HARDLINES™
Five years serving Canada's home improvement industry
October 23, 2000 - Volume vi, #40
Michael
McLarney,
Editor & Publisher
Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154
E-mail: buzz@hardlinesfax.com
Check out our incredible Classifieds
section!
* * * * * *
* Grubbe
retires from TruServ Canada
* Sodisco-Howden
positions Pro as "independent
alternative"
* "Treasure
hunt" mentality drives high sales at Price
Costco
* 3Q
sales flat for Revy, down slightly for
Taiga
* Halifax
store is Home Depot's 60th in Canada
* * * * * *THE
HARDLINES MARKETPLACE It's a great place to announce new lines or
acquisitions, services or lines available. And of course they are an
effective, low-cost way to hire new people. At just $16 per line,
here's what you get with each Marketplace Ad:- two weeks
in the fax version
- three weeks in the email version
- posted on our website for three weeks
- your ad read by more than 3,000 people every single week
- thousands of hits on our Website!
- our boundless thanks for your support of Hardlines!Bev takes
care of the Classifieds so contact her: bev@hardlinesfax.com
or call her at 416-489-3396.HARDLINES
WHO'S WHO 2000-2001 EDITION: The only annual guide to Canada's
leading hardware and home improvement retailers, wholesalers, buying
groups, mass merchants and co-ops. It lists more than 100 companies.
Each listing features executives, product categories, sales, number
of outlets, buyers, etc. No salesperson or marketing person should be
without this little beauty! In fact, some of our subscribers are
buying three and four copies, so the whole sales force will be armed
with the right names and numbers while they're on the road. Don't be
caught without it!The cost is only $125 for subscribers, or
$165 for non-subscribers (+ GST/HST).Order
onlineor call us at 416-489-3396.TRUSERV CANADA CEO RETIRES AHEAD OF SCHEDULE
David Grubbe
will retire as president and CEO of TruServ Canada on October 31. The
announcement was made at the dealer-owned co-op's recent dealer
market. Leo Charriere, currently vice-president, business
development, will replace Grubbe in the top job.Grubbe, 56,
was originally slated to finish up at the end of the year and has
been winding down his involvement since August. However, the sudden
death of his sistermade him reconsider his plans. "I shook my head
and said, 'hey,' what am I waiting for," he said. As a result, he and
his wife are moving to Medicine Hat. "It's time to spend some time
with my family," he told the members during his farewell address at
the Winnipeg Convention Centre on October 16. He will remain involved
with the company in an advisory capacity until December
2001.Grubbe
started with the company as a furniture and appliance salesman 33
years ago, back when it was Macleod-Stedman Inc. Through the years he
owned two Macleod's stores of his own, one in Shaunavon, SK and
another in Maple Creek, SK. His career at head office has included
everything from real estate and member development to merchandising.
He took over as president in January 1995 from Bob Nowalski, who had
been sent up by Cotter in the U.S. to run the Canadian operation
following its conversion from Macleod-Stedman to Cotter Canada.
* * * * *
*COSTCO
VP DESCRIBES EAST-WEST BUYING STRATEGYWhile its
Burnaby and Montréal offices operate discretely, the majority
of purchasing decisions at Price Costco Canada are made on a national
basis. This and other insights into Canada's only wholesale club
store chain were provided by Dave Nickel, vice-president and general
merchandising manager of Price Costco.Nickel spoke
to vendors in Vancouver at a recent meeting held by the Canadian
Hardware and Housewares Manufacturers Association.Because the
company's SKUs are so low (typically around 3,600), new products are
brought in all the time in great volume. Price Costco's mandate, said
Nickel, is to keep the assortment fresh, providing excitement to
shoppers who bring to the stores what he terms a "treasure hunt"
mentality. It also results in a much higher dollar value per customer
visit, Nickel added.* * * * *
*SODISCO-HOWDEN
ENVISIONS PRO AS INDEPENDENT ALTERNATIVEThere will
be two big boxes in the Canadian marketplace - "Home Depot and
someone else," predicts Tony Molluso, president and CEO of
Sodisco-Howden Group. Molluso
expects dealer consolidation to happen at a faster rate than ever
before. His company supplies hardware to some 1,400 independent
Canadian dealers; part of its strategy is to put together financial
incentives that will enable groups of dealers to become multi-store
owners.He sees his
company's Pro Hardware program as "an alternate independent banner."
Last summer, Sodisco-Howden converted its diverse dealer base from
five banners to two. By the end of the year, he says, there will be
720 Pro stores across the country, with that number growing to 1,000
over the next two years.Sodisco-Howden
still maintains a secondary banner, Do-it center. This DIY-friendly
home centre program, licensed from Do-it Best Corp. in the US., is
expected to grow from its current 51 to 100 stores in total. The most
recent dealer to join Do-it is Albertson's Home Centre, a Tim-BR-Mart
dealer in Parksville, BC, which signed on last week.COMPANIES IN THE NEWSHere's the
list of Home Depot Canada openings to the end of 2000: Halifax, which
opened last Thursday, October 19 (the 60th store in Canada);
Brantford (first store in that market) and Markham "East," ON on
October 26; Castlefield Road in Toronto's west end, October 26.
