ST. JACOBS, Ont. & RED DEER, Alta. — Home Hardware held its 2020 Virtual Fall Market from September 13 to 23. Dealers and store staff could view presentations, while suppliers showcased their products on a digital platform.

But they weren’t alone. Peavey Industries held its first online market for its Ace dealers last week. According to Scott Bennett, senior vice president of merchandising, the event was well received over the two days it was held, attracting Ace dealers from across the country to connect with more than 150 vendors. The platform will remain open until October 13 for dealers to finish placing orders.

Meanwhile, BMR Group is hosting its dealer market online beginning today and running until October 9. It replaces the traditional live show that is historically held the first week of November in Quebec City. The company has moved up the date as it intends to roll out its new Solstice ERP system next month.

Lowe’s Canada says this year’s RONA buying show will be held exclusively online. It’s open to all RONA affiliated dealers and is expected to showcase about 250 vendors. It starts October 19 and will last until November 27.

The model appears to be working. Both Home Hardware and Peavey expressed satisfaction with the virtual buying process. “We are thrilled with the success of our 2020 Virtual Fall Market, which built on the experience and capabilities of our inaugural virtual market held in the spring,” said Home Hardware President and CEO Kevin Macnab. “Our enhanced platform allowed us to deliver engaging presentations in our virtual auditorium and host an interactive tradeshow, providing dealers with an even better market experience.”

For Peavey, Bennett said his team learned a lot from the online Ace show. Dealers had access to the senior executives at Peavey, as well as the entire merchandising team over the two days. He expects the company will build on what they’ve learned to better connect dealers and vendors in the future.

BOLTON, Ont. — Less than two months into his tenure at the helm of TORBSA, Paul Williams is already busy making good on his pledge to focus on dealer recruitment and vendor relations. Those objectives feed into each other as Williams is able to draw on his Rolodex to build relationships on both sides of the business.

“Our plan short-term and long-term is to grow the membership. I come from the vendor community and I have a lot of contacts on that side,” he says. “Whether it’s from dealers who aren’t with a group currently or dealers who are with a competitor, growth is the goal.”

In September, the buying group announced it was welcoming A Line Acoustic Supply, a distributor of drywall, ceiling and insulation products from outside Toronto. Later in the month, Rehill Building Supplies (shown here), a Peterborough, Ont., masonry specialist dating back to the 1870s, followed suit.

Those expansions followed the July announcement that Matériaux de Construction Létourneau, with locations in Waterville and Sherbrooke, Que., was joining TORBSA, growing the buying group’s footprint outside its Ontario base.

Williams says that the group’s transparency and low overheard are key to its appeal to dealers. “We do full financial audits at the end of the year that we give back to our shareholder-dealers so nothing is a secret,” he explains. “All our programs with our vendors are negotiated with our shareholders so … in terms of rebates, we don’t hide anything.”

“We have a lean team in Bolton,” he adds. “We don’t hire anyone who would be unnecessary, for marketing reasons or to have bells and whistles. Costs are low in order to put dollars back in dealers’ pockets.”

That cautious and strategic approach extends to dealer recruitment. Williams says that building trust with prospective recruits takes time and constant communication.

“I’ve been on the job for eight weeks and had no less than 16 or 17 discussions with dealers across the country. It’s always ongoing.”

LAVAL, Que. — A national merchandising agency based in the Montreal area is adding services to help its vendor customers deal more effectively with the challenges of the current COVID-19 pandemic. RDTS has begun surveying those vendors to get an indication of how the pandemic is affecting business. In mid-August, the company asked how vendors have been impacted.

While retail has been strong across the country, the results from the supply side were surprisingly mixed. Almost one-third saw sales increase during the crisis, while 29 percent said it had “no impact.” Yet fully 40 percent reported a decrease in sales, reflecting just how deeply the effects of the pandemic are being felt.

RDTS President Robert Di Tomasso says sales have certainly increased for a range of vendors, but some did not benefit from the surge in lockdown-inspired DIY that has supported most home improvement retailers through the past six months.

The current DIY boom started with paint and decorating projects, with those vendors reporting record increases—and empty warehouses. When people moved outdoors to begin landscaping and patio projects, related suppliers of these products saw similar gains.

However, product demand has been shifting, says Di Tomasso. “Plumbing and electrical categories did not enjoy as much sales growth, as contractors who drive these categories could not work on residential jobs for three months.”

Looking ahead, the survey asked when vendors expect a return to normal conditions. Almost 10 percent saw it happening right now, with one-fifth (21 percent) anticipating a return by year’s end. However, two-thirds said a recovery will take until 2021 to occur. An even more sobering outlook was reported by eight percent of respondents, who said business will never be like before.

