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Beverly Allen, Publisher Vicky Sanderson, Editor John Caulfield, Contributing Editor Phone: 416-489-3396 Email: bev@hardlines.ca |
| November 26, 2007, Vol. xiii, #46 | |
| In This Issue | ||
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“The weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.” Alice Hoffman, American writer (1952 - ) |
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| Home Depot launches CFL recycling program | ||
TORONTO — Home Depot Canada formally launched its compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) recycling program last week with a challenge to Canadian consumers to recycle 1.5 million of them by 2011.  Annette Verschuren, president of Home Depot Canada and Asia, made the announcement at the Leaside store here, calling it a bold but achievable goal. “We’re making it easy for Canadians to make environmentally conscious decisions from purchase to disposal,” said Verschuren in a prepared statement.
Recycling units will be located at the entrance by the special services desk of each store. Customers can bring in their used CFL bulbs, place them in a plastic bag and deposit them. The bulbs will be recycled by Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers of Guelph, ON. Philips Lighting Canada will support the program with in store point-of-sale signage and educational material.
Most of the glass from recycled CFLs is made into fibreglass, while the mercury is separated and returned to manufacturers for reuse. Sales of compact fluorescent light bulbs at Home Depot have grown 350% since 2004, and have now overtaken incandescent and halogens.
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| Lowe’s third-quarter profit dips | ||
| MOORESVILLE, NC — Lowe’s Cos. reported a marginal increase in sales and a decline in its net income for the three months ended Nov. 2. The 1,464-unit warehouse retailer generated $11.56 billion in revenue, or a 3.2% increase over the same period a year ago. (The company opened 40 stores during the quarter.) Its quarterly income fell 10.2% to $643 million. Through the first nine months of its fiscal year, Lowe’s sales rose 3.8% to $37.9 billion, but earnings were down 3.65% to $2.4 billion. Lowe’s attributes its financial performance to several factors, including drought conditions in the Southeast and West, as well as “the unstable housing environment.” However, the company claims that it gained market share in the quarter. In the fourth quarter, the retailer expects to open 72 more stores, with store-opening costs at $56 million. It expects sales to increase by around 3% over the same period a year ago, but is looking for better earnings results from a decrease in operating expenses “driven by payroll, incentive compensation, depreciation and other fixed cost de-leverage.” (For the full story on the state of big boxes, and the impact of Lowe’s entry into Canada, read the next issue of Hardlines Quarterly Report. Click here to order.) | ||
| Sears considers acquisition of Restoration Hardware | ||
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HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL — Sears Holdings, the parent company of the Sears department store and Sears Hardware home-improvement store chains, is said to be considering a purchase of Restoration Hardware, the 100-unit home furnishings and décor chain that only weeks ago agreed to be purchased by the private equity firm Catterton Partners for $267 million. When that deal was announced, Restoration Hardware said it would continue soliciting offers from other bidders through Dec. 13. Sears disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that during its third quarter it had paid $30.2 million to buy 5.3 million of Restoration’s shares of common stock, or 13.7% of its shares outstanding. During its third quarter, Sears Holdings also acquired a $485 million stake in Home Depot, through a hedge fund, ELS Investments, that is controlled by Sears’ chairman Edward Lampert. Initial reaction from shareholders to Sears’ move on Restoration Hardware, though, wasn’t positive, as Sears’ stock price fell by 2%, to $111.88 per share, on the day its purchases were disclosed. “Eddie Lampert needs to focus on fixing Sears,” Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York-based retail consultancy Davidowitz & Associates Inc., told Crain’s Chicago Business magazine. “The last thing he needs is a diversion, and this is a diversion.” Top |
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| Chinese Hardware Show attracts international attention | ||
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SHANGHAI — The China International Hardware Show, which took place here Oct. 23-25, saw a 7.2% increase in visitors.
