| Réno-Dépôt, Sodisco-Howden Group, Groupe BMR, and more!
Don't miss our next "Meet the Buyers" Breakfast Seminar. This one will be in Montréal on October 18. Click here or call Nancy at 416-489-3396 for more details!!! |
| UFA EXPANDS ACE HARDWARE PROGRAM |
|
Calgary, AB - Ace Hardware Canada continues to roll out a supply arrangement to outfit stores belonging to United Farmers of Alberta. The program, which was introduced in the Spring of this year, is currently in six of the farm co-op's 34 outlets, with new conversions occurring at a rate of about one every three weeks.
"We're very careful with the conversion," says Barry Hofstetter, head buyer at UFA. "We want to make sure it's effective, so whole sections are being changed at a time. Let's do the whole hardware section, or the whole tool section at a time," he explains.
UFA serves 106,000 active members through its 34 retail outlets, and through more than 120 petroleum and fuel cardlock outlets located throughout the province, as well as in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
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| RONA RATIONALIZES FLIER PROGRAMS |
| Toronto, ON - Rona Inc. has lined up flier programs for its Ontario LBM divisions to reduce costs and improve merchandising. Rona Lansing and Rona Cashway, along with Rona Building Centre, the banner under which new independent home improvement dealers operate, will share a common flier in an effort to reduce costs.
The advertising initiative becomes possible following the remerchandising of the Ontario stores to reflect programs and brands now supplied out of Rona's main warehouse in Boucherville, QC. Lansing, along with the former Revy stores, had been getting product out of the distribution centre in Surrey, BC which Rona took over upon the purchase of Revy back in June 2001. The result is simplification of everything from buying to merchandising, says Rob Wilbrink, vice-president operations and development for Rona Ontario.
The fliers will share products on the hardware side, while certain brands, especially in building materials and paint, are still not common to Cashway and Lansing, Wilbrink says. |
| HOME SAFETY IS HOME DEPOT'S LATEST CATEGORY FOCUS |
| Atlanta, GA & Toronto, ON - Home Depot is launching an initiative in all its stores to educate customers about safety and security. The initiative is tied in with merchandising of related products and tools, along with safety and healthy-living checklists, under two in-store banners.
The "Home Safety Zone" will feature products and information on how to protect the home against fire, carbon monoxide and intrusion. Products include fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, entry alarms, security lighting and other related items. The "Healthy Home Zone" focuses on creating a cleaner indoor environment, with featured products such as thermostats, air purifiers, dehumidifiers and water filtration products.
In Canada, the program kicked off with a safety awareness event on October 5. Working in conjunction with Child Find and the Canadian Red Cross, a free child identification and safety clinic was held in all Home Depot stores across Canada on the weekend. Parents could pick up a colour photograph of their child, receive a free parent's identification and participate in various entertainment activities. |
| HARDLINES CONFERENCE SERIES FOLLOWUP |
| Mark your calendars: Next year's Hardlines Conference Series will be held September 3-4, 2003. If you're still kicking yourself for missing this year's amazing event, be sure and schedule in next year's dates now!!!
(My thanks to everyone who found time in their busy schedules to attend this year's Conference Series. And my thanks to our sponsors. Click here to see the conference notes.- Michael) |
| COMPANY |
52-WEEK HIGH |
52-WEEK LOW |
CLOSE (FRI.) |
| Canadian Tire |
33.15 |
21.31 |
28.62 |
| Canfor |
11.70 |
7.72 |
8.00 |
| Emco |
12.77 |
4.20 |
11.50 |
| Goodfellow |
13.99 |
8.00 |
12.20 |
| Home Depot |
52.60 |
24.45 |
25.80 |
| Hudson's Bay |
16.65 |
6.45 |
6.70 |
| Lowe's Cos. |
49.99 |
30.23 |
39.86 |
| Sears Canada |
25.10 |
13.03 |
17.35 |
| Sodisco-Howden |
2.20 |
0.75 |
1.40 |
| Taiga Forest |
7.00 |
4.20 |
6.15 |
| West Fraser |
44.42 |
26.14 |
29.26 |
|
|
|
| COMPANIES IN THE NEWS |
| Canadian Tire Corp. expects its retail sales to reach $5.6 billion this year and $5.9 billion in 2003. By the end of 2005, the company anticipates total annual retail sales will exceed $9 billion.
