WORLD HQ, Toronto — Big brands will stand out at this year’s Hardlines Conference, with speakers from some of North America’s leading home improvement chains.

Fred Pennell joined Princess Auto in March 2016 as vice president of its merchandising operations. Headquartered in Winnipeg, Princess Auto is a true Canadian success story—a family-owned company with 46 stores and growing from coast to coast.

Tanbir Grover is Lowe’s Canada’s Vice-President, eCommerce and Omnichannel. A few years ago, Lowe’s Canada embarked on an ambitious journey that would bring its entire Canadian retail network and multiple banners to the next level in its digital strategy. Tanbir will describe this digital transformation, its execution within a unique context and how the company seeks to provide a frictionless shopping experience.

John Hartmann, President, CEO & Executive Director of True Value Company, will address how returning the majority of its members’ equity has offered True Value retailers the opportunity to invest in their business as they know best and how a new company structure has enabled True Value to accelerate strategic investments without cutting into retailers’ profits. Claudie Gervais is the Marketing Director – Promotional Strategy and Business Intelligence for BMR Group. In 2017, BMR launched a major project: the segmentation of its banners. These banners have been customized to reflect the reality of each dealer, their specific expertise and their own differentiation. Claudie will outline how BMR created these three new store concepts, which are designed to suit the needs of Canadians and members of its diverse dealer network.

As Canada’s only truly national event bringing the entire hardware and home improvement industry together, the Hardlines Conference offers an incredible opportunity for delegates to meet industry colleagues and customers in a professional yet casual setting. It will be held November 13 to 14 at the Kingbridge Centre, an incredible corporate retreat that will be a perfect backdrop to this year’s Hardlines Conference, which is “all about the experience”.

(Click here now for a list of all our speakers and to register for the conference!)

ST. JACOBS, Ont. ― New rules are being put in place to tighten—and strengthen—the relationship between Home Hardware and its vendor base. Much of this new reality was laid out during the company’s latest dealer market, held last month.

Under President and CEO Kevin Macnab, the changes planned for the company aren’t restricted to vendors. Home Hardware is also looking to strengthen its connection with its dealers, ensuring they all conform to the metrics that define the Home Hardware brand.

Even as he undertakes these changes, Macnab faces the need to stay true to a corporate culture that is deep and runs right back to the vision of Home Hardware’s co-founder, Walter Hachborn. Although Hachborn retired in 1988, he retained the title of president until 2010 and remained a familiar face at the company’s dealer markets almost until his death in 2016. Macnab took over as the fourth CEO in the company's history in October 2018.

So keeping the dealers privy to innovations, as provided through partnerships with those vendors, will be key to setting the retailer apart, while remaining true to the company’s vision and sense of culture, says Macnab.

Innovations can become a brand, he told Hardlines, so the company won’t turn away from exclusivity with vendors to provide new products that can tie each store in more closely with its market. “Our strength is our dealer-owners in our local communities.”

That means providing consistent programs to the dealers that they will adopt consistently, to create differentiation for them. “We are committed to make talent and culture a competitive advantage.”

Macnab says he’s pleased with the progress so far. “But we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us,” he adds. As for getting dealers to buy into the changes, the process requires staying close with them and educating them about the direction of Home Hardware. He notes that dealers are keen for the new direction. “We’re getting strong dealer support.”

OTTAWA ― After a three-year battle, Home Depot Canada has finally complied with a court order issued on behalf of Canada Revenue Agency to disclose the retailer’s list of customers using its commercial credit card program. In an effort to crack down on the underground economy, the CRA is targeting contractors to determine who is being paid under the table.

Home Depot Canada is the last holdout among home improvement retailers that were instructed to comply. The campaign started three years ago, and in August 2017, RONA was a holdout, as well, taking its fight to the Supreme Court to resist the CRA’s demand for a list of its commercial clients.

The Canada Revenue Agency wants to verify that purchases made by contractors from various home improvement dealers match their tax declarations. Other retailers, including BMR and Patrick Morin, agreed to provide similar lists early on.

According to a report by StatCan, the underground economy in Canada was estimated at $51.6 billion in 2016, or 2.5% of GDP. In 2016, three industries together accounted for more than half of underground economic activity: residential construction (26.6%), retail trade (13.5%) and undeclared tips among workers in accommodation and food services (12.1%).

In the past, federal tax credits played an important role in eliminating some of the underground economy. Following the worldwide recession a decade ago, the feds instituted a tax credit for home repairs and renovations. Homeowners could get back 15% of eligible expenditures on home renovations between $1,000 and $10,000 made during the 2009 tax year.

With the federal election looming, one candidate, Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer, has included a renovation tax credit in his platform. His proposed Green Home Renovation Tax Credit is a two-year program to encourage homeowners to renovate their homes in ways that lower their power bills and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

TORONTO — The sale of Party City’s Canadian retail business to Canadian Tire Corp. has been finalized, the companies announced at the beginning of the month. And it marks Canadian Tire’s serious entry into a new niche that targets birthdays, anniversaries and other life events at a personal level.

In addition to taking over the 65 retail stores, Canadian Tire will make a selection of Party City offerings available through its namesake banner both online and in-store—either through dedicated aisles or a store-within-a-store format.

The addition of Party City also complements Canadian Tire’s seasonal offerings with its established specialty in “micro-seasonal” categories—significant life celebrations that can occur throughout the year. EVP Allan MacDonald told analysts in August that the party supplies market in Canada is worth nearly $2 billion and “it’s actually quite fragmented.” In closing the transaction, he said, “we’ll consolidate two significant players and immediately become the number-one party supply retailer in Canada.”

Under the terms of the $174 million all-cash transaction, Canadian Tire gains all 65 of Party City’s retail stores, while Party City Holdco will use the proceeds to offset debt. At the same time, the companies reached a wholesale supply agreement which will see Amscan Inc., Party City’s wholesale business, furnish Canadian Tire with consumer products for at least 10 years.

The deal was a watershed for Canadian Tire’s Triangle Rewards program as the company seeks to make the most of its Triangle data while unifying its banners. “We’ve been looking at the party supply category for a while now and we’ve been putting our data to work,” MacDonald told analysts, adding, “Party City customers skew younger and spend 60% more at Canadian Tire than our average Triangle Rewards member each year.”