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| Pope & Talbot files bankruptcy in the U.S. | ||
| VANCOUVER — After filing for bankruptcy here three weeks ago, forest products supplier Pope & Talbot has now filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. A sale of three of its mills to International Forest Products (Interfor) for US$69 million apparently helped prevent the company from being forced to liquidate its assets, according to the Portland Business Journal. The deal with Interfor, which is subject to U.S. and Canadian court approval, would increase Interfor’s lumber capacity by approximately 580 million board feet per year to approximately 1.9 billion board feet. The acquisition includes timber tenures representing annual harvesting rights of approximately one million cubic meters in the southern interior of British Columbia. Pope & Talbot continues to operate three other sawmills in British Columbia, and three pulp mills in B.C. and Oregon. It has 2,300 employees. In its latest regulatory filing, the company stated that it had $682 million in assets and $265.4 million. In bankruptcy it will operate using $90 million in debtor-in-possession financing it has secured from lenders. | ||
| Westlake Ace hires first marketing chief | ||
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WICHITA — Westlake Ace Hardware, one of the largest regional hardware-store chains in the U.S., has named David Patrick as its first chief marketing officer. Patrick has more than 20 years’ experience in advertising and marketing. He’s held management positions at Procter & Gamble and the ad firms J. Walter Thompson, Leo Burnett Worldwide and Kansas City-based Barkley. Most recently, Patrick was first vice-president of marketing for Kansas City-based Beauty Brands Salon Spa Superstore. “David brings to Westlake a thorough understanding of retail marketing and great expertise in brand development,” said George Smith, CEO of the 87-unit Westlake. News of his appointment was first reported in the Kansas City Business Journal. Top |
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Marketplace |
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Sell your company - or buy one - with Hardlines Classifieds!
Do your executive search, find new lines or get new reps in the Hardlines Marketplace.
Only $2.75 per word for three weeks in the classifieds.
To place your ad, call Brady Peever at 416-489-3396 or email: brady@hardlines.ca
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To ensure you receive your Hardlines newsletter each week, please add admin@hardlines.ca to your address book.
Did your email system make this newsletter unreadable? You can read it online instead . Publishing Details: Hardlines is published weekly (except monthly in December and August) by HARDLINES Inc. 360 Dupont Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 1V9 © 2007 by HARDLINES Inc. HARDLINES™ the electronic newsletter hardlines.ca ; Phone: 416.489.3396; Fax: 416.489.6154 Beverly Allen, Publisher - bev@hardlines.ca Vicky Sanderson - Editor - vicky@hardlines.ca Michael McLarney - President - mike@hardlines.ca Brady Peever - Circulation Manager - brady@hardlines.ca The Hardlines "Fair Play" Policy:Reproduction in whole or in part is very uncool and strictly forbidden and really and truly against the law. So please, play fair! Call for information on multiple subscriptions or a site license for your company. We do want as many people as possible to read Hardlines each week - but let us handle your internal routing from this end! Subscription: $265 (Canadian subscribers add $15.90 GST = $280.90 per year/ GST #13987 0398 RT). Secondary subscriptions at the same office are only $42 (Canadian subscribers add $2.52 GST = $44.52). Ask about our reduced rate for branch offices. You can pay online by VISA/MC/AMEX at our secure website or send us money. Please make cheque payable to Hardlines. |
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Hardliners – prepare yourselves! The holiday schedule for Hardlines Weekly Newsletter is as follows: no issues on Dec. 10 and 24, 2007, and no issue on Jan. 1, 2008.IMPORTANT NOTICE - Hardlines is moving its World Headquarters to 360 Dupont St., Toronto, ON, M5R 1V9 this week. Our phone number will remain the same (416.489.3396). The move means we will have no access to phones or computers Nov. 26 – 27. Back on the air — bigger and better — on Nov. 28. |
| COMPANIES IN THE NEWS |
| VANCOUVER — RONA and the organizers of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games have partnered with community organizations to launch the RONA Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop, which opened here last week. The shop will oversee construction of the more than 8,000 products that will be required at the venues, including medal podiums, wheelchair ramps, sports racks, signage, warming huts, fencing and commentator positions and more. It will also serve as the site of a 30-week program that provides carpentry skills training and job experience to unemployed young people. _________________________________________ HALIFAX — Clarke Inc., an investment company based here, has bought the Canadian division of Spectrum Brand’s Home & Garden business, which used to operate under the name Nu-Gro and has annual sales of approximately $100 million in fertilizer, grass seed, and ice melt. Under the name