Blaming the brutal costs of the U.S. softwood lumber penalties, International Forest Products will relocate its McDonald cedar facility to Sumas, WA in the Fall. The plant, located in Fort Langley, BC, was to be relocated later this year.
Wal-Mart Stores plans to add about 48 million sq.ft. of new retail space next year, an increase of more than 8%. In the U.S., Wal-Mart will open about 45-55 new discount stores and 200-210 new Supercenters next year (Wal-Mart's fiscal year begins Feb. 1). The retailer will open 20-25 smaller Neighborhood Market stores and 40-45 Sam's Club stores. It will also build three new regional distribution centres and six food distribution centres next year. In Canada, Wal-Mart has just opened four new stores: a second location in Moncton, NB and the relocation of its Etobicoke, ON store in Toronto's west end; a new store has gone into Woodstock, ON, while a smaller 63,000-sq.ft. location has been erected in Brooks, AB. The openings bring the company's store count in Canada to 201.
Home Depot has opened its tenth store in Mexico, this one in Tijuana. It entered the Mexican market in June 2001 with the acquisition of Total Home, and bought another chain, Del Norte, in the Spring of this year. Home Depot intends to open two more stores in Mexico before the end of the year.
Tembec has announced it will cut back production at its Mattawa, ON sawmill, affecting 64 direct jobs. The move is a result of the heavy softwood lumber penalties imposed by the U.S., coupled with a weak lumber market.
For the second quarter ended August 31, MAAX Inc.'s profitability increased 35.9% with net income of $9.9 million, up from $7.3 million a year earlier. Sales were up 11.5% to $147.2 million, from $132.1 million. For the first half of the year, net income rose 40.1% to $20.7 million.
Canadian Forest Products Ltd. has achieved certification of some of its B.C. forest operations to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, representing the largest such certification in Canada. The operations include 3.18 million hectares in Prince George and Quesnel, and 180,000 hectares in Canfor's tree farm licence near Prince George. The certification follows a successful third-party audit by KPMG Performance Registrar Inc. |
| PEOPLE ON THE MOVE |
| Patrick Hamill, president and CEO of Taiga Forest Products, retired last week. He was replaced by Arkadi Bykhovsky, a 25-year forest industry veteran, who has held executive positions at Noranda Forest, Norbord Industries and Hunter Timber Group. He was most recently president and CEO of Vi-Lux Plastics. (604-438-1471) |
| NOTED… |
| The Western Retail Lumbermens Association will host its 10th Prairie Showcase at Prairieland Park in Saskatoon January 17-18, 2003. The event has grown from 77 exhibitors at its inception to almost 200 companies in 450 booths this time. For more info, call Judy Mowatt, WRLA, 800-661-0253, ext. 2.
The Women's Consumer Products Network will host its Annual Connections Conference on October 17 at Lionhead Golf & Country Club in Mississauga, ON. Registration and breakfast will begin at 7:30 a.m., followed by a morning of powerful speakers and an afternoon of lunch, networking and golf. Click here for more details. |
| MARKET INDICATORS |
| Manufacturing led the way for growth in the Canadian economy in July, as the country's gross domestic product grew a healthy 4.0%. While housing sales slowed, new housing construction remained healthy.
Described as "sluggish and stagnant," manufacturing in the U.S. slowed in September. According to the Institute for Supply Management's index of business activity, activity declined to 49.5 from 50.5 in August. Analysts had expected it to come in at 51. |
|
****HARDLINES MARKETPLACE****
Check out Hardlines Classifieds on the web:
https://hardlines.ca/html/classifieds_new.asp
HELP WANTED
INVITATION FOR OFFERS TO PURCHASE ASSETS OF THE VSTEP COMPANY INC.
SF Partners Inc., in its capacity as Receiver of The VStep Company Inc. invites written offers to purchase the Receiver’s right, title and interest in the company’s assets, including : patents, inventory and tool and die.
