Oct25_99

Hardlines Newsletter

October
25, 1999 – Volume v, #43

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

THE NEW HARDLINES WHO’S WHO

The Hardlines Who’s Who (1999-2000 Edition)

WHO’S
WHO UPDATE:
THE HARDLINES WHO’S WHO IS BEING SHIPPED OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF
DAYS. IF YOU HAVEN’T ORDERED YOUR COPY OF THIS GREAT DIRECTORY OF
CANADIAN BUYERS, CALL TODAY FOR MORE INFO!

This week in Hardlines:

BEAVER
HEAD DEPARTS WHILE DEAL AWAITS REGULATORY APPROVAL

With
finalization of Home Hardware’s purchase of Beaver Lumber still
pending, Home has gone ahead with re-organization at the senior
management levels, including the departure of Beaver’s president and
CEO, Doug Robinson. (Expectations were that the deal would close by
the end of September. It awaits final approval by the federal
Competition Bureau.)

Robinson’s
mandate upon replacing Ralph Trott four years ago was to prepare the
company for sale. With that completed, he is now preparing to return
to the U.S., where he spent 13 years at 84 Lumber.

Looking
back, Robinson calls the experience “exhilarating,” and adds that the
addition of Beaver will enhance Home’s positioning as a strong LBM
player. “I think a dual brand strategy will be a great strategy for
them,” he says. Home’s existing LBM dealers would benefit from taking
on the Beaver name: “They’ll struggle to get those dealers to
convert, but I think they should.” Beaver currently has two different
LBM banners.

Robinson
also expects the sale of Beaver to be the “catalyst for further
consolidation” in Canadian home improvement retailing.

* * * * *
* *

SODISCO-HOWDEN
CEO BOASTS STRONG SALES, HINTS AT ACQUISITION

Strong sales
performance and hints of a possible acquisition were key messages of
the head of Sodisco-Howden Group at the Howden dealer market last
week in Toronto. Tony Molluso, president and CEO, said sales for the
year are expected to reach $400 million. But, he added, he would like
to see the company grow through acquisition and said two companies
have been targetted, one of which may become part of Sodisco-Howden
before year’s end. He also mentioned his interest in establishing a
Howden distribution centre in Western Canada.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Taiga Forest
Products Ltd. recorded sales for the second quarter ending September
30 of $227.2 million, compared with $182.1 million for the same
period in the previous year. Earnings for the second quarter were
$2.0 million, up from $1.9 million for the same period in 1998. Sales
for the first six months reached $455.9 million, up from $357.27
million a year earlier.

MacMillan
Bloedel reported net earnings of $47 million for the third quarter,
compared with $77 million for the same period last year. Excluding
non-recurring items, net earnings for the third quarter were $65
million. For the nine months ended September 30 MB reported net
earnings of $153 million, compared with net earnings of $38 million
($.27 per share) for the same period in 1998. Distribution
contributed $14 million to operating earnings, up $3 million from
1998. Compared to 2Q ’99, the decline in prices for framing lumber
and panels during the quarter adversely affected sales volumes as
customers reduced orders and waited for prices to bottom out.
Commodity trading margins were also adversely affected. Combined
sales were up 8% from the third quarter of last year.

Sodisco-Howden
Group has converted all its remaining Novico stores in English
Canada, effectively consolidating its banners to Pro and Do-it
center. About 100 Novico stores remain in Québec.

Ainsworth
Lumber Co. Ltd. had sales of $122.4 million for the third quarter
ended September 30, compared with $103.0 million for same period in
1998. Net earnings were $13.8 million in the third quarter, compared
with $5.5 million in 1998. Sales for the nine months ended September
30 were $330.8 million, compared with $264.3 million in
1998.

All-Install,
a comprehensive marketing package for installed project sales, is now
available to Castle dealers, after being introduced at Castle’s
latest Area Group Leaders’ Meeting. Castle members have the option of
offering All-Install as either a department right in the store or as
a stand-alone showroom in a high traffic part of the community. The
first store to put in the program was Bigford’s in Brighton, Ont.,
which put in a design centre in nearby Belleville. Another 75 have
expressed interest in the program.

For the
third quarter ended October 2, Sears Canada posted net earnings of
$35.3 million, up from $24.1 million for the third quarter of 1998.
3Q revenues increased by 12.8% to $1.457 billion, from $1.292 billion
in 1998.

Emco Ltd.
had net earnings for the quarter ended September 30 of $4.8 million,
compared with $7.4 million for the third quarter of 1998. Sales for
the quarter were $351.0 million, an increase of 3.2% from $340.1
million for the same period last year, excluding the business sold in
1998. Emco Distribution’s 3Q sales in Canada, including acquisitions,
were up 4.2% and 2.1% higher for the first nine months of the
year.

Westburne’s
sales for the third quarter ended September 30 reached $679.7
million, an increase of $88.8 million or 15 % over the previous year,
with same store sales increasing by 6.0 %. Sales growth in Canada
reflected a strong industrial and commercial market in Ontario,
Québec and the Atlantic region, partially offset by the impact
of regional economic weaknesses in Western Canada. Sales for the nine
months ended September 30th reached $1,788.2 million (including $95.3
million from acquisitions), up 10.0 % over the previous year.
Excluding acquisitions, sales increased by 4.1%.