Sure-Gro, it now sells such brand names as CIL, Wilson and Alaskan Ice Melter. _________________________________________ TORONTO — Canadian Tire Retail and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship hosted 50 Ontario manufacturers at a jointly-sponsored “Spirit of Innovation” seminar here last week. The networking event was intended to bring industrial and product design experts, provincial business and trade representatives, and Canadian Tire innovation specialists and product buyers, together with Ontario manufacturers to share insights on how to develop new and innovative products. _________________________________________ MONTREAL — Tembec’s consolidated sales for the fourth quarter were $675 million, down from $781 million in the comparable period last year. Net earnings were $22 million, compared to a net loss of $52 million for the same quarter last year – due mostly to a gain on translation of foreign debt. _________________________________________ SHERBROOKE — Jeffrey Casselman has resigned as president and CEO of Shermag Inc., which makes and markets residential furniture. Last week, Hardlines reported that Shermag saw 2Q revenue drop 40% to $27.2 million, down $45.5 million from the corresponding period last year. _________________________________________ INDIANAPOLIS — 3M will acquire Aearo Technologies Inc., which manufactures and markets personal protection and energy absorbing products. The company, which is owned by private equity firm Permira, will be sold for $1.2 billion. Aearo will expand 3M's occupational health and environmental safety platform by adding hearing protection, eyewear and fall protection product lines to 3M's existing line of respiratory products, and gives it access to industrial, military and construction customers, as well as the consumer market. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008. _________________________________________ BRAMPTON, ON — Tandus, a North American floor covering manufacturer headquartered in Dalton, GA, and Shnier, a Brampton-based North American floor covering company that sells proprietary flooring products, have formed a partnership. Under the agreement, Schnier will become the exclusive marketer, seller and logistics provider for residential products marketed under the Crossley At Home brand. _________________________________________ NASHVILLE — The Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association’s annual convention and trade show, held here earlier this month, brought 5,600 attendees. The meeting came just after Greg Drouillard, of Target Building Materials in Windsor, ON, finished his term as president. Incoming president is Rick Peterson, president of All-West Fasteners in Seattle. _________________________________________ WASHINGTON — Starts of single-family homes in the United States fell in October to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 884,000 units, the lowest they’ve been in 16 years. Builders across the country point the finger at negative media coverage as a reason why buyers are sitting on the fence. But they also continue to offer discounts and incentives to spur buying, which some industry watchers say has only encouraged buyers to wait for better deals. _________________________________________ WEINHEIM, GERMANY — Freudenberg Haushaltsprodukte KG has taken over 80% of the shares of family-owned S. Marino Manufacturing Ltd., makers of Marino and Gladiator professional cleaning systems headquartered in Toronto. The company, founded in 1967, employs a staff of 63, and has sales of $25 million in the current fiscal year. The family will retain a 20% share and will remain active in the company. The two companies have worked together since 2003 in the North American market, as Marino is the sole distributor in Canada and USA for professional cleaning equipment of the Freudenberg brands Vileda, Ileda Professional, Swep and Wettex. |
| People on the move |
| Robert Anthony, formerly with Canadian Tire, has moved into the newly-created position of director of sales for Trademark Tools. (905-532-0442) |
| Economic Indicators |
| Retail sales at home furnishings stores rose 0.9% in September, while home centres and hardware stores gained 0.1% and specialized building material and garden stores dipped by -0.1%. (StatsCan) 3Q sales in the building materials and outdoor home supplies stores sector rose 1.7%, continuing a trend that has been uninterrupted since 1Q 2004.(StatsCan) |
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Beverly Allen, Publisher Vicky Sanderson, Editor John Caulfield, Contributing Editor Phone: 416-489-3396 Email: bev@hardlines.ca |
| November 26, 2007, Vol. xiii, #46 | |
| In This Issue | ||
|
“The weather and love are the two elements about which one can never be sure.” Alice Hoffman, American writer (1952 - ) |
||
| Home Depot launches CFL recycling program | ||
| TORONTO — Home Depot Canada formally launched its compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) recycling program last week with a challenge to Canadian consumers to recycle 1.5 million of them by 2011. Annette Verschuren, president of Home Depot Canada and Asia, made the announcement at the Leaside store here, calling it a bold but achievable goal. “We’re making it easy for Canadians to make environmentally conscious decisions from purchase to disposal,” said Verschuren in a prepared statement.
