HARDLINES™ Five years serving Canada's home improvement industry June 5, 2000 - Volume vi, #22 Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154 E-mail: buzz@hardlinesfax.com  
Check out our incredible Classifieds section!
* * * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE: * Growmark and Ace team up on fall dealer show * Home Hardware will have * million-sq.ft. distribution centre in the west * Saskatchewan Tim-BR Mart dealer newest speaker at Hardlines Marketing Conference * Sodisco-Howden looks for more regional distributors * * * * * *   CONFERENCE UPDATE: AN INDEPENDENT VS. BIG BOX The latest speaker to join the lineup for the Hardlines Marketing Conference on September 14, 2000, is Don Neufeld, president of J+H Builder's Warehouse. This Tim-BR Mart dealer has two stores in Saskatoon. Don's version of battling the big box includes closing on Sundays, which has garnered him some very unusual publicity - and tremendous respect - within the local community. The Conference will also feature Pat Farrah, founder of The Home Depot; Tom Ferguson, president and COO of Newell Rubbermaid; Sid Doolittle from MacMillan/Doolittle in Chicago; Randy Jorgensen of AOV Canada; Will Raap, founder of Gardener's Supply; and Tim Silk of the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario. This year we're introducing a series of breakout sessions on "Branding," "e-commerce" and "Com-petitive Intelligence." The Fifth Annual Hardlines Marketing Conference: September 14, 2000; 8:30 a.m. &endash; 6:30 p.m.; Marriott Eaton Centre Hotel, Toronto (includes continental breakfast, lunch and post-Conference cocktail reception). Cost: $349 for subscribers, $449 for non-subscribers. You can register online at: www.hardlinesfax.com, or call 416-489-3396, ext.2. * * * * * * GROWMARK AND ACE WILL COMBINE SHOWS Ace Hardware Canada and Growmark have taken another step in consolidating their relationship. The two wholesalers have agreed to combine their dealer markets this fall. The new combination show, billed as the Ace/Growmark Marketing and Buying Show, will be held October 22-23, 2000, at the Toronto Congress Centre. The show will host Ace customers, including LBM buying group members who have adapted either Ace product lines or Ace store banner, as well as the bannered dealers who belong to the Growmark co-op. Ace currently ships to some 450 independent retailers in Canada, 100 of them Ace bannered stores. GROWMARK has 160 co-op member dealers in Ontario (and one in Michigan). Together, they struck an alliance in 1998 to allow Ace to supply Growmark dealers with hardware lines. At the beginning of this year, Growmark's own turnkey merchandising programs for workwear, lawn & garden and pet supplies were made available to Ace Canada customers, namely Country Depot, FS Co-operatives. * * * * * * HOME HARDWARE EXPANDS ITS WESTERN WAREHOUSE Construction of a 100,000-sq.ft. addition to Home Hardware's Wetaskiwin, Alta., distribution centre is currently under way. The 17*-acre site, which adjoins the existing warehouse, was purchased earlier in the year and the ground was broken on construction in March. The 17-year-old Wetaskiwin facility serves 280 Home Hardware dealers in Western Canada. The latest expansion is aimed at accommodating sales growth by existing dealers, as well as the needs of 60 Beaver Lumber stores in the west, which were added with the purchase last year of Beaver by Home Hardware. The project is scheduled for completion by September 2000. It will bring the total size of the Western Canada distribution centre to 500,000 sq.ft. The larger facility will focus on core lines of hardware and building materials, says Don Kirk, national distribution manager for Home Hardware. The current count of 60,000 SKUs will not be increased, but more volume of existing lines will fill the new space. "We're committed to regional distribution to cut down on lead times," says Kirk. Home also has a 300,000-sq.ft. distribution centre in Debert, N.S., in addition to the million sq.ft. at head office in St. Jacobs, Ont.  
