March 9, 2015 Volume xxi, #10

“Live long and prosper.” —Leonard Nimoy (actor and author, best known for his role as Mr. Spock in “Star Trek”, 1931-2015)

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Pascal Houle named CEO of BMR

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Pascal Houle has been promoted to the role of CEO of BMR. Formerly executive vice president of the business, he came over from parent company La Coop fédérée when it bought up 20% of BMR back in November 2013. La Coop, which is a $9.1 billion company, assumed total ownership of the buying group and wholesaler early last month.

With Houle firmly in place in the top job, he will be responsible for the hardware and building materials activities of La Coop fédérée, which operates its franchises under the BMR and Unimat banners. His office will be located at the headquarters of Groupe BMR in Boucherville, Que.

Houle, who holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Laval University and is a certified management accountant, has worked within La Coop network since 1998. He started as hardware director for La Coop des Appalaches, then as management advisor at La Coop fédérée. In 2004, he became director of hardware, materials, and petroleum products at La Coop des Bois-Francs before being promoted to general manager there. Under Houle, sales and profits at the Bois-Francs co-op increased considerably, and the business won several awards, notably for the motivation and engagement of employees.

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New CEO of BMR will focus on consolidating businesses

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Pascal Houle’s first order of business in the top job at BMR is to get two businesses working well together. In an exclusive interview with HARDLINES, the newly named CEO explains that his focus will be “to merge Unimat and BMR, and for the next 18 months we will work to that.”

That reorganization will be driven out of BMR existing offices. “The name of the business will remain ‘BMR,’ the head office will be at the BMR headquarters in Boucherville, and we will operate both banners under the BMR business name,” Houle explains.

A lot has happened already. Over the past year, a number of hardlines buyers were moved from La Coop to the BMR offices, and in January La Coop closed its hardware distribution centre in Trois Rivières, so all hardware supply for both Unimat and BMR stores now comes out of BMR.

Houle admits that the logistics of merging the two businesses have posed “a challenge.” But he is proud of the progress so far. “We are twice the company in less than three and a half months.” The combined business will represent close to $2 billion in sales at retail, and make it the number-two player in Quebec, after RONA.

In recent years, La Coop fédérée has been expanding its footprint in the hardware and home improvement sector. The creation of the Unimat banner was a way to attract dealers that were not necessarily co-op member stores. Over time, all hardware related stores within La Coop, both member and non-member, took on the Unimat brand. In 2012, Unimat rolled out a prototype building materials store. Then, at the beginning of this year, La Coop entrenched itself as a force to be reckoned with in this industry with the complete takeover of BMR.

La Coop’s BMR business now counts a total of 350 points of sale, mainly in Quebec. Of that, about 180 are BMR stores, and another 170 are Unimats. The latter are typically smaller stores, operating in smaller, rural markets. Most of them also have gas stations, operating under the Sonic brand. “Unimat is a leader in the farm industry, so we are in a strong strategic position in rural markets,” Houle says.

Actively growing the dealer network will be put on hold during the initial period of consolidation, says Houle. “But we expect in the next two years to develop additional dealers.”

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CanSave relocates show back to its own facility

BARRIE, Ont. — Specialty building products supplier CanSave is moving its Annual Expo back into its own building, after holding it for years at the Barrie Molson Centre. The event will be held May 28.

CanSave is not only a distributor, it does its own manufacturing as well. Its facility produces kitchen cabinets under the CabinetSmith name and doors under the DoorSmith brand, with programs for sell-through for independent dealers. The move back to its own facility will let CanSave show off those manufacturing capabilities and educate dealers about its programs.

“We couldn’t showcase the full potential of our new state-of-the-art showrooms out of house, so were excited to display to our dealers how special they are first hand, right at our own facility,” says Larry Koza, managing partner for CanSave.

The theme this year is “Rethink your Business,” with a focus on in-depth interaction with vendors and a bigger involvement in proper profit planning and risk-reducing tactics. Many of the staple attractions the show is known for will continue at the new location, including hospitality and entertainment, prizes, and games for dealers.

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Reno spending drives residential construction in 2014

OTTAWA — Residential construction investment in Canada rose 6.8% to $28.5 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with the same quarter in 2013, reports Statistics Canada. Renovation spending accounted for most of the increase at the national level, rising 10.3% to $12.9 billion. Construction of single-family dwellings was up 5.1% to $6.8 billion, while row houses were up 13.6% to $1.2 billion and apartments were up 3.5% to $3.8 billion.

Total investment in residential construction was up in eight provinces in the fourth quarter, led by Ontario, and followed by Quebec, Alberta, and British Columbia. The 7.3% advance in Ontario was the result of increased investment in renovations and, to a lesser extent, single-family dwellings. The gain in Quebec (+6.7%) also resulted from higher renovation spending, although apartments and row houses also contributed. Alberta's advance (+6.8%) stemmed from higher investment in both single-family dwellings and apartments, while most of British Columbia’s 6.7% gain came from single-family dwellings and renovations.

Overall for 2014, residential construction investment totalled $109.5 billion, up 3.8%, marking the fifth consecutive yearly increase. The majority of the gain came from higher reno spending, which was up 7.3% to $50.6 billion, followed by row houses, up 15.2% to $4.4 billion, and single-family dwellings, up 1.9% to $26.0 billion.

For the year, Alberta posted the largest increase (+12.2%), followed by Ontario (+3.3%) and British Columbia (+5.8%). Conversely, every Atlantic province saw lower construction spending, except New Brunswick, which posted a slight 0.3% increase.

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Lowe’s, Kingfisher and Ace to present at Global DIY Forum

COLOGNE, Germany — Robert Niblock, chairman and CEO of Lowe’s, Véronique Laury, the newly appointed Group CEO of Kingfisher in the U.K., and Robert Moschorak, president and general manager of Ace Hardware International, have joined the list of distinguished speakers who will present at the European industry’s foremost conference.

The Third Annual Global DIY Summit will be held June 11-12 in London, put on by Fediyma and EDRA, the trade associations serving the European hardware and home improvement sector.

“The four main topics of our congress will illustrate very well the deep changes in the home improvement industry,” said Ralf Rahmede, general manager of Fediyma, which represents the hardware manufacturers’ associations throughout Europe. “Therefore, we have brought the best speakers from every continent around the world to give our delegates a comprehensive overview of this retail revolution.”

(Click here for more information about the Third Annual Global DIY Summit. —Editor)

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CLASSIFIED ADS

National distributor of wood, metal and automotive
machinery and accessories seeks an experienced

Sales Representative
for Alberta

Ideal career opportunity for an aggressive, self-motivated individual with excellent interpersonal and communication skills. These skills, coupled with extensive knowledge of the market, would put you in good standing to join our aggressive and expanding company and for substantial earnings potential.

Please forward cover letter and resume to:

Ted Fuller
fax 519-896-6497
email tfuller@kingcanada.com

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