March 26, 2018 Volume xxiv, #12

“Those who dream by night ... wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
—T.E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”, British army officer, adventurer, and author, 1888-1935)

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BMR grows its Agrizone farm store banner, while continuing to support Unimat

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. ― Groupe BMR has been quietly growing its Agrizone farm concept since it was inaugurated in 2010. And even as the group focuses on its BMR banner, it continues to provide support to its farm and hardware dealers, as well.

Agrizone, BMR’s farm banner, is getting more attention than ever before. While it started out primarily as a store-within-a-store concept for existing BMR dealers, it has legs of its own, with 10 stand-alone stores, says Pascal Houle, president of Groupe BMR. But the next to open will be a greenfields operation, slated to open in May in Mont Laurier. “It’s for the producers and for the farmers,” says Houle. “It tends to be former Unimat stores, but the new one opening is a start-up.”

Agrizone has its own website, as well, which just went live last week. BMR plans to make that site transactional by year’s end.

Besides Agrizone, that farm side includes the Unimat stores, the banner BMR inherited from La Coop fédérée when La Coop purchased BMR. And even though Unimat’s numbers have shrunk somewhat in recent years, much of that has been by design, as a number of them switched to the more predominant BMR banner, or, as Houle points out, to Agrizone. Nevertheless, about 60 endure, mainly in smaller rural centres. They continue to get BMR’s support with programs that include flyers and a recently updated website.

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RONA rolls out parcel delivery to accommodate online purchases

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — RONA is now offering parcel shipments, allowing customers to shop online and have their order delivered almost anywhere in the country in one to two days. This new service complements the in-store pickup and truck delivery services introduced by the banner in 2017.

“With the parcel shipping service, we’ve completed RONA’s online shopping offer,” says Serge Éthier, EVP of RONA’s proximity and pro business. “Over 17,000 products can now be purchased online and shipped by mail. Customers can shop when they want and how they want—in the comfort of their home, at the office, or even from a construction site.”

Pricing varies according to the size of the order. Under $25, the cost is $4.97; up to $50, the cost is $9.97. Pricing increases gradually until the $100 level, after which the charge is $24.97.

The new functionality follows a mobile-responsive web design that was rolled out in December.

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Home Improvement eRetailer Summit promises an actionable agenda

CHICAGO — Reshaping the retail experience in the digital age will be the theme that runs through the 3rd Annual Home Improvement eRetailer Summit this fall.

The event, which will be held in Chicago November 7 to 9, kicks off with Steven Dennis, a leading consultant, author, and Forbes contributor. He will share his retail survival strategies for competing against online titans like Amazon. The agenda digs deep to offer advice and tactics for taking an omnichannel approach to e-commerce and for forging partnerships between influencers and brands to create “authentic” content.

Speakers will also reveal how e-commerce is transforming the supply chain, particularly how technology is impacting and streamlining order fulfillment and product delivery.

“We have curated an exceptional playbook for anyone interested in exploring, entering, or expanding their selling of home improvement products online,” explains Sonya Ruff Jarvis, founder of the Summit. The goal, she says, is to offer the Summit’s attendees better intelligence and insights from those in the e-trenches, and to provide a platform for making connections that can move their businesses forward.

“It’s an event where we can all come together and collaborate, can learn from our mistakes, we can build off our accomplishments ... and it’s such a great intimate setting for us to come and do that,” says Philip Brown, CTO and co-founder of SupplyHog.com, one of last year's attendees.

(Click here to view a quick video showing the high-quality speakers and discourse generated by last year’s amazing event!)

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Dealer-owned True Value Co. makes deal with strategic investor

CHICAGO — U.S. home improvement co-operative The True Value Co. has agreed to sell 70% of the company to private investment firm ACON Investments. The deal would effectively transition the company away from its current co-op model, with the majority of shares owned by ACON.

The move, which is subject to member approval, would turn about $229 million over to True Value’s member dealers, who would in turn retain the remaining 30% ownership of the company. The deal would represent 70% of the dealers’ invested capital, 100% value of their promissory notes, and their 2017 patronage dividends. True Value’s board has unanimously approved and recommended the transaction.

If the members approve the deal, the remaining 30% equity in the co-op held by members would be transitioned into stock holdings in the newly created True Value Co.

ACON owns companies with $5.5 billion in total revenue across a portfolio of some 60 investments.

According to True Value’s president and CEO John Hartmann, ACON’s strategic investment in True Value will provide the co-op’s current member owners with access to money to grow their businesses, while still providing them with the full range of True Value products, programs, and services.

“I am very excited that this deal would release nearly a quarter-billion in money back to our members that is untouchable by them today, without changing any of the fundamental relationships they have with the company,” Hartmann says.

“I have very strong respect for the history of the co-op model, whether it is the True Value flag or any other co-op,” he says, but calls the whole business model “outdated”.

He emphasizes that retailers on True Value’s board of directors are “unanimously recommending” the deal, which must still be approved by the co-op’s retail members. True Value will hold a conference call to inform its members about the specifics of the proposed transaction and will ask them to vote on the concept by April 12. According to Hartmann, after the vote is validated, the deal could be completed by April 18.

Upon completion, True Value’s current members will have no further investment requirements, and new customers would have no investment requirements to do business with the distributor. Hartmann also pledged that the company would continue to offer access to the True Value brand, giving retailers the opportunity to benefit from a national brand without any additional ongoing investment beyond fees to participate in regional and local advertising packages.

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Fréderic Guay has joined Laval, Que.-based Pelican International Inc. as senior vice president of sales and business development. He reports to CEO Pierre Arsenault. Guay was previously executive vice president at RCR International. (514-206-0686; guayf@pelicansport.com)

Groupe BMR has appointed Jean Lagacé to the position of vice president, information technology, commencing today. He will manage all the organization’s IT activities and play a key role in the development and improvement of Groupe BMR’s websites, as well as in the implementation of its new ERP. Lagacé spent nearly 15 years at Ultima Foods, most recently as IT director. He will work with Richard Gatien, BMR’s senior director of IT.

With its acquisition of RCR’s rug business (see Supplier News, this issue—Editor), Lanart has also brought over a couple of RCR alumni. Mike Hachey is now vice president of sales; he was formerly VP business development for Canada and the U.S. at RCR International. (mhachey@lanartrug.com) Stephen Van Kampen has moved over as national director of sales. He had previously served as RCR’s regional sales manager for Ontario and Western Canada at RCR International. (svankampen@lanartrug.com)

The Canadian Hardware & Housewares Manufacturers Association has announced the 34th annual list of inductees to the Industry Hall of Fame. Three industry veterans made the list this year. Gerry Byle, retired GM of Kaz Canada and the Canadian division of Honeywell Consumer Products, was previously president of Bionaire. Vaughn Crofford, recently retired as president of the CHHMA, a role he served in for 23 years. Yves Gagnon is the former president and CEO of Groupe BMR. The three will be inducted at an industry luncheon during the CHHMA’s Spring Conference in April.

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Sales Territory Managers | Atlantic Canada, Ontario, Western Canada

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