Unican
Security Systems Ltd. recently supplied the U.S. Pentagon with Unican
4000 Series programmable pushbutton locks throughout its facilities.
The headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense is one of the
world’s largest office buildings, with approximately 23,000 military
and civilian employees.

At a recent
investor and analyst meeting, Lowe’s Cos Inc. announced that top-line
sales growth is projected to be in the 20% range over the next few
years. In addition, moderate improvements to gross margins and total
expense leverage are anticipated over that same period. As a result,
management expectations are for future diluted earnings per share
growth to be in the 22%-23% range on an annualized basis.

Consumer-friendly
project calculators are now available on Home Depot’s Web site
www.homedepot.com.
They will enable users to calculate automatically the amount of
materials required for a project. To use the calculators, consumers
enter the dimensions of an area into the proper calculator that
tabulates how much material, such as paint, wallpaper, or grass seed,
should be purchased to complete the project.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	35.65
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.45
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.10
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	18.65
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	22.75
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	34.30
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.50
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	32.55

“In
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

&endash; Isaiah XXX:15

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

At Beaver Lumber, Eric Konecsni has been appointed general
manager, reporting now to Paul Straus, vice&endash;president and CEO
of Home Hardware Stores Ltd. Konecsni was most recently
vice-president, merchandising and marketing for Beaver … Joel
Marks has been appointed director, merchandising. All merchandising
product managers now report to him. He was most recently
merchandising director of hardlines … Dave Hederson’s position
as vice-president and CFO with Beaver ends with the completion of
Home Hardware’s purchase of Beaver (see story, page 1). His role will
be taken over by Bill Simpson, Home Hardware’s vice-president of
finance, who will now be vice-president finance for Beaver, as well.
(905-479-2255)

Ed Barnett
has joined Ace Hardware Canada as retail sales consultant for
Newfoundland and Labrador. He was formerly with Weber Supply and
Thornes … Warren Smith has joined Ace as a retail sales
consultant for Ontario. He comes over from LePage.
(905-475-1188)

Brett
Sanders has joined Vanguard Plastics Ltd. As retail sales
coordinator. He was formerly at Smith-Barregar in advertising and
promotion. (604-888-2511)

CORRECTION:
Seems I’ve been mixing up titles at Castle Building Centres lately.
Ron Marchetti is national business development manager. David Morton
is national marketing manager. (905-564-3307)

OVERHEARD

“Everybody’s
been trying to get cozy, but nobody wants to go to bed.” &emdash;
Doug Robinson, former president and CEO of Beaver Lumber, believes
the various alliances and supply deals made by different groups in
recent years will give way to more solid consolidation as a result of
Home Hardware’s purchase of Beaver Lumber.

-“There are
no rules in retail anymore. If there’s an opportunity to sell
something different in a building centre, we’ll take it.” – David
Morton, national marketing manager of Castle Building Centres, on the
group’s decision to make available to its members lawn and garden,
pet supply and workwear programs from GROWMARK.

MARKET INDICATORS

Retail trade
advanced 1.2% (seasonally adjusted) in August to $22.1 billion, says
Stats Canada. Holding prices constant, the increase was 0.7%. This is
the fourth consecutive monthly gain, with most of the increase in
prices in the automotive sector (+2.6%). “Other” stores (including
hardware) were up 0.4%. All provinces showed increases except British
Columbia (-0.8%).

Hardlines
Classifieds

FIND THAT NEW PERSON, NEW AGENCY OR NEW LINE WITH HARDLINES
CLASSIFIEDS. THEY’RE A LOW-COST WAY TO REACH MORE THAN 2,000 PEOPLE
EVERY WEEK. ONE AD RUNS FOR TWO WEEKS IN THE FAX EDITION AND THREE
WEEKS IN THE E-MAIL EDITION OF HARDLINES. TO PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIED
AD, JUST CALL BEVERLY ALLEN AT 416- 489-3396, EXT. 2.

* * * * * *
*

HARDLINES
the electronic newsletter. Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher.
Published weekly (except monthly in December and August) by
McLARNEYCOM 283 Belsize Dr., Toronto, ON Canada M4S 1M5.
416-489-3396; fax: 416-489-6154. E-mail: hardline@terraport.net
© 1999 by Michael McLarney. Reproduction in whole or in part is
strictly forbidden. Subscription: $185+$12.95 GST = $197.95 (or
$27.75 HST=$212.75) per year (GST #13987 0398 RT). Please make cheque
payable to McLarneyCom.

October
25, 1999 – Volume v, #43

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

This week in Hardlines:

BEAVER
HEAD DEPARTS WHILE DEAL AWAITS REGULATORY APPROVAL

Robinson
also expects the sale of Beaver to be the “catalyst for further
consolidation” in Canadian home improvement retailing.