Dartmouth, NS, November 2; Lachenaie, QC (the second store there) on
November 16; and Mississauga "West," ON on November 23. A store in
Leaside, in Toronto's east end, will likely open sometime in 2001.
The company continues to option sites in other markets, including one
in Sarnia, ON and Grande Prairie, AB.With the
completion of a new big box in St. John, NB early next year, Kent's
stores will total six big boxes and 12 regular building centres. The
next Kent big box to open will be in St. John, NB. Originally slated
to open in December, it will now open in January 2001. At 105,000
sq.ft., it will replace a traditional 35,000-sq.ft. store. The
company has also confirmed the purchase of property in St. John's for
a second store in that city. Ground is expected to break there in
Spring 2001.West Fraser
Timber Co. Ltd. earned $24 million on sales of $569 million in the
third quarter ended September 30, compared with earnings of $57
million on sales of $610 million in the same period in 1999. For the
first three quarters of the year, earnings were $109 million on sales
of $1.754 billion, compared with earnings of $108 million. The retail
home improvement segment (Revy Home Centres Inc.) generated EBITDA of
$15 million, compared with $16 million in the same quarter of 1999.
In spite of lower building material prices, Revy's sales were up
slightly in the quarter, from $227.4 million to $227.7
million.Taiga Forest
Products Ltd. had sales of $201.9 million for the second quarter
ended September 30. This is down from $227.3 million during the same
period in 1999. Earnings for the quarter were down $2.0 million to
$243,000. The drop in sales and earnings was attributed to soft
prices in lumber and panel products. For the six-month period, sales
were $447.3 million, compared with $455.9 million a year earlier.
Earnings fell from $4.6 million to $514,000 in the first half of the
year. During the quarter, Taiga completed construction of a new
distribution centre in Saskatoon, which was up and running September
25, 2000. Also during the quarter, the company commenced construction
of a new distribution centre in Calgary, AB, scheduled for completion
in the spring 2001.Castle
relaunched its website last week, complete with store search,
contractor information, and online catalogue and services index for
dealers (http://www.castle.ca). The site does not include, however,
the end-user feature that was originally supported by Weber Supply,
as this service was not supported by Sodisco-Howden after that
company took over Weber's retail operations in June of this
year.Rona inc.
has made a five-year commitment to the Children's Aid Foundation in
Toronto to finance facilities for neglected and abused children who
use the CAF's services in the downtown Toronto area. The downtown
centre will be renamed the Rona Child Access Centre, and will feature
a new playground and improvements to its visiting rooms for children
in foster care who have supervised meetings with their natural
parents.Richelieu
Hardware Ltd. has acquired the principle assets of
Montréal-based Reliable Fasteners, as well as all of the
shares of Les Boiseries Lussier et Fils, a Québec City-based
distributor of decorative mouldings for furniture and kitchen
cabinets. Both companies' teams are joining Richelieu's workforce.
The deals, valued at $10 million, will be financed by the company's
cash flow from operations and increase Richelieu's sales by about $15
million annually.Colonial
Elegance Inc. has opened a U.S. distribution centre located at: Suite
D, 5905 Greenpointe Drive South, Groveport, OH 43125; phone:
1-800-361-2030.Dy-Mon
Sales, headed by Harvey Dyck, has been appointed to represent RCR
International in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The firm will be
responsible for major accounts in this region.Sears Canada
reported third quarter revenues for the 13 weeks ended September 30
of $1.543 billion, up 5.9% over $1.457 billion during the same period
last year. Net earnings improved to $36.2 million from $35.3 million
last year. For the first nine months of 2000, Sears posted a profit
of $105.6 million, compared with $92.5 million last year. Revenues
for the year to date increased 9.8% to $4.524 billion from $4.119
billion.TruServ
Corp. in the U.S. has made a deal with SecureRite.com, an Internet
co-operative of security professionals, to offer security products
and installed services through TruServ stores in the U.S. SecureRite
has commercial, industrial and residential security products. The
deal is estimated to be worth US$9 million over the next 5
years.Lowe's Cos.
has teamed with NationsRent Inc., a construction equipment rental
company, to install its rental centres in Lowe's stores in 22 markets
by the end of 2001. The agreement follows a six-month pilot program
in six stores. Sears,
Roebuck and Co. had an 18% increase in third-quarter income of US$278
million, compared with US$236 million in the same quarter a year ago.
Total revenues in the quarter climbed to US$9.63 billion from US$9.20
billion a year ago. The revenue increase was due primarily to
improvements in Sears department stores and Sears Canada. Domestic
comparable store sales increased 3.5%.Wal-Mart in
the U.S. has begun selling its own brand of discount wine. The hooch,
priced at US$5 and US$6, is supplied by Gallo under the "Alcott Ridge
Vineyards" label, according to The Hard Fax newsletter. CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH