ORLANDO, Fla. — The new president of Orgill, Inc. takes the helm at a period of active growth for the Memphis-based hardware wholesaler. Boyden Moore was named to the role of president at the beginning of 2019. Ron Beal, Orgill’s long-time chairman, president and CEO, dropped the president title, but remains the company’s chairman and chief executive officer.

Moore, whose own background is in retail, was already president of Tyndale Advisors, a subsidiary of Orgill that provides consulting and management services for dealers that range from strategic planning, store operations and finance to merchandising, marketing and human resources. The president’s role at Orgill has been added to his existing duties.

He met with Hardlines during Orgill’s recent dealer market in Orlando, Fla.

Moore says he will spend the rest of this year getting more familiar with every part of the business, particularly the operations and sales divisions of the company.

Extensive changes in the U.S. home improvement market over the last couple of years have created numerous growth opportunities for Orgill. In addition, Orgill enjoys steady organic growth as it serves independent home centres and lumber yards looking to expand their hardware departments. But all this new business requires an expansion of the wholesaler’s existing distribution network.

“We continue to improve our services, grow our business and invest in that growth,” Moore explains. “We’re currently expanding our Kilgore, Tex., distribution centre by 500,000 square feet. We’re also in the early process of selecting a site for a new distribution centre somewhere in the Northeast U.S.”

Orgill continues to invest in all its DCs, says Moore. That includes investments in the London, Ont., distribution centre that services customers in Eastern and Central Canada, as well as the Post Falls, Idaho, facility, which delivers to Western Canada. “We’re excited about our Canadian business. We’ve made significant investments there and we’re off to a good start.”

He adds that he will be travelling to Canada later this month to visit the London, Ont., DC. “I’m diving into the whole Canadian business.  We’ve made some great progress in Canada over the past year and are very pleased with the growth and improvement. We look forward to continuing to grow that business along with our U.S. and international business.”

SASKATOON ― Federated Co-operatives Ltd. Enjoyed a strong fiscal year in 2018, which coincided with the celebration of the co-op’s 90th anniversary. And those results included healthy returns from its home centre business.

The company’s year end, which is October 31, generated sales of $10.7 billion, up from $9.8 billion in fiscal 2017, from its five strategic business units, which include crop supplies, feed and food, as well as energy, the unit which accounts for more than $7 billion of the total.

Annual profits climbed to $1.2 billion, up from $628 million.

The Home and Building Solutions business may be one of the smaller strategic business units within FCL, but it remains a major presence in Canada’s retail home improvement industry. Sales for the business inched up 1% to $359 million, from $355 million in 2017―a fact that makes Cody Smith, director, home and building solutions, very happy after recent years of flat or negative sales growth. He points to the tough year the dealers in the West faced in 2018. Net income for the business unit bumped up to $24 million, from $23 million a year earlier.

One of the marked changes within FCL’s retail stores is the consolidation taking place. In 2017, the co-op had 190 outlets. As of October 31, 2018, that number had shrunk to 180 member retail co-operatives, two affiliate members and seven associate members—spread across Western Canada. During the year, some locations closed, while others were amalgamated. For example, Spiritwood and District Co-op and Lake Country Co-op were combined as Lake Country Co-op, and Rimbey Co-op and Rocky Mountain House Co-op combined to form Evergreen Co-op.

“We’re combining locations to bring together our different customer bases in an effort to create efficiencies and serve the market better,” says Cody. At the same time, he adds, “We continue to invest in our stores. That included three renovations last year and one new location.”

Looking ahead at the remainder of the current year, Smith is less optimistic. “I believe it’s going to continue to be tough for the next little while.”

VANCOUVER — CanWel Building Materials Group Ltd. reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2018 financial results for the period ended December 31. Annual consolidated revenues increased by 13.7% to $1.3 billion, up from $1.1 billion in the same period in 2017.

Sales for the CanWel Building Materials Distribution business, which sells LBM and related products to dealers across the country, increased by $160.5 million or 14.9%, largely due to higher construction materials prices and internal improvements. These included continuing product mix strategies and an increased focus on its customer base. In 2017, CanWel acquired Honsadar Building Products Group, a U.S. building materials distributor, and the revenues from that business positively impacted the 2018 results as well.

However, CanWel saw its overall results affected in the second half of the year by a significant downturn in pricing on OSB, lumber and panels, which was also a factor in reduced demand across CanWel’s markets.

By product group, construction materials accounted for 58% of sales, compared to 61% in 2017, with 34% coming from specialty and allied products and forestry and other products accounting for 8% of sales.

For the fourth quarter, revenues decreased 4.4% to $264 million, from $276.2 million. Sales for the Distribution segment decreased by $9.8 million or 3.8%, largely due to the impact of falling materials prices during the quarter. That decrease was partially offset by the strength of CanWel’s U.S. operations, where market conditions were more favourable.

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. ― BMR Group is bringing its La Shop urban neighbourhood store concept to the Montreal-area town of Mount Royal this spring. La Shop made its debut last spring in Montreal’s trendy Griffintown neighbourhood (shown here).

Hardlines was at the soft launch for the first store, where BMR showcased the concept’s distinctive product mix aimed at meeting the needs of young urban families, especially those living in smaller spaces.

Both La Shop locations are corporate stores owned by BMR Group.

The Mount Royal store will feature a similar range of smart products, hardware and seasonal items as well as new categories promoting eco-friendly consumerism. Its setting is surrounded by a mix of condos and retail outlets not unlike that found in Griffintown. In other ways, however, the site is an innovative choice. Griffintown is an integral part of the city of Montreal, wedged between downtown’s Golden Square Mile and the Old Town.

“TMR”, as the town of Mount Royal is known, is a separate municipality north of the city and served by the Montreal Metro’s blue and orange subway lines. The town’s evolving retail footprint has been in the news lately as plans for a mega-mall and housing complex called Royalmount have sowed dissension between TMR and Montreal councillors who fear a negative impact on traffic, businesses and cultural sites in the city. La Shop’s footprint is modest in comparison. At 6,200 square feet, it’s even smaller than the Griffintown location. 

“Over the past decade, the retail sector has undergone significant changes that have had a major impact on how business is conducted,” CEO Pascal Houle said. “La Shop hardware stores, with their technology, local products, innovation and environmentally responsible alternatives, are adapted to this new market’s needs, allowing us to broaden the horizons of the traditional hardware store concept.”

“The Griffintown store has allowed us to test out a multitude of ideas with a new client base, which has proven very receptive,” added Martin Lecomte, BMR’s VP of retail. “With this second location, we’re maintaining La Shop’s modern and trendy look, but also building on our ideas so we can keep surprising our customers.”

Derby Building Products has named Rachelle Shendow as marketing manager. In that role, she will be responsible for all communications, public relations and advertising for the Tando and Novik brands of exterior cladding. Shendow’s 20-year career in building products includes involvement in the launch of the Azek trim and decking brands and in growing the Trex decking brand.

At Liteline Corp., Eric Teacher has been appointed regional sales manager – specifications. A graduate of the University of Haifa with a B.A. in marketing, economics and social sciences, Teacher began his sales career in the instrumentation industry and began his involvement with lighting applications in 1993. He is a graduate of Seneca College’s Ontario Management Development Program with a diploma in Leadership and business management and has been lighting certified through the national lighting council, NCQLP, since 2012.

...that retailers can now access the latest intel to help them run their businesses better with our sister publication, Hardlines Dealer News? This monthly electronic newsletter is sent to thousands of dealers and managers across Canada every month (as well as to smart suppliers who want to stay in the know). The next issue will be sent out March 13. Don’t miss it! To get your own free subscription, just click here!

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Lowe’s Canada has unveiled its new corporate website. The responsive platform was created to host all corporate information under one roof and facilitate easy access to company info. “Our new corporate website, which acts as a first point of contact for the public, features our people as well as our major projects,” says Jean-Sébastien Lamoureux, senior VP of communications, public affairs and compliance for Lowe’s Canada.

VAUGHAN, Ont. — TIMBER MART’s Ontario office has moved to a new location in Vaughan: 361 Connie Cres., Vaughan, Ont., L4K 5R2.

MONTREAL — BMR Group held its fourth Contractors’ Night recently. The event was organized jointly by four Montreal-area dealers: BMR Matco, Ostiguy & Frères, U. Cayouette and Potvin & Bouchard. A record turnout of nearly 500 contractors gathered at the Centre des congrès et banquets Renaissance in Anjou to meet with some 40 suppliers.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — At its latest meeting with suppliers, Walmart announced the launch of an ambitious campaign to reduce plastic in the packaging of its private-label products. Laura Phillips, SVP for Global Sustainability at Walmart Inc., said the initiative, which would impact about 30,000 products in the U.S., ties in with the company’s overall vision of zero waste in its operations. Walmart is also urging its suppliers to make similar goals for their own packaging.

NEW YORK ― Hudson’s Bay Co. CEO Helena Foulkes has spent her first year on the job shedding under-performing assets and strengthening the company’s core business, according to an interview with Fortune. “I’ve been trying to get the organization to focus more,” she told the magazine. When Foulkes took the helm, HBC was bridled with debt and stretched over too many markets, while its Lord & Taylor and Saks Off Fifth banners were flagging.

TORONTO ― Gap Inc. is closing 230 stores over the next two years, representing almost half of its retail network. The company declined to tell the Canadian Press how many of those stores would be in Canada but says the North American market will account for the majority of the closures. At the same time, Gap Inc. announced it will spin off its Old Navy banner into a separate publicly traded company.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Sales in the U.S. of new single-family houses were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 621,000 in December.  This is 3.7% above the November rate of 599,000. (U.S. Commerce Dept.)

NOTED

A core tenet of working at Home Depot Canada is its Giving Back program. Collectively, Home Depot staff contribute more than 60,000 hours each year either in support of local community projects or on behalf of partners of The Home Depot Canada Foundation, which is committed to preventing and ending youth homelessness in Canada.

OVERHEARD

“The lesson for other brands is clarity. At Lord & Taylor, we as a company had taken our eye off the ball of who our customer is. We heard the world was going younger, so we tried to go younger... It’s basic: It’s knowing who you want to win with and being relevant and important to those customers.”
—Hudson’s Bay Co. CEO Helena Foulkes, in an interview with Fortune magazine about her efforts one year in to turn around HBC’s retail brands.

OUT & ABOUT

Michael McLarney and Staff Writer Geoffrey McLarney were just at AQMAT’s Gala Reconnaissance in Montreal this past weekend. Now Michael is heading to Halifax to join David Chestnut, Hardlines’ VP of Business Development, at the ABSDA Building Supply Expo. Got a new product or a hot scoop? Text Michael at the show at 647-209-5663.