* * * * *
* *

SODISCO-HOWDEN
CEO BOASTS STRONG SALES, HINTS AT ACQUISITION

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Sodisco-Howden
Group has converted all its remaining Novico stores in English
Canada, effectively consolidating its banners to Pro and Do-it
center. About 100 Novico stores remain in Québec.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	35.65
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.45
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.10
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	18.65
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	22.75
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	34.30
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.50
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	32.55

“In
quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

&endash; Isaiah XXX:15

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Brett
Sanders has joined Vanguard Plastics Ltd. As retail sales
coordinator. He was formerly at Smith-Barregar in advertising and
promotion. (604-888-2511)

OVERHEARD

MARKET INDICATORS

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Oct18_99

Hardlines Newsletter

October
18, 1999 – Volume v, #42

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

THE NEW HARDLINES WHO’S WHO

The Hardlines Who’s Who (1999-2000 Edition)

WHO’S
WHO UPDATE:
Ok, the elusive Hardlines Who’s Who has gone to the printer.
Anyone who has ordered one already will get theirs couriered to them
as soon as they’re ready (a few more days) at no extra charge. Don’t
worry &endash; it will be worth the wait!!!

This week in Hardlines:

CASTLE
WILL OFFER GROWMARK NICHE PROGRAMS

Three store
programs, or “modules,” developed by GROWMARK are now available to
Castle dealers, after being introduced at Castle’s latest area group
leaders’ meeting. The niche turnkey businesses were developed for
GROWMARK’s own co-op members in Ontario. But Castle will make it
available to its dealers, starting with Ontario.

The modules
are Growers Edge (lawn and garden), Pet Headquarters (food and
accessories), and a line of heavy duty work clothing.

“It’s a
niche market opportunity for people in the LBM business,” says David
Morton, business development manager for Castle, of the modules. To
illustrate the appropriateness of a module such as Gardener’s Edge,
Morton estimates that as much as 60% of the Castle membership is
already involved in lawn and garden to some degree. “This will really
let dealers upgrade the operation and delivery of lawn and garden
products,” he says.

Negotiations
are underway to add a third party to help GROWMARK roll the modules
out to Castle dealers in the other nine provinces.

* * * * *
* *

SEARS
CANADA TOYS WITH UTILITY SALES

In the face
of deregulation of Canadian utilities, Sears Canada is exploring the
potential of selling gas and electrical services. The initiative,
which was first announced at the Hardlines Marketing Conference in
Toronto last month, is another extension of the services offered by
Sears under its HomeCentral program.

Larry Moore,
vice-president of service sales for Sears Canada, says, “This gives
continuity to the relationship with the appliances sold in the
stores. It would further solidify a long-term relationship with
customers , he says. Sears will likely form an alliance with a gas or
electrical manufacturer. If given the go-ahead, a pilot program will
be rolled out next year.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

For third
quarter ended September 30, West Fraser Timber Co. earned $56.7
million on sales of $610 million, compared with earnings of $12.5
million on sales of $514 million a year earlier. For the three
quarters, earnings were $107.9 million on sales of $1.64 million,
compared with a loss of $0.7 million on sales of $1.39 million in the
same period last year. Third quarter sales for the retail division
were $602.9 million, up from $510.9 million a year earlier. Earnings
grew from $212.0 million to $227.4 million. Same-store sales
increased 6%.

Castle
Building Centres has added the following members: Eganville Country
Depot, Eganville, Ont.; Crown Building Centre, Summerside, P.E.I.;
Hector Building Supplies, Pictou and Stellarton, N.S.; J&H
Industries Ltd., Milton and Shelburne, N.S.; and Meetah Building
Supplies, Nelson House, Man.

Home Depot
Canada will open its 50th store this Thursday in Victoria. It will be
a regular 113,000-sq.ft. outlet with 13,000-sq.ft. garden
centre.

Ainsworth
Lumber Co. Ltd. has received provincial government approval to build
two new facilities in Alberta: a combination OSB/particleboard plant
next to its existing Grande Prairie facility and a hardwood sawmill
located in the Valleyview area. The total cost of these two
facilities is expected to be $140 million. Start-up of construction
is scheduled for June 2000 with commencement of production expected
by September 2001.

MAAX Inc.
announces that it has just completed the acquisition of all of the
shares of Boiseries Imperial, located in Cookshire, Qué.
Boiseries Imperial manufactures hardwood kitchen cabinet doors and
operates a 31,000 square foot manufacturing plant in which employs 82
employees.

Slocan
Forest Products Ltd. had net earnings for the third quarter of 1999
of $34.2 million, compared with net earnings of $4.5 million for the
third quarter of 1998. Sales in the third quarter of 1999 were $284.5
million, compared with sales of $248.1 million for the third quarter
of 1998. For the first nine months of the year, the company had net
earnings of $88.3 million or $2.31 per share compared with a net loss
of $21.6 million or $0.56 per share for the first nine months of
1998. Sales for the first nine months of 1999 were $843.8 million,
compared with $713.1 million in 1998.

TruServ
Corp. in the U.S. has made a strategic alliance with United
Stationers, a wholesale distributor of office supply products. The
arrangement provides TruServ member dealers with access to a United’s
network of services and products, ranging from office supplies to
cleaning products.

