HomeStars, the online contractor referral service, published its fifth annual Reno Report last week. It revealed that Canadian homeowner respondents reported spending an average of $12,300 on renovations in the past 12 months. That was down from about $13,000—or 5.4 percent—in the 2022 Reno Report.

HomeStars also asked homeowners to predict their anticipated renovation spending over the next 12 months. That number, $10,264, is a significant 14.1 percent decline from the previous year’s average spend.

“Weather-related events” were a major driver of Canadian renovations, the survey said. One-third of responding homeowners had completed emergency repairs because of weather-related events, peaking in Atlantic Canada at 41 percent.

However, homeowners do anticipate some reno activity, according to the survey. One-third intend to postpone planned renovations due to rising interest rates. But nearly three-quarters of respondents planned to do at least one home renovation in the next 12 months.

Sustainability was a consideration for the majority of respondents, with almost 80 percent citing it as important when choosing building materials for renovations. However, only 59 percent who renovated in the past 12 months have used green products. Older homeowners were significantly more inclined to consider sustainability when choosing building materials for renovations, at 41 percent compared to the 23 to 39 age group at 26 percent.

On a regional basis, respondents in British Columbia were most likely to have additional real estate, with 21 percent owning an income property in that province, versus 16 percent nationally. While 79 percent of Canadian homeowners surveyed had the cash on hand to pay for renovations, Albertans took the top spot, with 85 percent reporting they have the cash on hand, outpacing the national average.

Retailers beef up their bricks-and-mortar value with showroom formats

The role of a hardware store or building centre as a source of advice and product knowledge helps dealers combat the prevalence of online shopping. But traditional stores face the likelihood of continued sales erosion by e-commerce. More and more retailers are adding specialty showrooms as a way to increase their “high-touch” presence while expanding their product lines.

Coast Builders, which includes three RONA stores on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, opened showrooms early this year to support customers with kitchen improvement projects. The “Appliance & Design Showroom” features kitchen products and appliances displayed in a boutique environment.

The concept aims to help customers, both DIY and pro, with their kitchen renovations, offering kitchens and appliances displayed in vignettes so customers can envision the complete project. The RONA showroom in Sechelt is 2,500 square feet in size, while the store in Madeira Park represents 1,800 square feet.

“We went from zero sales in kitchens and appliances to it now accounting for 7.5 percent of our overall sales,” says Russ Jones, president and owner of Coast Builders.

The offering also gave his stores a hedge against deflated lumber and commodity prices. “This was really good for us.”

RONA is not alone, as other retailers are seeing the value of a more refined showroom approach. Plumbing supply chain Wolseley has been rolling out “Studio,” a showroom in some of its stores that features higher-end fixtures and fittings, complete with an in-house designer to offer contractors suggestions for their end-user customers.

There are currently 200-plus Wolseley locations in Canada and about 26 of them have a Studio, with more planned. The target customer is the residential contractor, but staff at the Wolseley Studio can also work directly with the end user and pick the appropriate product for the contractor to then install, saving the contractor time and money.

“I would say that the Showroom concept offers the ‘consultative’ approach to renovating and creating a homeowner’s dream look for a bathroom or kitchen,” says Harry Kandilas, Wolseley Canada’s director of showrooms. “Utilizing one of the Wolseley Studios or Kitchen and Bath classics showrooms gives the end user the opportunity to touch and feel some of the higher-end brands that are not always available at the big box stores.”

Kandilas says the showrooms attract many designers, “but we also work closely with the contractors—be it renovator, plumber, etc.—who will usually send the client to our showrooms for that personal tour and review of their needs.”

Getting closer to customers with additional locations and expertise has been a strategy for IKEA Canada in recent years. With only 14 stores in this country, the retail giant is prioritizing making access to its product lines easier. Its “Plan and order point” outlets are small shops staffed by IKEA specialists who can consult with customers on product selection and installations.

The showroom concept is catching on internationally as well. Byggmax is a large home improvement retailer based in Sweden. It’s been trying out a new concept, called “Byggmax Studio.” The third such store will open in the spring of 2024 in in Umeå, Sweden. The concept, aimed at the do-it-for-me customer, offers options for affordable interior renovation and design, with a focus on tile, flooring, and paint.

The battle among retail loyalty program continues to heat up

Every Monday until Nov. 6, riders who tap onto Toronto’s public transit system with their Tims credit cards can save up to $10. Tim Hortons kicked off the campaign on Sept. 25, the latest example of the ways retailers are leveraging their rewards programs.