RDTS is planning a second survey in coming weeks, reflecting the effects of a second wave now being felt in some parts of the country. “We will continue to survey the industry on a regular basis and collect more intimate data,” he says. “It helps us better understand the consumers, but also the changes occurring quickly in consumer behaviour, as well as retail offerings and product categories,” says Di Tomasso.

“We want to keep close to our customers with retail insights and marketing intelligence.”

ATLANTA — Over the past decade, Home Depot has seen a steady rise in its contractor customer base. Coming out of the global recession of 2008 and 2009, those pro customers got back into Home Depot stores faster than DIYers.

The company has invested heavily in catering to pros in recent years. But coming through the current COVID-19 pandemic, Home Depot, like so many home improvement retailers, has seen a surge in retail traffic. Speaking recently at an investment conference in the U.S., Chairman, President and CEO Craig Menear said he estimates pro business for Home Depot at about $60 billion, or 54 percent of overall sales. But he notes that DIY has been leading the charge in recent months.

This remains good news, Menear says. Despite the rise of the pro in recent years, he says he doesn’t want the company to lose sight of the DIY customer base upon which Home Depot was built.

During COVID, he says, sales increased by double digits in 13 of the retailer’s 14 categories. Plumbing was the one category that fell short. Although sales here were in the high single digits, plumbing suffered overall as the installation business fell off and these types of contractor jobs were put on hold.

DIY projects that gained momentum in recent months included lawn and garden as well as paint and décor. And even though lockdowns have helped accelerate DIY sales, the company is also seeing the millennial generation begin to embrace a more do-it-yourself attitude.

The Home Depot Canada is experiencing a similar trend. “We recognize that through COVID-19, both our Canadian consumers and pros have faced unique challenges, but engagement remained high through both segments,” says a company spokesperson. “Many millennials are tackling DIY projects or renos for the first time, while we’re also seeing more mature shoppers purchasing online for the first time.”

Giant Tiger Stores has appointed 17-year company veteran Paul Wood to take over as CEO from founder Gordon Reid, as conditions for the discount goods market heat up during the pandemic. Wood says the company will continue to look for expansion opportunities in new markets.

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BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Lowe’s Canada is recruiting to fill more than 625 full-time and part-time positions in its RONA and Reno-Depot corporate stores in Quebec. About 30 positions are also available at the Boucherville distribution centre. Available positions include sales specialists, lumberyard associates, department managers, cashiers, stockers and customer service assistants.

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — RONA Weyburn is celebrating its grand opening under dealer-owner Jeff Chessall. The store, which is near the Saskatchewan-North Dakota border, now boasts a 10,000-square-foot sales area, a 25,000-square-foot outdoor lumberyard and a 3,000-square-foot garden centre.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale Corp. reported Q4 earnings rose by 16.36 percent to $3.13 per share. Revenues of $53.38 billion were up 12.39 percent. For the fiscal year, net income came to $4 billion, compared to $3.66 billion. In Canada, comp sales rose by 9.1 percent for the quarter and five percent during fiscal 2020.

SUPPLIER NEWS

DELTA, B.C. — Regal ideas is partnering with Melville, N.Y.-based Sherwood Lumber for the distribution of Regal’s outdoor living products in the U.S. Northeast. Sherwood Lumber will stock Regal ideas products in its DCs and offer the manufacturer’s complete line of products.

QUEBEC CITY — Building trades have been spared as Montreal and Quebec City enter a “red zone.” These Quebec regions, as well as Chaudière-Appalaches, which have all entered the highest level of provincial public health measures, won’t see restrictions re-introduced on construction sites. The province’s initial lockdown measures saw jobsites left in limbo from March 25 to May 10. The regional “red alert” saw restaurants and bars close October 1, even though most other businesses remain open.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Sales of new U.S. homes rose by 4.8 percent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.011 million units. It’s the highest level those sales have reached since September 2006. (U.S. Commerce Dept.)

NOTED

The U.S. government is taking criticism for wanting to appeal the World Trade Organization’s latest ruling on the softwood lumber dispute, even as it has worked to delegitimize the agency’s appeals body. Currently, the WTO lacks a quorum of judges, as the U.S. has vetoed the appointment of replacements for retiring incumbents in protest at what it sees as the body’s overreach. The Canadian government has hit back at the apparent contradiction in the U.S. seeking recourse to a body it decries as unfair.

OVERHEARD...

“We’re really not set up for new construction. We have homebuilders that shop at the Home Depot. But that is not what we are really set up to do. We really don’t cater to new construction. We couldn’t put together a lumber package to save our life. That’s just not our forte. We don’t have the space in our stores to be able to do that. That’s just not who we are.”
—Craig Menear, chairman, president and CEO of the Home Depot. He spoke recently at an investment conference about the importance of the pro customer.