Newell
Rubbermaid Inc. has announced its intention to purchase 51.24% the
shares of Reynolds SA, a French manufacturer and supplier of writing
instruments with 1998 sales US$82 million. Reynold sells in 70
countries.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	32.85
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.75
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.50
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	17.10
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	24.00
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	31.05
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	34.50

“To burn
always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is
success in life.”

&endash; Walter Pater (1839-94)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

John Kitchen, president of the Lansing Division of Revelstoke
Home Centres, was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario in the
retail category by the Entrepreneur of the Year Institute.
(416-241-8844)

Louise
Turgeon has joined Royal International as sales manager responsible
for Québec and the Maritimes. She was formerly with Tremco and
Cimatec. Mona Caplan has joined Royal as sales manager responsible
for Ontario and Western Canada. She was formerly with Olfa and The
Mibro Group. (1-800-465-4566)

Peter Bowes
has joined Fiskars Canada as sales director, responsible for all
aspects of the company’s Canadian sales activities. He was formerly
marketing and sales director for Karcher Canada.
(905-940-8460)

OVERHEARD

“Today’s
competitive marketplace demands that you refixture and remodel –
perhaps as often as every five years. Today’s customer expects your
store to look fresh and attractive. You’ve got to expand, in space
and in products, to bring in new customers. Above all, you’ve got to
make your business attractive to the next generation of owners as
well as customers. If that next generation is to be your daughters or
your, you’ve got to consider them now, not at some time in the future
when you want to get out of the business.”

– Dan
Cotter, retiring chairman of TruServ Corp., in his farewell speech at
the latest TruServ dealer market. These words echoed his remarks at
our own Hardlines Marketing Conference last month.

NOTED

U.S. online
retail sales should reach US$20.2 billion this year as seven million
Internet shoppers make their first electronic commerce purchases, a
Forrester Research Inc. survey reports. A separate survey on holiday
shopping said most shoppers would use emerging e-commerce businesses
rather than websites tied to department stores or catalogues.
Greenfield’s survey said 70% of Internet users planned to do some or
all of their holiday shopping online, with Amazon.com , CDnow and
eToys Inc. being the main destinations, while Toys R Us’s website was
ranked fourth.

According to
a report from Reuters, the U.S. wants out of the controversial
softwood trade agreement with Canada when it expires in 2001. Such a
decision could increase tensions between the trading partners, a U.S.
trade official has told Ottawa. But another U.S. trade official said
Washington may be willing to negotiate a new trade pact that would
address American concerns about Canadian timber pricing. The current
agreement expires April 1, 2001.

MARKET INDICATORS

In
September, the consumer price index rose 2.6%, indicating that
Canadians paid that much more for goods and services than they did a
year ago. The rise was due primarily to increased energy costs. Not
including energy prices, the index rose 1.5% in September.
Homeowners’ maintenance and repair costs increased 3.7% in September
while mortgage interest costs rose 0.4%.

COLOGNE IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Travel to
the International Hardware Fair in Cologne to position yourself as a
key player in the 21st century. Find out where the growth
opportunities lie, discover how the world’s markets are changing and
learn about the latest new products.

Hardlines
has arranged special travel packages that will make your trip
painless and affordable. Not only will we help you with your travel
arrangements, but we’ll also ensure your trip is beneficial to both
you and your company.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Affordable,
comprehensive travel packages are available in two- and five-star
accommodations. Just email us for more information. Our recommended
Canadian travel agent will contact you to arrange your personalized
travel package.

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

October
18, 1999 – Volume v, #42

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

This week in Hardlines:

CASTLE
WILL OFFER GROWMARK NICHE PROGRAMS

The modules
are Growers Edge (lawn and garden), Pet Headquarters (food and
accessories), and a line of heavy duty work clothing.

Negotiations
are underway to add a third party to help GROWMARK roll the modules
out to Castle dealers in the other nine provinces.

* * * * *
* *

SEARS
CANADA TOYS WITH UTILITY SALES

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Home Depot
Canada will open its 50th store this Thursday in Victoria. It will be
a regular 113,000-sq.ft. outlet with 13,000-sq.ft. garden
centre.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	32.85
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.75
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.50
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	17.10
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	24.00
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	31.05
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	34.50

“To burn
always with this hard, gem-like flame, to maintain this ecstasy, is
success in life.”

&endash; Walter Pater (1839-94)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

OVERHEARD

– Dan
Cotter, retiring chairman of TruServ Corp., in his farewell speech at
the latest TruServ dealer market. These words echoed his remarks at
our own Hardlines Marketing Conference last month.

NOTED

MARKET INDICATORS

COLOGNE IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Oct12_99

Hardlines Newsletter

October
12, 1999 – Volume v, #41

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

The cost for
the Hardlines Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and
$135 for non-subscribers. Order your own copy of the Hardlines Who’s
Who today!