COMPANIES IN THE NEWS   Taiga Forest Products reported a 30% increase in sales for 1999. The year, which ended March 31, saw sales climb from $695 million in 1998 to $904.5 million. Earnings went up 14%, from $5.3 million to $6.1 million. Taiga president Pat Hamill said the growth came despite falling lumber and panel prices toward the end of 1999. In the first three months of 2000, sales for Rona Inc. increased 21.6%, from $201.2 million to $244.8 million. Net earnings reached $2.65 million, up 14.7% from $2.3 million recorded in the same period in 1999. Highlights of the quarter included Rona's acquisition of 66 Cashway Building Centres in Ontario and the launch of a $50-million investment to grow its e-business. Westburne Inc. and Prophet 21 Inc. have formed a strategic partnership to create WestburneIPG.com, a business-to-business e-commerce portal for its Industrial Products Group. Westburne is a distributor of industrial, construction and maintenance supplies to customers across North America. Prophet 21 provides e-business systems to wholesale distributors. Rona Inc. opened its 10th Rénovateur Régional, this one in Lévis, a suburb of Québec City. The "mini-big box store has 95,000 sq.ft. of retail, which includes a 25,000-sq.ft. indoor lumberyard, 3,000-sq.ft. greenhouse and 10,000-sq.ft. garden centre. With more than 35,000 products, it features wide aisles, floor stands, large format shelf displays and indoor boutiques for painting, decoration, doors and windows, stoves and fireplaces, and flooring. TruServ Corp. has announced a strategic partnership with United Purchasing Affiliates (UPA), a plumbing, electrical and HVAC wholesaler, to create a commercial/industrial buying group. The joint-licensed program will make available more than 600,000 SKUs from 2,000 vendors. The deal includes e-commerce, with 400,000 SKUs available to online buyers. UPA has 1,100 members with combined retail sales US$600 million. TruServ's commercial/industrial sales amount to US$1.5 billion. Stambaugh Hardware Co. has launched its own magazine, "The Inviting Home." It was recently mailed out to almost 40,000 of Stambaugh's most frequent shoppers. The Dealer Education Team at Home Hardware Stores in St. Jacobs, Ont., won two ICON awards recently for its production of two corporate videos. The videos are part of a monthly series for Home Hardware dealers called Success Building TV, which gets aired internally to the dealer network. The awards are sponsored by the Kitchener-Waterloo Sales and Ad Club.
  CANADIAN STOCK WATCH
COMPANY 52-WEEK HIGH 52-WEEK LOW CLOSE (FRI.)
Cameron Ashley 18.12 7.25 18 1/16
Canadian Tire 46.00 19.10 23.90
Canfor 19.25 4.25 13.20
Goodfellow 12.25 7.50 10.60
Home Depot 70 35.75 53 5/8
Hudsons Bay 23.85 12.70 19.00
Lowe's Cos. 67.25 40.75 503/4
Sears Canada 42.50 18.25 36.90
Taiga Forest 14.75 9.40 9.00
West Fraser 41.00 28.00 31.50
    "Philosophy is the product of wonder." - A. N. Whitehead
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE   Nobody  
OVERHEARD...   "There are more Smith-Barregars in this country, but it will get tougher and tougher for them to survive as Home Depot spreads out." - Tony Molluso, president and CEO of Sodisco-Howden Group, on his plans to acquire further regional distributors in the near future. He adds that he might target an industrial wholesaler, noting the growing sales being made in commercial/industrial by hardware and home improvement dealers.  
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 5, 2000 - Volume vi, #22 Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154 E-mail: buzz@hardlinesfax.com  
Check out our incredible Classifieds section!
* * * * * * * IN THIS ISSUE: * Growmark and Ace team up on fall dealer show * Home Hardware will have * million-sq.ft. distribution centre in the west * Saskatchewan Tim-BR Mart dealer newest speaker at Hardlines Marketing Conference * Sodisco-Howden looks for more regional distributors * * * * * *   CONFERENCE UPDATE: AN INDEPENDENT VS. BIG BOX The latest speaker to join the lineup for the Hardlines Marketing Conference on September 14, 2000, is Don Neufeld, president of J+H Builder's Warehouse. This Tim-BR Mart dealer has two stores in Saskatoon. Don's version of battling the big box includes closing on Sundays, which has garnered him some very unusual publicity - and tremendous respect - within the local community. The Conference will also feature Pat Farrah, founder of The Home Depot; Tom Ferguson, president and COO of Newell Rubbermaid; Sid Doolittle from MacMillan/Doolittle in Chicago; Randy Jorgensen of AOV Canada; Will Raap, founder of Gardener's Supply; and Tim Silk of the Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario. This year we're introducing a series of breakout sessions on "Branding," "e-commerce" and "Com-petitive Intelligence." The Fifth Annual Hardlines Marketing Conference: September 14, 2000; 8:30 a.m. &endash; 6:30 p.m.; Marriott Eaton Centre Hotel, Toronto (includes continental breakfast, lunch and post-Conference cocktail reception). Cost: $349 for subscribers, $449 for non-subscribers. You can register online at: www.hardlinesfax.com, or call 416-489-3396, ext.2. * * * * * * GROWMARK AND ACE WILL COMBINE SHOWS Ace Hardware Canada and Growmark have taken another step in consolidating their relationship. The two wholesalers have agreed to combine their dealer markets this fall. The new combination show, billed as the Ace/Growmark Marketing and Buying Show, will be held October 22-23, 2000, at the Toronto Congress Centre. The show will host Ace customers, including LBM buying group members who have adapted either Ace product lines or Ace store banner, as well as the bannered dealers who belong to the Growmark co-op. Ace currently ships to some 450 independent retailers in Canada, 100 of them Ace bannered stores. GROWMARK has 160 co-op member dealers in Ontario (and one in Michigan). Together, they struck an alliance in 1998 to allow Ace to supply Growmark dealers with hardware lines. At the beginning of this year, Growmark's own turnkey merchandising programs for workwear, lawn & garden and pet supplies were made available to Ace Canada customers, namely Country Depot, FS Co-operatives. * * * * * * HOME HARDWARE EXPANDS ITS WESTERN WAREHOUSE Construction of a 100,000-sq.ft. addition to Home Hardware's Wetaskiwin, Alta., distribution centre is currently under way. The 17*-acre site, which adjoins the existing warehouse, was purchased earlier in the year and the ground was broken on construction in March. The 17-year-old Wetaskiwin facility serves 280 Home Hardware dealers in Western Canada. The latest expansion is aimed at accommodating sales growth by existing dealers, as well as the needs of 60 Beaver Lumber stores in the west, which were added with the purchase last year of Beaver by Home Hardware. The project is scheduled for completion by September 2000. It will bring the total size of the Western Canada distribution centre to 500,000 sq.ft. The larger facility will focus on core lines of hardware and building materials, says Don Kirk, national distribution manager for Home Hardware. The current count of 60,000 SKUs will not be increased, but more volume of existing lines will fill the new space. "We're committed to regional distribution to cut down on lead times," says Kirk. Home also has a 300,000-sq.ft. distribution centre in Debert, N.S., in addition to the million sq.ft. at head office in St. Jacobs, Ont.  
