HARDLINES™
Five years serving Canada's home improvement industry
November 27, 2000 - Volume vi, #45
Michael
McLarney,
Editor & Publisher
Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154
E-mail: buzz@hardlinesfax.com
Check out our incredible Classifieds
section!
* * * * * *
* Canadian
Tire launches online shopping
* TSC
gets new owners
* Eatons
relaunches in seven cities
* Home
Depot continues to forecast strong year-end
results
* * * * * *IT'S HERE
AT LAST! EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE RETAIL HOME
IMPROVEMENT MARKET IN CANADA: The Hardlines Industry Report: Home
Improvement Retailing in Canada is almost ready to ship! This
incredible book is a comprehensive overview of the size of the
market, how many stores are out there, who the key players are, their
market position, the size and growth of the big boxes, the trends in
housing and renovations, market trends ¯ and much, much more!
120-plus pages filled with charts, graphs and photos. Regular price:
$945, but only $750 for subscribers. But call Bev right away for more
details because she's cooked up some kind of additional price special
if your order Before December 31!!!* * * * *
*THE
HARDLINES SHOW BREAKFAST AT CHS: Mark February 4, 2001 on your
calendar. That's the date of our Sixth Annual FREE Hardlines
Breakfast at the Canadian Hardware and Building Materials Show, held
exclusively for Hardlines subscribers and friends! (Yes, I know, it's
very, very early in the morning, but there's no better way to kick
off the Show!) - Michael* * * * *
*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.CANADIAN TIRE GETS ONLINE IN TIME FOR
CHRISTMASCanadian
Tire Corp. got into the online shopping game last week just in time
for the Christmas season. And that gift market, says CEO Wayne Sales,
is the one being targetted, at least for now, by the company that
already has the bricks and mortar within 15 minutes of 91% of
Canadians.But Sales
also anticipates that online browsers will be drawn into the stores
themselves to make the final purchase. "For every dollar spent
online, another seven dollars will be spent in the store," was the
mantra of a press conference Sales appeared at last week ¯ and a
large part of the argument that convinced the dealers themselves to
get onside ¯ and help pay for ¯ the online
initiative.The need to
gain dealer support was considered one of the road blocks to CTC 's
e-retailing initiative, but Sales pointed out that the time is now
right as Canadians have displayed their desire to "shop Canadian"
online. He pointed out that 59% of Canadians have recently made a
purchase online, while 89% said they have looked for a Canadian
website when shopping.The company
spent upwards of $15 million researching online strategies before
this year, admitted Sales. The final strategy cost $21 million in
total to implement, he said. While no profit targets were disclosed,
he considers the project a long-term one, expecting that up to 4-5%
of Canadian Tire's sales, or $200 million, will be realized
online.Mark Foote,
president of Canadian Tire Retail, said promotion of the online
shopping site will be tied into existing "bricks and mortar"
advertising. Cross-promotions and sponsorships with other Internet
sites will also be developed, including Canoe and TSN Online. "It's
important to guard the brand and the trust Canadians have placed in
the Canadian Tire name," he said.About 5,500
products have been put online initially. The emphasis will be on
seasonal, starting with Christmas, and Foote said shoppers will be
able to find more of these types of products online than in the
stores. Fulfilment has been outsourced to a third-party distributor,
Kuhne & Nagle, that has warehousing of its own close to CTC's
Brampton distribution centre. Deliveries will be made using either
Purolator for 1-2 day delivery or Canada Post Express Ship for 3-5
day delivery.Foote was
asked what costs for the site would be transferred to the vendors.
However, he declined to comment. A number of vendors report that they
are "just waiting" to find out what charges, if any, will be passed
on to them.The site is
cleverly designed, making it easy for browsers to shop by their
choice of project, product category, gift idea or by price (ie.,
"Gifts under $10, Gifts under 25", etc.). Each section presents
detailed product specs and includes "featured products." Shoppers can
even get their orders giftwrapped for an additional $5.* * * * *
*TSC
STORES SOLD TO MANAGEMENTOntario farm
and hardware chain TSC Stores has been sold to senior management.
Co-owners Murray Cummings and David Street, president and
vice-president respectively, have been involved in the company for
about three decades, and owned it for the past 14 years. Originally
tied to Tractor Supply in the U.S., the company is completely
unaffiliated now, except for membership in the Mutual buying
group.Under
Cummings and Street, London, ON-based TSC has grown to 17 stores
throughout Central Ontario and 1999 sales of $60 million. Cummings
will stay on until December 22, while Street will remain in a
buying/consulting capacity for an undetermined time.have passed
the company along to Roy Carter, vice-president, finance and
administration, who takes over the president's role. John Kropp,
formerly controller, has moved into Carter's position, while Gord
Illes has moved from his role as vice-president, store operations to
become vp merchandising."These guys
are intent on taking TSC to the next level," says Street. "They want
to grow it from 17 stores to 25 in the next three years and focus on
getting the warehouse more fully automated."* * * * *
*COMPANIES IN THE NEWSThe Building
Box, Réno-Dépôt's banner in Ontario, will finally
open two stores this Wednesday. One is Cambridge and the other in
Scarborough, ON. The company had originally intended to have four
stores open in the GTA by year's end. I'll have more to report when I
check out the openings. The next two stores are slated to open in
Kitchener and London, ON by next fall.RONA Inc.
reported consolidated sales for the third quarter of $351.7 million,
a 36.8% increase over $257.1 million for the same period in 1999. The
increase was attributed primarily to the growth of RONA's big box
stores and to the acquisition of Cashway Building Centres Ltd. For
the nine month period, consolidated sales totalled $1 billion, up
32.5% over the $762.1 million posted a year earlier. This increase
was due primarily to the acquisition of Cashway in March 2000. Net
earnings for the third quarter were $5 million, an increase of 29.8%
over $3.9 million a year earlier. Net earnings for the first nine
months of the year totalled $15.1 million, up 26.1% over the first
nine months of the previous year.Castle
Building Centres Group has added the following new members: Angileri
Lumber, Amherstburg, ON, Maureen (Mo) Bellefleur; G&H Home
Specialties Inc., Marystown, NF., Gus Baker; Hearst Co-op, Hearst,
ON, Herman Morin; Lakeside Castle Building Centre, Red Deer, AB, Art
Anastasi; Newcastle Floors, Doors & More, Surrey, BC, Brad
Newell; Pickard Lumber & Building Supplies Ltd., Simcoe, ON,
Wally Pickard.Sear's
relaunched Eatons on Saturday with the opening of seven Eatons stores
across Canada. They are located in Toronto, Ottawa, Winnipeg,
Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria represent a total of 2.5 million
sq.ft. While the emphasis is on fashion, there is also an "e home"
environment in all seven stores, that offers merchandise specifically
geared toward the urban consumer. (More on this in a future issue
¯ I'll have to get in and have a peek ¯ MM.)Hudson's Bay
Co. introduced its own online shopping service last week
(www.hbc.com). The site is the online shopping partner of both the
Bay and Zellers, offering a range of products, including home
décor, toys, cosmetics, baby needs, intimate apparel and
gifts. The assortment is based on, but not limited to, the Bay and
Zellers' current in-store offerings and will expand over time. The
online service will take orders from around the world and deliver
across Canada.Home Depot
Inc. remains confident it will have 23%-25% growth in earnings per
share for fiscal 2001. The company also expects to have same-store
sales for fiscal 2001 of 3%-4%. Home Depot's year end is January 31.
It expects to open 2,300 stores by 2004 and 18 Expo stores in fiscal
2001, bringing the total to 44 stores. Home Depot currently operates
1,081 stores worldwide.CANADIAN
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