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March 16, 2015 Volume
xxi, #11
“All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it.” —Jean Cocteau (French author, designer, filmmaker and playwright, 1889-1963)
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Stew Valcour steps aside as Kent GM, Simms takes over
SAINT JOHN, N.B. — Stew Valcour, long-time head of Kent Building Supplies, has exited his role as general manager of the home improvement chain. Mike Simms, formerly director of purchasing, has taken over the GM’s role.
However, Valcour stresses that he’s not stepping down. He continues as a vice president at parent company J.D. Irving and stays involved in other companies under the Irving umbrella. Kent will remain under his purview and Simms will continue to report to him. “It’s all part of succession planning,” says Valcour.
That succession strategy has been in the works for some time, say industry insiders. Simms joined Kent when Schurman Building Supply, the leading chain on Prince Edward Island with five outlets, was acquired by Kent in 2004, as part of a larger deal whereby J.D. Irving acquired all the holdings of parent company M.F. Schurman. From that time, Simms was considered by many to be next in line for Valcour’s position.
Despite slow growth in recent years in the Maritime Provinces, Kent has been expanding aggressively, both through acquisitions and new stores. Last summer, Kent opened its first big box store in a decade in Charlottetown, P.E.I. It has been especially aggressive as well in Newfoundland, opening stores there to tap that province’s healthy growth in recent years.
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New BMR CEO Pascal Houle outlines next steps
BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — The newly appointed CEO of BMR says he will combine shows, gain market share, and offer more opportunities for vendors. In part two of an exclusive HARDLINES interview, Pascal Houle outlines more of what’s in store at his company.
With the acquisition at the beginning of this year of Groupe BMR, La Coop fédérée’s hardware and building materials business is now the number-two player in Quebec, second only to industry leader RONA. Quebec, in turn, is Canada’s number-two province for market share of retail home improvement sales, representing almost one-quarter of the market (source: Hardlines Market Share Report ).
And, he says, his organization is here to stay. In contrast to its chief competitor, La Coop is member owned, which means it isn’t vulnerable to an unwelcome takeover bid and therefore more stable than a public company. While La Coop’s 350 stores, under the BMR and Unimat banners, are centered mainly in Quebec (BMR has a few dealers in Ontario and the Maritimes as well), Houle says the formula for success is a good one, which can be expanded across Canada within the next few years.
Meanwhile, Houle will focus on the operations of the two companies, including combining their trade shows. Now, Unimat dealers will attend BMR’s hardware buying show in Quebec City, November 4-6. BMR also holds spring event for dealers to shop for products for the coming winter. That show will be held March 26 at BMR’s own headquarters in Boucherville.
Houle says vendors will have more efficiencies working with one buying office—and more opportunities, as well. Through BMR’s affiliation with the hardware buying group Octo, he expects BMR’s hardware and agro purchases to grow steadily. “It will be more efficient for us and more efficient for the suppliers,” he says.
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Industry trainer Bob Sutherland retires
LONDON, Ont. — After 40 years, five cars, and half a million kilometres, hardware trainer and consultant Bob Sutherland has decided to retire.
Sutherland got his start at D.H. Howden & Co., the national hardware wholesaler based in London, Ont. (now Chalifour Canada). There, he was a category manager and went on to become group merchandise manager. After working at Howden for many years, he began conducting product knowledge training, working first with Howden dealers.
He then moved to Cashway Building Centres to act as training manager. A year later, he started his own company, Solutions Training, and he began working on behalf of other retail groups and dealers’ associations. He spent the next 18 years criss-crossing the country training dealers and managers at retailers ranging from Kent and Central Supply in the Maritimes to Federated Co-operatives in Western Canada. Nor are his training skills confined to the classroom: he’s done 50 training segments on video for Home Hardware Stores Limited.
Over the years, his wife Ilse took to travelling with him, and helping with set up of the classes. At the age of 76, Sutherland is officially retired, but still makes an occasional appearance at a trade show, such as the WRLA’s Buying Show earlier this year, where he showcased his own how-to displays for rough plumbing and electrical. The displays have been a useful tool in Sutherland’s training sessions for educating staff about basic wiring and plumbing. Now, the displays, which work well on an endcap, are being carried by Burlington Merchandising and Store Fixtures as part of their inventory of product displays.
Sutherland says he’s trained up to 8,000 people during his time on the road. “It’s been a good run and I’m going to miss it. I enjoyed it. I met a lot of great people over the years.”