Recycling units will be located at the entrance by the special services desk of each store. Customers can bring in their used CFL bulbs, place them in a plastic bag and deposit them. The bulbs will be recycled by Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers of Guelph, ON. Philips Lighting Canada will support the program with in store point-of-sale signage and educational material.
Most of the glass from recycled CFLs is made into fibreglass, while the mercury is separated and returned to manufacturers for reuse. Sales of compact fluorescent light bulbs at Home Depot have grown 350% since 2004, and have now overtaken incandescent and halogens.
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| Lowe’s third-quarter profit dips | ||
| MOORESVILLE, NC — Lowe’s Cos. reported a marginal increase in sales and a decline in its net income for the three months ended Nov. 2. The 1,464-unit warehouse retailer generated $11.56 billion in revenue, or a 3.2% increase over the same period a year ago. (The company opened 40 stores during the quarter.) Its quarterly income fell 10.2% to $643 million. Through the first nine months of its fiscal year, Lowe’s sales rose 3.8% to $37.9 billion, but earnings were down 3.65% to $2.4 billion. Lowe’s attributes its financial performance to several factors, including drought conditions in the Southeast and West, as well as “the unstable housing environment.” However, the company claims that it gained market share in the quarter. In the fourth quarter, the retailer expects to open 72 more stores, with store-opening costs at $56 million. It expects sales to increase by around 3% over the same period a year ago, but is looking for better earnings results from a decrease in operating expenses “driven by payroll, incentive compensation, depreciation and other fixed cost de-leverage.” (For the full story on the state of big boxes, and the impact of Lowe’s entry into Canada, read the next issue of Hardlines Quarterly Report. Click here to order.) | ||
| Sears considers acquisition of Restoration Hardware | ||
|
HOFFMAN ESTATES, IL — Sears Holdings, the parent company of the Sears department store and Sears Hardware home-improvement store chains, is said to be considering a purchase of Restoration Hardware, the 100-unit home furnishings and décor chain that only weeks ago agreed to be purchased by the private equity firm Catterton Partners for $267 million. When that deal was announced, Restoration Hardware said it would continue soliciting offers from other bidders through Dec. 13. Sears disclosed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that during its third quarter it had paid $30.2 million to buy 5.3 million of Restoration’s shares of common stock, or 13.7% of its shares outstanding. During its third quarter, Sears Holdings also acquired a $485 million stake in Home Depot, through a hedge fund, ELS Investments, that is controlled by Sears’ chairman Edward Lampert. Initial reaction from shareholders to Sears’ move on Restoration Hardware, though, wasn’t positive, as Sears’ stock price fell by 2%, to $111.88 per share, on the day its purchases were disclosed. “Eddie Lampert needs to focus on fixing Sears,” Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York-based retail consultancy Davidowitz & Associates Inc., told Crain’s Chicago Business magazine. “The last thing he needs is a diversion, and this is a diversion.” Top |
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| Chinese Hardware Show attracts international attention | ||
|
SHANGHAI — The China International Hardware Show, which took place here Oct. 23-25, saw a 7.2% increase in visitors.