This week in Hardlines:

GROWMARK
PURSUES WOMEN ONLINE

The latest
retailer to throw its hat into the e-commerce ring has its roots
firmly planted in Ontario’s rural market. GROWMARK has added an
online catalogue for its family of co-op dealers throughout the
province. Janice Mundell, the company’s director of advertising,
introduced the site officially, after a year of internal testing, at
GROWMARK’s spring-Summer Marketing Conference, held October 7-8 in
Toronto.

She said the
opportunities are not just with consumers, but with business to
business, for lines such as workwear. “We must recognize that
Internet marketing is not a fad,” she added. With an estimated 4
million Canadians already online, she said, 48% of them are women
&emdash; a prime growth market for the rural stores.

Tony
DiEmanuele, director of merchandising, agrees that women are a key
market. Gardener’s Edge, a live goods program for its stores, has
strong appeal for women and has grown 40% over the past year. With 16
stores in the program since its inception two years ago, another 14
are already slated for the year ahead, including one in Wheaton,
Ill.

GROWMARK now
has 150 stores in Ontario, with overall sales up about 6% for the
year ended August 31, 1999.

* * * * *
* *

HOME
HARDWARE TESTS LOYALTY CARD

A new
loyalty card is being tested in 50 Home Hardware stores across the
country. Called Home Advantage, the card rewards customers who swipe
the card at POS with chances to win prizes, including trips and
merchandise. It also lets Home collect data on shopping habits of its
preferred customers.

The program
is not being advertised instore. Instead, dealers are being
encouraged to sign up 500-1,000 of their best customers on a
one-on-one basis. The program was developed by Information-Driven
Technologies in Toronto and will be rolled out to all Home dealers in
the fall of 2000.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Goodfellow
Inc.’s sales for its fiscal year ended August 31, 1999, rose 15% to
$386.99 million, up from $335.70 a year earlier. Net income (before
extraordinary items) reached $6.63 million, compared with $4.16
million, a 59% increase. The increase was attributed to the addition
of more lines and a new sales territory in the U.S. northwest, as
well as a distribution agreement with IsobordT, , a new
greenfield-venture strawboard fibreboard plant in Elie, Man. This
environmentally positive product added close to $10 million in sales.
Goodfellow president Richard Goodfellow said all sales regions showed
strong growth and profitability, including Western Canada, “where
conditions remained difficult.”

Westburne
Inc. has completed the purchase of Valley Plumbing Supply Inc., a
distributor based in Sacramento, Calif. It has also entered into an
agreement to purchase the assets of Colotex Electric Supply Co., an
electrical distributor based in Loveland, Col. Both deals are
expected to generate estimated additional sales of $50 million and
add 10 branches to Westburne’s existing network of approximately 500.

Weyerhaeuser
Co. and MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. announced that B.C’s Minister of
Forests has offered approval in principle to transfer control of
forest tenures and permits to Weyerhaeuser from MacMillan Bloedel.
The license areas include more than 800,000 hectares of public forest
land (more than 2 million acres) located in B.C.’s coastal region,
with an annual harvest volume of 5.6 million cubic metres (196.5
million cubic feet).

Sears
Canada, through its Sears Club customer rewards program, has teamed
up with the Canadian Plus frequent flyer program. More than 7 million
Sears Club members can now convert their Sears Club points to their
Canadian Plus account. These points can be used towards travel on
Canadian Airlines and any of its redemption partners.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	33.45
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.15
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.45
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	18.50
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	23.50
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	33.90
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.00
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	36.00

“It is
dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.”

– George Bernard Shaw

MARKET INDICATORS

Housing
starts in Canada rose 3.7% in September, to 152,700 units seasonally
adjusted, according to CMHC. This is the highest figure since March
1998. Urban single starts increased 5.6% and urban multiples
increased by 2.8%. B.C. was up 6.1%; the Atlantic region increased
31%; Québec was up 51.4%, due largely to a big jump in
Montréal; Ontario was actually down slightly, mainly because
of drop in multiple starts in Toronto; the Prairies were down 19.3%,
with Saskatchewan up and Manitoba and Alberta down.

* * * * * *
*

The total
value of building permits issued in August declined 9.4% in August to
$2.9 billion, according to Stats Canada. Residential permits were
down 4.2% to $1.7 billion as a result of weaker demand for multiple
housing permits. Non-residential intentions dropped 15.6% to $1.2
billion. Year to date, however, building permits are up 4.5% over the
same period in 1998. Residential permit values are up 8.4% over the
first eight months of last year with single family permits up 8.7%
and multi-family permits up 7.6%.

COLOGNE IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

October
12, 1999 – Volume v, #41

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

The cost for
the Hardlines Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and
$135 for non-subscribers. Order your own copy of the Hardlines Who’s
Who today!

This week in Hardlines:

GROWMARK
PURSUES WOMEN ONLINE

GROWMARK now
has 150 stores in Ontario, with overall sales up about 6% for the
year ended August 31, 1999.

* * * * *
* *

HOME
HARDWARE TESTS LOYALTY CARD

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	33.45
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.15
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.45
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	18.50
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	23.50
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	33.90
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.00
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	36.00

“It is
dangerous to be sincere unless you are also stupid.”

