week by North America's key decision makers in home
improvement retailing and manufacturing. If you want to build your
sales team or find new agents or new lines, this is the place! Only
$16 per line. Call Beverly
at 416-489-3396, ext. 2, for more details. * * * * * *
*
HARDLINES
the electronic newsletter. Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher.
Published weekly (except monthly in December and August) by
McLARNEYCOM 283 Belsize Dr., Toronto, ON Canada M4S 1M5.
416-489-3396; fax: 416-489-6154. E-mail: bev@hardlinesfax.com
© 2000 by Michael McLarney. Reproduction in whole or in part is
strictly forbidden. Subscription: $185+$12.95 GST = $197.95 (or
$27.75 HST=$212.75) per year (GST #13987 0398 RT). Please make cheque
payable to McLarneyCom.
HARDLINES™
Five years serving Canada's home improvement industry
June 19, 2000 - Volume vi, #24
Michael
McLarney ,
Editor & Publisher
Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154
E-mail: buzz@hardlinesfax.com Classifieds
section! HARDLINES
APPOINTMENTS I am pleased
to announce the following appointments at
Hardlines/McLarneyCom:
In light of
her contribution to the growth of the business, Beverly Allen has
been promoted to Marketing Manager for Hardlines, in addition to her
duties as Business Manager of McLarneyCom.
Nancy Wright
joins us at the World Headquarters as Administrative Assistant for
Hardlines/McLarneyCom. Thanks to your support, our team keeps
growing! - Michael
* * * * *
*
CANADIAN
TIRE VP GETS EXECUTIVE TRAINING Wayne Sales,
executive vice-president retail at Canadian Tire Corp., has just
returned from an advanced management course at Harvard Business
School in Boston, renewing speculation about his candidacy for the
top job at CTC.
Stephen
Bachand, the current president and CEO, announced earlier this year
that he will retire at the end of 2000.
However, the
decision to send Sales back to school was made some months before
Bachand made his announcement, says CTC. "It doesn't mean Wayne's not
a possible candidate," says Alan Goddard, CTC's vice-president,
corporate affairs. "But the board is conducting a North America-wide
search and expects a decision sometime later in the
summer."
The Harvard
courses run from six to nine weeks in length and cost anywhere from
US$30,000-US$45,000.
David
Grubbe, president and CEO of TruServ Canada, took a crash MBA course
at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., when he was chosen to run
that company eight years ago. "Normally, when a company spends that
kind of money to send you to one of those things, it's not to make
you look better," says Grubbe.
Sales
graduated from his course this past weekend.
SODISCO-HOWDEN
WILL SUPPLY HARDWARE TO WINDSOR PLYWOOD The
Smith-Barregar division of Sodisco-Howden Group has concluded an
agreement to be dominant supplier of hardware to Windsor Plywood.
Sodisco bought hardware distributor Smith-Barregar in March and
retained its sales staff to service BC.
Surrey,
BC-based Windsor operates 48 franchise building centres and 13
corporately owned outlets. With the exception of two in the U.S., the
stores are in Western Canada. "We have had a strong relationship with
Smith-Barregar for many years," says Al Wightman, operations manager
for Windsor Plywood. "With the acquisition by Sodisco-Howden, they
are now more strategic to us."
According to
the Hardlines Who's Who, Windsor Plywood is one of Canada's top ten
building centre chains.
COMPANIES IN THE NEWS
Hudson's Bay
Co. will acquire three former Eaton's locations, two in Ontario
(Bramalea and Orleans) and the third in Red Deer, AB. That brings the
total number of Eaton's acquisitions by Hudson's Bay to
16.
PartSource,
the stand-alone automotive retail concept by Canadian Tire, has
purchased the assets of Drivers/Auto Village, an automotive chain
with nine stores located in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina and
Moose Jaw. They will be converted to franchises, like the 15 existing
PartSource stores, which are located in Alberta, Saskatchewan and
Ontario. Wayne Scrivens, owner of Drivers/Auto Village, joins the
management of PartSource. Canadian Tire expects to roll out as many
as 200 PartSource stores across the country.
Canadian
Tire opened its latest "next generation" store in Mississauga, ON,
last week. The 80,000-sq.ft. store has 53,000 sq.ft. of retail
(including a 5,000-sq.ft. Kitchen Place) and has an additional
20,000-sq.ft. garden centre. The store replaces a 24,000-sq.ft.
outlet.