|
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| Pope & Talbot files bankruptcy in the U.S. | ||
| VANCOUVER — After filing for bankruptcy here three weeks ago, forest products supplier Pope & Talbot has now filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. A sale of three of its mills to International Forest Products (Interfor) for US$69 million apparently helped prevent the company from being forced to liquidate its assets, according to the Portland Business Journal. The deal with Interfor, which is subject to U.S. and Canadian court approval, would increase Interfor’s lumber capacity by approximately 580 million board feet per year to approximately 1.9 billion board feet. The acquisition includes timber tenures representing annual harvesting rights of approximately one million cubic meters in the southern interior of British Columbia. Pope & Talbot continues to operate three other sawmills in British Columbia, and three pulp mills in B.C. and Oregon. It has 2,300 employees. In its latest regulatory filing, the company stated that it had $682 million in assets and $265.4 million. In bankruptcy it will operate using $90 million in debtor-in-possession financing it has secured from lenders. | ||
| Westlake Ace hires first marketing chief | ||
|
WICHITA — Westlake Ace Hardware, one of the largest regional hardware-store chains in the U.S., has named David Patrick as its first chief marketing officer. Patrick has more than 20 years’ experience in advertising and marketing. He’s held management positions at Procter & Gamble and the ad firms J. Walter Thompson, Leo Burnett Worldwide and Kansas City-based Barkley. Most recently, Patrick was first vice-president of marketing for Kansas City-based Beauty Brands Salon Spa Superstore. “David brings to Westlake a thorough understanding of retail marketing and great expertise in brand development,” said George Smith, CEO of the 87-unit Westlake. News of his appointment was first reported in the Kansas City Business Journal. Top |
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Marketplace |
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Sell your company - or buy one - with Hardlines Classifieds!
Do your executive search, find new lines or get new reps in the Hardlines Marketplace.
Only $2.75 per word for three weeks in the classifieds.
To place your ad, call Brady Peever at 416-489-3396 or email: brady@hardlines.ca
|
||
|
To ensure you receive your Hardlines newsletter each week, please add admin@hardlines.ca to your address book.
Did your email system make this newsletter unreadable? You can read it online instead . Publishing Details: Hardlines is published weekly (except monthly in December and August) by HARDLINES Inc. 360 Dupont Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5R 1V9 © 2007 by HARDLINES Inc. HARDLINES™ the electronic newsletter hardlines.ca ; Phone: 416.489.3396; Fax: 416.489.6154 Beverly Allen, Publisher - bev@hardlines.ca Vicky Sanderson - Editor - vicky@hardlines.ca Michael McLarney - President - mike@hardlines.ca Brady Peever - Circulation Manager - brady@hardlines.ca The Hardlines "Fair Play" Policy:Reproduction in whole or in part is very uncool and strictly forbidden and really and truly against the law. So please, play fair! Call for information on multiple subscriptions or a site license for your company. We do want as many people as possible to read Hardlines each week - but let us handle your internal routing from this end! Subscription: $265 (Canadian subscribers add $15.90 GST = $280.90 per year/ GST #13987 0398 RT). Secondary subscriptions at the same office are only $42 (Canadian subscribers add $2.52 GST = $44.52). Ask about our reduced rate for branch offices. You can pay online by VISA/MC/AMEX at our secure website or send us money. Please make cheque payable to Hardlines. |
|
Hardliners – prepare yourselves! The holiday schedule for Hardlines Weekly Newsletter is as follows: no issues on Dec. 10 and 24, 2007, and no issue on Jan. 1, 2008.IMPORTANT NOTICE - Hardlines is moving its World Headquarters to 360 Dupont St., Toronto, ON, M5R 1V9 this week. Our phone number will remain the same (416.489.3396). The move means we will have no access to phones or computers Nov. 26 – 27. Back on the air — bigger and better — on Nov. 28. |
| COMPANIES IN THE NEWS |
| VANCOUVER — RONA and the organizers of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games have partnered with community organizations to launch the RONA Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop, which opened here last week. The shop will oversee construction of the more than 8,000 products that will be required at the venues, including medal podiums, wheelchair ramps, sports racks, signage, warming huts, fencing and commentator positions and more. It will also serve as the site of a 30-week program that provides carpentry skills training and job experience to unemployed young people. _________________________________________ HALIFAX — Clarke Inc., an investment company based here, has bought the Canadian division of Spectrum Brand’s Home & Garden business, which