– George Bernard Shaw

MARKET INDICATORS

* * * * * *
*

COLOGNE IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Oct4_99

Hardlines Newsletter

October
4, 1999 – Volume v, #40

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

The cost for
the Hardlines Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and
$135 for non-subscribers. Order your own copy of the Hardlines Who’s
Who today!

This week in Hardlines:

HOME
HARDWARE LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAMS AT FALL MARKET

The fall
market at Home Hardware Stores Ltd. featured a number of new programs
and services for its dealers, in addition to the 850 vendors who
exhibited last week inside Home’s warehouse in St. Jacob’s,
Ont.

The show
featured new order technology, uniforms &emdash; and a new model
store. The 12,000-sq.ft. retail showcase with 25,000 SKUs emphasized
the store-within-a-store concept. It also reflected the importance of
women shoppers with a kitchenware and giftware section called
“Gourmet” that featured rustic wooden shelving,

indirect
halogen lighting and a tiled floor. “You can’t sell giftwares and
housewares on metal shelves anymore,” said Bill Ferguson, Home’s
dealer support manager. With competition from mass merchants like
Sears for those dollars, he added, “You’ve got to jazz them
up.”

Even the
service desk for Home’s building centres demonstrated a “boutique”
approach. The frame of the service area was constructed from a
mixture of builders’ hardware, different woods and OSB to better
showcase the products. Another goal of the service desk is to
emphasize project selling to bring people away from commodity buying
to add-on sales with bigger margins built in.

Other
features of the model store: year-round seasonal department,
installed sales department, improved quality clothing and uniforms
for staff, a Timothy’s coffee counter and black wire racking in place
of chrome.

* * * * *
* *

NEW
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR HOME HARDWARE DEALERS

A Palm Pilot
is the latest tool available to Home Hardware dealers. Developed by
Symbol specifically for Home Hardware, the device will let dealers
scan bin tags to place orders and track inventory. It can either
download the info to a computer or transmit directly via
modem.

The new
technology was introduced at Home’s fall market last week. The switch
from the current Telxon dial-up system will cost each dealer about
$1,000.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Fletcher
Challenge Canada Ltd. is seeking shareholder approval of a $3.6
billion plan to go independent and buy its parent’s paper-making
assets. They are set to vote on the plan on November 2. Rebel
minority shareholders have objected to the plan, arguing, in part,
that the cash-rich Canadian company has agreed to pay too much to its
New Zealand parent, Fletcher Challenge Ltd., which owns 50.8% of
Fletcher Canada. The purchase of Fletcher Challenge Paper would
create a new $5 billion company.

Sears Canada
is building a 494,000-sq.ft. national service centre (NSC) in Calgary
at 114th Avenue and 52nd Street S.E. The distribution centre, will
open in the summer of 2000, will store big-ticket merchandise such as
furniture and appliances, and will consolidate the logistics
operations currently handled in Regina and Vancouver. An
870,000-sq.ft. NSC in Vaughan, north of Toronto, will open next
spring.

ACNielsen
Canada, an operating unit of ACNielsen Corp. in the U.S., has signed
an agreement with Gladson & Associates to jointly create and
market a consumer product image and dimension database in Canada. The
images and product descriptions will be available via CD-ROM or
Gladson’s proprietary online system. The database is designed for use
in conjunction with the Spaceman shelf management program.

The three
banners served by TruServ Corp. in the U.S. will consolidate under
the True Value name, beginning this month. This will affect some
3,000 ServiStar and Coast to Coast stores, who have until March 1,
2000, to make the switch. From an operations standpoint, the decision
will allow TruServ to promote one retail identity nationally, with
resulting savings in advertising and inventory management. While the
move to one identity means ServiStar and Coast to Coast stores south
of the border will make the switch, no stores in Canada operate under
those banners.

An explosive
device was found at a third Lowe’s store in North Carolina late last
Tuesday afternoon, this time in Charlotte. Investigators are looking
for links to bombings at Lowe’s stores in Salisbury and Asheboro that
occurred on September 22. Those blasts, in store paint departments,
injured three people, including one woman hospitalized for burns.

________________________________________

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	35.00
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.30
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.40
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	19.30
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	22.45
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	34.75
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.70
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	37.25

“It’s what
you learn after you know it all that counts.”

&endash; John Wooden (U.S. college basketball coach)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Al D’Addese has joined Valvoline Canada as retail division
manager. He was formerly a national accounts manager at Rubbermaid
Canada. (905-823-4701)

OVERHEARD

“We’re
trying to develop an ambience that gives customers more of a feeling
that they’re not just facing rows and rows of products on shelves.”
&emdash; Bill Ferguson, dealer support manager for Home Hardware
Stores Ltd. He was demonstrating one of the boutique approaches Home
was taking with departments such as décor and kitchenwares at
Home’s latest fall market.

NOTED

MARKET INDICATORS

Sales of new
homes in the U.S. climbed 2.9% in August, the third consecutive
monthly advance, bucking a trend of slower sales for existing homes.
New housing sales jumped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
983,000 units in August, up from 955,000 a month earlier, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau.