COMPANIES IN THE NEWS   Taiga Forest Products reported a 30% increase in sales for 1999. The year, which ended March 31, saw sales climb from $695 million in 1998 to $904.5 million. Earnings went up 14%, from $5.3 million to $6.1 million. Taiga president Pat Hamill said the growth came despite falling lumber and panel prices toward the end of 1999. In the first three months of 2000, sales for Rona Inc. increased 21.6%, from $201.2 million to $244.8 million. Net earnings reached $2.65 million, up 14.7% from $2.3 million recorded in the same period in 1999. Highlights of the quarter included Rona's acquisition of 66 Cashway Building Centres in Ontario and the launch of a $50-million investment to grow its e-business. Westburne Inc. and Prophet 21 Inc. have formed a strategic partnership to create WestburneIPG.com, a business-to-business e-commerce portal for its Industrial Products Group. Westburne is a distributor of industrial, construction and maintenance supplies to customers across North America. Prophet 21 provides e-business systems to wholesale distributors. Rona Inc. opened its 10th Rénovateur Régional, this one in Lévis, a suburb of Québec City. The "mini-big box store has 95,000 sq.ft. of retail, which includes a 25,000-sq.ft. indoor lumberyard, 3,000-sq.ft. greenhouse and 10,000-sq.ft. garden centre. With more than 35,000 products, it features wide aisles, floor stands, large format shelf displays and indoor boutiques for painting, decoration, doors and windows, stoves and fireplaces, and flooring. TruServ Corp. has announced a strategic partnership with United Purchasing Affiliates (UPA), a plumbing, electrical and HVAC wholesaler, to create a commercial/industrial buying group. The joint-licensed program will make available more than 600,000 SKUs from 2,000 vendors. The deal includes e-commerce, with 400,000 SKUs available to online buyers. UPA has 1,100 members with combined retail sales US$600 million. TruServ's commercial/industrial sales amount to US$1.5 billion. Stambaugh Hardware Co. has launched its own magazine, "The Inviting Home." It was recently mailed out to almost 40,000 of Stambaugh's most frequent shoppers. The Dealer Education Team at Home Hardware Stores in St. Jacobs, Ont., won two ICON awards recently for its production of two corporate videos. The videos are part of a monthly series for Home Hardware dealers called Success Building TV, which gets aired internally to the dealer network. The awards are sponsored by the Kitchener-Waterloo Sales and Ad Club.
  CANADIAN STOCK WATCH
COMPANY 52-WEEK HIGH 52-WEEK LOW CLOSE (FRI.)
Cameron Ashley 18.12 7.25 18 1/16
Canadian Tire 46.00 19.10 23.90
Canfor 19.25 4.25 13.20
Goodfellow 12.25 7.50 10.60
Home Depot 70 35.75 53 5/8
Hudsons Bay 23.85 12.70 19.00
Lowe's Cos. 67.25 40.75 503/4
Sears Canada 42.50 18.25 36.90
Taiga Forest 14.75 9.40 9.00
West Fraser 41.00 28.00 31.50
    "Philosophy is the product of wonder." - A. N. Whitehead
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE   Nobody  
OVERHEARD...   "There are more Smith-Barregars in this country, but it will get tougher and tougher for them to survive as Home Depot spreads out." - Tony Molluso, president and CEO of Sodisco-Howden Group, on his plans to acquire further regional distributors in the near future. He adds that he might target an industrial wholesaler, noting the growing sales being made in commercial/industrial by hardware and home improvement dealers.  
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.