The VStep is a galvanized steel bracket used to build stairs for the “Do it yourself Market”.
Written offers must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, October 21, 2002.
The highest offer will not necessarily be accepted.
Interested parties should contact Angie Seruga-Baron at (416) 250-1212 to obtain more information.
SF PARTNERS INC., Receivers & Trustees
400-4950 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M2N 6K1
Telephone: (416) 250-1212, Facsimile: (416) 250-5083
HARDWOOD PLYWOOD SALES MANAGER
Longlac Wood Industries Inc., a wholly owned division of Kruger Inc. (www.kruger.com), is seeking a top notch Hardwood Plywood Sales Manager. We are looking to locate a candidate with a proven background in leading and developing a superior sales organization. A person with the sales passion who would thrive on the challenge of keeping ahead of the growth and expansion planned for our company. This person needs to have a keen sense of how to sell unique and value added products. An individual that can effectively translate our product portfolio into distinct market benefits. He/she should be able to visualize where this dynamic plywood industry is headed and what the Longlac Wood Industries sales organization needs to become in order to be optimally positioned.
Longlac is in process of re-inventing itself to better serve our customers and end-users product and service needs. We have an excellent reputation for our veneer core and Multi-Core products. But we need to do better. An example of what we have done on our OSB side our business can be seen at www.dricore.com. We are planning to create the same kind of value add magic in plywood.
Please reply in total confidence to Sam Mowat, General Manager Sales & Marketing, Longlac Wood Industries Inc. (905) 403 0425 x 224 or by e-mail at smowat@ll.kruger.com . Come help make it happen.
************************************************************************************
AGENTS WANTED
Polar Distribution is rapidly growing and we are looking for agents throughout Canada for retail, wholesale, OEM and contractor. Please visit our website at www.polardistribution.com .
If interested please forward your current lines in strictest confidence to dynamics@rogers.com
************************************************************************************
CATEGORY ANALYST
Are you a numbers cruncher with people skills? That is what's required for our client, a leader in their category, with recognized consumer brands. You'll support the Major Account Managers through analytic projects and presentation development. A key member of the team, you'll assist in partnerships with key retailers by utilizing fact based selling/category management resources such as POS data analysis of key retail performance. Disseminating this information for the company's sales and senior management team and producing plan-o-grams are also important position components.
You offer a successful background in space management and category analysis utilizing strong analytical, communication and presentation skills, preferably demonstrated in a cross-functional team environment. Understanding of database concepts and reports design is required, in addition to your skills in software applications such as Excel, PowerPoint and Access. SAP exposure also an asset. A business/marketing degree is highly preferred.
Looking to help a company continue its marketing sophistication level? Please contact Wolf Gugler in complete confidence, quoting file # C-18. Wolf Gugler & Associates Limited. 1370 Don Mills Road, Suite 300, North York, Ontario M3B 3N7. Phone; 416-386-1719. Email: resumes@wolfgugler.com Web site: www.wolfgugler.com
************************************************************************************
SERVICES OFFERED
PACE CENTRAL: THE LEADING TECHNOLOGY FOR FACTORY AND AGENCY MERCHANDISERS.
· Gain Accountability; Improve Execution
· Reduce Costs; Improve Efficiencies
· Seamless Communications - Schedules, Calendars, email
· All information available on-line, all the time
· Merchandisers use state-of-the-art Pocket PC's
Visit www.pacecentral.com and contact Bryant Maude at 678.264.2403 or bmaude@enfoTrust.com to schedule your on-line demonstration. 
***********************************************************************************
NORAL INSTORE:
Don’t leave your products’ display management
to chance! Let Noral Instore take care
of your instore merchandising.
Visit http://www.noralmarketing.com
or call Al Vanderveen at 519-439-6800 ext. 201
**********************************************************************************
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 $18 PER LINE FOR THREE WEEKS!
TO PLACE YOUR AD, CALL US AT 416-489-3396 OR EMAIL: bev@hardlines.ca
|
vol. viii, #37 October 7, 2002