The Tims card is powered by Calgary-based Neo Financial, which as of last spring had more than 10,000 retail partners, including Hudson’s Bay Co. and Walmart, and continues to add more companies.

In our industry, Canadian Tire has been particularly aggressive in cultivating its Triangle Rewards program. Earlier this year, it rolled out a paid subscription tier, Triangle Select. But other retailers have recognized the value of these plans, which offer savings to shoppers and valuable customer data to businesses.

Scotiabank’s Scene+ program was originally simply Scene, a partnership with Cineplex that allowed customers to accumulate points they could redeem at box offices and concession stands. It’s been expanding dramatically to a wide network of retail partners, including Empire Co., parent of Sobeys, IGA, and Safeway grocery stores. Home Hardware Stores is its exclusive home improvement partner.

Lowe’s Canada, now RONA inc., signed on to Avion Rewards last fall, after dropping Air Miles. At the time, benefits were limited to holders of RBC credit or debit cards, but RBC announced it will offer travel benefits to clients of other financial institutions.

Air Miles, for its part, lost several key partners in the last few years—not only RONA, but also Staples, Empire Co., and Ontario’s liquor stores. The program’s owner, LoyaltyOne, filed for bankruptcy in both Canada and the U.S. earlier this year. In June, Bank of Montreal acquired the program, whose retail partners include TIMBER MART, Kent Building Supplies, Dollarama, and Shell.

Analyst Bruce Winder told Retail Insider that with the revival of multi-partner loyalty programs, retail is coming full circle. “If you go back to the loyalty space about 20 years ago, even 15 years ago, a lot of programs were sort of tied with a coalition, like a network,” he said.

That trend later gave way to a landscape with many retailers trying to go it alone, but now “maybe we’re starting to see a bit of a rebirth and a re-linkage of coalitions.”

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RETAILER NEWS

Giant Tiger Stores will hold a grand opening of its newest store in London, Ont., on Oct. 14. This will be the fourth location in that city for the Ottawa-based discount retailer. The 18,800-square-foot store is located at 50 North Centre Rd. The grand opening will include giveaways, a gift card to the first 100 customers, and, of course, a visit from Friendly, the Giant Tiger.

Home Hardware Stores has presented its Walter J. Hachborn Store of the Year Award to Wilson’s Home Hardware Building Centre in Barrington Passage, N.S. The store also received the nod for Best Home Hardware Building Centre in the Atlantic Region. Dealer-owner Mike Wilson accepted the honours at Home Hardware’s Homecoming event last month in Toronto. His grandfather, Buzz Wilson, first began talks with Home Hardware co-founder Walter Hachborn in 1965 about joining the nascent Home Hardware banner, which he did two years later.

Lowe’s has made a deal with Carhartt, the workwear clothing brand, to add an assortment of Carhartt products online and in select stores in the U.S. The collection features Carhartt’s signature duck jackets, and vests, as well as hoodies, T-shirts, workwear pants, and beanies. Currently, the collection is available at roughly 250 Lowe’s stores across the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest – with about 250 more stores in Texas, the Southeast and California adding Carhartt products in early 2024.

Nathalie Bellerive, dealer-owner of Matériaux Lavergne Home Hardware Building Centres in Charette and Saint-Étienne-des-Grès, Que., has acquired her third store. Matériaux Lavergne Inc. Saint-Paulin, which recently celebrated its official opening, boasts 4,600 square feet of retail space and an additional 1,700 square feet of warehouse space.

The Atlantic Building Supply Dealers Association will hold another HR conference later this fall. The ABSDA Human Resources Conference will be held Nov. 16 at the Halifax Convention Centre, with a theme of “Navigating the labour shortage.”  Presenters will include Pierre Battah, an award-winning leadership and workplace specialist (This guy’s good!—your impartial Editor). Anyone who wants to attend should register by Oct. 16. (Click here for more information and to register.)

Leviton was at the top of the list of vendors recognized recently by Home Depot’s Atlanta head office as Innovation Award winners. The overall winner was a range of electrical switches and outlets called Decora Edge, manufactured by Leviton. They “make installing light switches and outlets faster, safer, and more efficient,” Home Depot said in a release.

Bill Lee, former president and CEO of the North American Hardware and Paint Association, died on Sept. 29. Lee was a passionate supporter of the independent home improvement retail industry, serving the NHPA for over 20 years before retiring in 2017. Lee started his work with the association, then known as the National Retail Hardware Association, as an outside marketing consultant for 12 years before starting as the association’s marketing director in 1996. In 2008, he took over as CEO. He also served as general chairman of the International Hardware Association.