COLOGNE IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

October
4, 1999 – Volume v, #40

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

The cost for
the Hardlines Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and
$135 for non-subscribers. Order your own copy of the Hardlines Who’s
Who today!

This week in Hardlines:

HOME
HARDWARE LAUNCHES NEW PROGRAMS AT FALL MARKET

* * * * *
* *

NEW
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR HOME HARDWARE DEALERS

The new
technology was introduced at Home’s fall market last week. The switch
from the current Telxon dial-up system will cost each dealer about
$1,000.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

________________________________________

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	35.00
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.30
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.40
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	19.30
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	22.45
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	34.75
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.70
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	37.25

“It’s what
you learn after you know it all that counts.”

&endash; John Wooden (U.S. college basketball coach)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Al D’Addese has joined Valvoline Canada as retail division
manager. He was formerly a national accounts manager at Rubbermaid
Canada. (905-823-4701)

OVERHEARD

NOTED

MARKET INDICATORS

COLOGNE IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Sept27_99

Hardlines Newsletter

September
27, 1999 – Volume v, #39

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

THE NEW HARDLINES WHO’S WHO

The Hardlines Who’s Who (1999-2000 Edition) is a comprehensive
guide to Canada’s leading hardware and home improvement retailers,
wholesalers, buying groups, mass merchants and co-ops. More than 100
listings include sales, product mix, SKUs, store types, executives
and key buyers and their responsibilities.The cost for the Hardlines
Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and $135 for
non-subscribers. Order your own copy of the Hardlines Who’s Who
today!

* * * * *
* *

COLOGNE
IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

This week in Hardlines:

CANADIAN
TIRE ANNOUNCES ROLLOUT OF IN-STORE BANKING

Canadian
Tire and ING Direct have formed a strategic alliance to roll out
in-store automatic banking services in all 350 of CTC’s stores
nationwide. The move follows a test program in London, Ont., last
year. The first stores to get the ABMs will be in the Greater Toronto
Area and Kitchener-Waterloo.

The service
claims to be the first bank machine in Canada that gives retail
credit card customers access to a range of services that include cash
advances from Canadian or U.S. savings accounts and loan accounts,
using either a Canadian Tire retail credit card or Options
MasterCard. There are no fees or service charges for using the
ABMs.

IRLY
EXPECTS TO COMPLETE BANNER CHANGE BY YEAR’S END

IRLY
Distributors has dropped the “Bird” from its dealers’ signs,
replacing it with the name “IRLY Building Centre,” accompanied by the
individual dealer’s business name. In addition, a maple leaf has been
added to the “R” in IRLY.

With the
help of a financial incentive program which expires December 31,
1999, the changeover is expected to be adopted by all IRLY dealers by
year’s end, says executive vice-president and general manager Stuart
Joule. “It’s a natural evolution that companies from time to time see
the benefit in a new image, a fresh change,” he says.

“We will
keep the IRLY Bird for promotional purposes and as our mascot. But it
was felt the image it projected on the industry was not as effective
as it once was,” he adds.

Joule also
notes that the Surrey, B.C.-based wholesaler has enjoyed what he
calls “a pretty reasonable year.” While IRLY’s dealer sales stilltend
to reflect the state of the economy in that province, the company was
able to take a favourable position on a number of commodities earlier
in the year, which has enhanced its bottom line.

SEARS
WILL ACQUIRE EATON’S SHARES AND SOME STORES

Sears Canada
announced on September 20 an agreement to purchase all of the
outstanding common shares of the T. Eaton

Company Ltd.
Under the transaction, Sears Canada will assume ownership of the
Eaton’s name, trademarks and web site by the end of the year. Eight
Eaton’s stores are also included in the transaction, with an option
to acquire a further five stores, all of which will be operated under
the Sears banner. This option for the additional five stores expires
Sept. 29, 1999.

Sears will
pay $30 million in cash for Eaton’s, plus an additional $20 million
upon realization of tax losses. (Compare that to the deal Home
Hardware made for Beaver Lumber, paying $33 million in cash and the
assumption of $35 million in debt which Molson took back through a
term loan!)

The eight
stores that Sears Canada will take over are located in: Burnaby, B.C.
(Brentwood Mall); Winnipeg, Man. (St. Vitale Centre); Québec
City, Qué. (Galeries La Capitale); Halifax, N.S. (Halifax
Shopping Centre); and in Ontario, London (Westmount Shopping Centre),
Etobicoke (Sherway Gardens), North York (Yorkdale Shopping Centre)
and Scarborough (Scarborough Town Centre). Yorkdale, Scarborough Town
Centre and Halifax Shopping Centre will all be closed for renovations
before reopening under the Sears banner.

Eaton’s has
agreed to continue normal operations at the majority of the stores
being acquired, pending completion of the transaction. The
transaction is conditional upon Eaton’s implementing a plan of
arrangement under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (the
“CCAA”).

The
transaction is expected to close no later than December 31,
1999.