used to operate under the name Nu-Gro and has annual sales of approximately $100 million in fertilizer, grass seed, and ice melt. Under the name Sure-Gro, it now sells such brand names as CIL, Wilson and Alaskan Ice Melter. _________________________________________ TORONTO — Canadian Tire Retail and the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade and Ministry of Small Business and Entrepreneurship hosted 50 Ontario manufacturers at a jointly-sponsored “Spirit of Innovation” seminar here last week. The networking event was intended to bring industrial and product design experts, provincial business and trade representatives, and Canadian Tire innovation specialists and product buyers, together with Ontario manufacturers to share insights on how to develop new and innovative products. _________________________________________ MONTREAL — Tembec’s consolidated sales for the fourth quarter were $675 million, down from $781 million in the comparable period last year. Net earnings were $22 million, compared to a net loss of $52 million for the same quarter last year – due mostly to a gain on translation of foreign debt. _________________________________________ SHERBROOKE — Jeffrey Casselman has resigned as president and CEO of Shermag Inc., which makes and markets residential furniture. Last week, Hardlines reported that Shermag saw 2Q revenue drop 40% to $27.2 million, down $45.5 million from the corresponding period last year. _________________________________________ INDIANAPOLIS — 3M will acquire Aearo Technologies Inc., which manufactures and markets personal protection and energy absorbing products. The company, which is owned by private equity firm Permira, will be sold for $1.2 billion. Aearo will expand 3M's occupational health and environmental safety platform by adding hearing protection, eyewear and fall protection product lines to 3M's existing line of respiratory products, and gives it access to industrial, military and construction customers, as well as the consumer market. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008. _________________________________________ BRAMPTON, ON — Tandus, a North American floor covering manufacturer headquartered in Dalton, GA, and Shnier, a Brampton-based North American floor covering company that sells proprietary flooring products, have formed a partnership. Under the agreement, Schnier will become the exclusive marketer, seller and logistics provider for residential products marketed under the Crossley At Home brand. _________________________________________ NASHVILLE — The Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Association’s annual convention and trade show, held here earlier this month, brought 5,600 attendees. The meeting came just after Greg Drouillard, of Target Building Materials in Windsor, ON, finished his term as president. Incoming president is Rick Peterson, president of All-West Fasteners in Seattle. _________________________________________ WASHINGTON — Starts of single-family homes in the United States fell in October to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 884,000 units, the lowest they’ve been in 16 years. Builders across the country point the finger at negative media coverage as a reason why buyers are sitting on the fence. But they also continue to offer discounts and incentives to spur buying, which some industry watchers say has only encouraged buyers to wait for better deals. _________________________________________ WEINHEIM, GERMANY — Freudenberg Haushaltsprodukte KG has taken over 80% of the shares of family-owned S. Marino Manufacturing Ltd., makers of Marino and Gladiator professional cleaning systems headquartered in Toronto. The company, founded in 1967, employs a staff of 63, and has sales of $25 million in the current fiscal year. The family will retain a 20% share and will remain active in the company. The two companies have worked together since 2003 in the North American market, as Marino is the sole distributor in Canada and USA for professional cleaning equipment of the Freudenberg brands Vileda, Ileda Professional, Swep and Wettex. |
| People on the move |
| Robert Anthony, formerly with Canadian Tire, has moved into the newly-created position of director of sales for Trademark Tools. (905-532-0442) |
| Economic Indicators |
| Retail sales at home furnishings stores rose 0.9% in September, while home centres and hardware stores gained 0.1% and specialized building material and garden stores dipped by -0.1%. (StatsCan) 3Q sales in the building materials and outdoor home supplies stores sector rose 1.7%, continuing a trend that has been uninterrupted since 1Q 2004.(StatsCan) |
The hardware, home improvement and gardening trade fair attracted nearly 32,650 visitors, compared to 30,500 in 2006. Attendees from North America accounted for the largest contingent from abroad, followed by Japanese and German visitors. There was also a strong turnout from Korea and Spain. The biggest increases were in the numbers of visitors from Canada, Israel, Venezuela, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Chile. 