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Castle makes gains with dealer growth in Quebec
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Among the dealers heading down to San Antonio, Tex., this week for the annual general meeting of Castle Building Centres will be an unprecedented number of members from Quebec. This region continues to be an area of growth for the group. Matériaux St Étienne in the Quebec City region is the newest independent to join the group—and more are expected to be announced shortly.
“We are pleased to welcome Matériaux St Étienne to the Castle group and this move further reinforces the fact that Castle is quickly becoming the bilingual buying group of choice to francophone independents in the Québec region,” said Ken Jenkins, president of Castle.
For years, Jack Crombie, owner of Hudson Hardware in Hudson, Que., was well-known as the sole member in that province, even as Castle was becoming one of the dominant banners in Atlantic Canada and increasing its membership out West. But Castle has been expanding steadily in Quebec in recent years. The group installed a dedicated dealer recruitment person for Quebec six years ago, and today Robert Legault services 30 stores in the province, as well as another six in Northern New Brunswick.
In addition, Castle’s hardware partner, Memphis-based Orgill, set up support in Quebec last year, with a bilingual customer service department out of Montreal and support services, including flyers, now available in French.
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Johns Manville expands technology expertise
TORONTO — Johns Manville has made two hires designed to complement the company’s growing range of products and technologies.
Michelle Wood has been brought on board as architectural-specification manager in Toronto. In addition, the insulation products maker has hired Jeff Broadie as technical manager, also out of Toronto. These are newly created positions for Canada.
Wood graduated university with two diplomas, one in Business Marketing and the other in Human Resources. But she eventually found herself on the sales side representing noise control products to architects. Now, she will work on behalf of JM helping architects and installers. Broadie got his start at Gusmer Canada, where, he says, he learned “how to fix machines.” He then worked for Graco and Howard Marten, developing an expertise in the spray foam industry.
According to the company, as it develops new products and acquires companies (JM is a Berkshire Hathaway company), “the demand for these types of positions becomes invaluable in order for us to be at the forefront to help JM go to market and grow the business.”
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FROM THE ARCHIVES: This week in 1995
Al Munro was running Surrey based Irly Distributors, which was the dominant buying group and wholesaler on the West Coast. Munro decided to put a team on the road to increase sales and membership. Also in that issue: this editor was freshly returned from the International Hardware Show in Cologne, Germany. Besides seeing a plethora of new products and merchandising ideas, we met the heads of OBI and B&Q, Home Depot VP Jim Inglis, and more. (Click here to read this classic news from 20 years ago! —Editor)
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CLASSIFIED ADS
National Account Manager
MAKITA CANADA
Calgary, AB, CANADA
Description:
Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Makita Canada Inc., and with three to five years’ account management and business development experience in the power tool industry, the National Account Manager is responsible for the growth and expansion of Makita’s business partnerships and sales with key national account(s) headquartered predominantly in western Canada.
Key Responsibilities:
- Travels throughout Western Canada for store visits, events, field work and other activities in relation to assigned account(s).
- Represents Makita as the key head office contact for assigned national account(s).
- Assists other National Account Managers, the Regional Managers and Sales Representatives in building our national success (with a particular focus on your assigned and/or shared accounts).
- Develops and recommends for approval customized programs, presentations and promotions for assigned account(s).
- Communicates and shares pricing programs, promotional plans and other pertinent competitor / dealer information with head office, senior management and other departments as necessary.
- Various other activities, duties and assignments as may be assigned by senior management.
Travel requirements of the National Account Manager include regular and scheduled travel throughout the specific assigned region as well as other regions of Canada to visit store locations, events and to work with local territory representatives and as such, frequent overnight travel is required.
Qualifications:
- 3 to 5 years account management and business development experience in the power tool industry.
- Post-secondary education or combination of education and experience.
- Valid Driver’s License .
- Knowledge and experience with MS Office Suite and other sales-related software.
Makita Canada Inc. offers a competitive base salary; a generous quarterly bonus/commission structure; company vehicle (including associated operating costs); notebook computer and cellular phone; full travel and work-related expense reimbursement; and a generous company-paid benefits program including retirement plan.
Interested, qualified candidates should email resumes (including salary expectations) prior to April 10, 2015, to k.pringle@makita.ca or by fax to Kim Pringle at 905-571-7434.
We thank all candidates for their interest but advise that only those under consideration will be contacted. No telephone calls please
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