ICI Paints,
through its Glidden Paint division, will take over production of the
Ralph Lauren Home line of of paints in an exclusive license agreement
that becomes effective January 1, 2001. Sherwin Williams will
continue to distribute Ralph Lauren paint until that time. Under the
new agreement, Glidden will be responsible for the sales,
distribution and manufacturing of Ralph Lauren paint, while Ralph
Lauren Home will be responsible for the design and marketing.
CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH
"A desk is a
dangerous place from which to watch the world." - John Le
Carré (British diplomat and novelist)
Jack Hayes
has departed from Home Depot Canada, where he was vice-president,
merchandising. No replacement has been named yet. (604-736-8501)
Two Canadian
retailers have been awarded International "Young Retailer of the
Year." They are Kevin Steckler, co-owner of the True Value hardware
store in Sylvan Lake, AB; and Philip Fynbo, manager of Essex Home
Hardware in Essex, ON. The prize, jointly sponsored by American
Tools, 3M, the American Hardware Manufacturers Association and the
National Retail Hardware Association, will be presented at the NRHA's
annual convention, which is being held in Canada this year at
Deerhurst Inn in Huntsville, ON, July 23-25.
(317-290-0338)
Home Depot
is feeling the heat in Florida, but not because of the weather.
According to a report in the Globe & Mail last week, it's "Adult
Depot," a club in West Palm Beach that not only borrows from the Home
Depot name, but rips off its trademark orange colour and "Homer"
mascot. The only tool in this character's pouch is a sex toy. The
world's second largest retailer is suing the club for "degrading" and
"diluting" its trademarks.
MARKET INDICATORS
Building
permits issued by municipalities declined 8.9% in April from March,
according to Stats Canada. A big drop in residential intentions was
the main reason. They declined 15.2% in April compared with March,
while non-residential permits dropped only 0.7%. The value of
building permits for single-family dwellings went down 10.7% to $1.2
billion, the third consecutive monthly decline. Multiple-family
building intentions fell 26.9% to $366 million. However, year over
year, residential building permits were up 11.8% for the first four
months of 2000, compared with 1999.
UNDERSTANDING THE CANADIAN MARKET:
Seminar and reception for foreign consulates, international trade
offices, commercial services and potential importers: June 28, 2000,
in Toronto. Presented in partnership with the Canadian Hardware and
Building Materials Show. If you're one of the above and didn't get an
invite, call us!
HARDLINES
WHO'S WHO:
Directory of Canadian Hardware & Home Improvement Retailers,
Wholesalers, Buying Groups and Mass Merchants. This has become an
industry standard. With more than 100 listings of the key companies
in the country, including executives, buyers, sales and more. No
salesperson should be without this little beauty in their briefcase.
Third edition available in July.HARDLINES
INDUSTRY REPORT:
HOME IMPROVEMENT RETAILING IN CANADA: Back by popular demand! This
incredible report is a soup-to-nuts on how the home improvement
business works in Canada. It tells who the players are, what the
trends are, how the industry is responding to the big boxes, etc. It
also updates home improvement and renovation spending and figures out
just how big this business is! FIFTH
ANNUAL HARDLINES MARKETING CONFERENCE:
September 14, 2000. An incredible one-day symposium featuring some of
North America's leaders in retail! Expect about 200 retail and vendor
executives to attend! THE
WOMEN'S CONSUMER PRODUCTS NETWORK
June 27: WCPN Golf Tournament (Sorry - sold out!). August 15:
Breakfast meeting during the CGTA Show. Featuring the proven
communication methods of Robin Kennedy, vice-president of
Communicare. For more
information about these events, please phone: (905) 212-3826; fax:
(905) 274-7646; email: wcpn99@yahoo.com ,
or check out their website: www.wcpncanada.org Hardlines
Classifieds Got new
products? Looking for new staff or lines? Hardlines Classifieds are
read each week by North America's key decision makers in home
improvement retailing and manufacturing. If you want to build your
sales team or find new agents or new lines, this is the place! Only
$16 per line. Call Beverly
at 416-489-3396, ext. 2, for more details. * * * * * *
*
HARDLINES
the electronic newsletter. Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher.
Published weekly (except monthly in December and August) by
McLARNEYCOM 283 Belsize Dr., Toronto, ON Canada M4S 1M5.
416-489-3396; fax: 416-489-6154. E-mail: bev@hardlinesfax.com
© 2000 by Michael McLarney. Reproduction in whole or in part is
strictly forbidden. Subscription: $185+$12.95 GST = $197.95 (or
$27.75 HST=$212.75) per year (GST #13987 0398 RT). Please make cheque
payable to McLarneyCom.