Eaton’s
continues to pursue complementary transactions for the sale of its
other stores and real estate in which, the company says, a number of
potential purchasers have expressed interest.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

TruServ
Canada has signed Servinor Inc. as a new member of the dealer-owned
co-operative. Servinor is itself a wholesaler, which since 1993 has
supplied goods and services to 60 Cree and Inuit communities in
northern Québec, northern Ontario and North West Territories.
Servinor, with head office and 67,000-sq.ft. distribution centre in
Val d’Or, Qué., is 100% Native owned.

Weyerhaeuser’s
intended acquisition of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. has met with no
opposition from the Mergers Branch of the Canadian Competition
Bureau. The Bureau has issued a letter stating that it plans to take
no action. In addition, a change in control of MacMillan Bloedel’s
softwood lumber quotas to Weyerhaeuser was also approved in principle
by the Canadian Minister of International Trade, Hon. Pierre
Pettigrew. The deal has also been cleared by the competition
authorities in Germany and Ireland. It is subject to further
regulatory approvals, a favorable vote by MacMillan Bloedel
shareholders, court approval in Canada and other customary closing
conditions. Paul Walters, Chairman & CEO of Sears Canada Inc.,
commandeered a treaded excavator last Friday at the groundbreaking
ceremony the new Sears distribution centre in Calgary, at 114th
Avenue and 52nd Street S.E.

For the
three-month period ended July 31, 1999, Matco Ravary Inc. recorded
consolidated sales of $19 million, up 13.1% over the same quarter in
1998. This growth was due largely to the sales by Centre de
renovation Le Geant, a 30,000-sq.ft. store in Blainville, north of
Montréal, which Matco Ravary acquired on June 1. For the nine
months ended July 31, Matco Ravary’s consolidated sales totaled $41.9
million, up 19.1% over the previous year. Consolidated net earnings
increased by 31.1% from $1,000,217 last year to
$1,312,051.

Wal-Mart
Stores in the U.S. has contracted with Computer Doctor to open repair
and sales outlets in the front of 10 Wal-Mart Supercenters. Wal-Mart
says the experimental outlets will open during the next 18 months. If
the experiment works, the company could look to any number of
computer businesses to offer services within its 622 Supercenters.
Observers say Wal-Mart could build a niche for serving customers who
might otherwise patronize large electronics retailers and those who
use catalogues, taking a toll on smaller, locally-owned shops.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	34.10
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.00
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.10
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	19.05
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	22.40
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	34.35
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	37.00

“It matters
not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of
importance, it lasts so short a time.” &endash;

– Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Chris Camirand has joined Castle Building Centres as advertising
co-ordinator. A graduate of Sheridan College, he reports to Diane
Jones, Castle’s advertising manager. (905-564-3307)

NOTED

A recent
study by AC Nielsen found that retailers are still largely ignoring
the data available to them about their own customers. Over 40% of the
retailers surveyed made either occasional or no use of the frequent
shopper data that they collected to make everyday marketing and
merchandising decisions. This includes demographic information and
purchase data. While 59% of the retailers Nielsen surveyed indicated
that they did use the data to make everyday decisions, the retailers
unanimously said that the number one reason for having the frequent
shopper programs was to build customer loyalty &endash; not to build
a database of customer shopping profiles.

MARKET INDICATORS

Retail trade
in Canada rose 1.3% in July from June. Sales overall have been up 6%
from October 1998 and July’s gain was twice the average monthly gain
to occur since that date. About a third of July’s increase was due to
higher prices, especially for gasoline. Excluding the effect of price
increases, retail sales were up 0.9% in July.

* * * * * *
* *

Sales of
existing homes in the U.S. slowed in August but stayed on course to
beat last year’s record pace. The National Association of Realtors
reports that sales dropped last month to a seasonally adjusted annual
rate of 5.25 million units, down 2.8% from a revised 5.4 million rate
in July.

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

September
27, 1999 – Volume v, #39

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

* * * * *
* *

COLOGNE
IN Y2K:

Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC with
HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

This week in Hardlines:

CANADIAN
TIRE ANNOUNCES ROLLOUT OF IN-STORE BANKING

IRLY
EXPECTS TO COMPLETE BANNER CHANGE BY YEAR’S END

“We will
keep the IRLY Bird for promotional purposes and as our mascot. But it
was felt the image it projected on the industry was not as effective
as it once was,” he adds.

SEARS
WILL ACQUIRE EATON’S SHARES AND SOME STORES

Sears Canada
announced on September 20 an agreement to purchase all of the
outstanding common shares of the T. Eaton

The
transaction is expected to close no later than December 31,
1999.

Eaton’s
continues to pursue complementary transactions for the sale of its
other stores and real estate in which, the company says, a number of
potential purchasers have expressed interest.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	34.10
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.00
Goodfellow	11.80	6.00	11.10
Hudsons Bay	23.85	4.00	19.05
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	12.05	22.40
Sears Canada	34.35	15.25	34.35
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	41.00	9.05	37.00

“It matters
not how a man dies, but how he lives. The act of dying is not of
importance, it lasts so short a time.” &endash;

– Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Chris Camirand has joined Castle Building Centres as advertising
co-ordinator. A graduate of Sheridan College, he reports to Diane
Jones, Castle’s advertising manager. (905-564-3307)

NOTED

MARKET INDICATORS

* * * * * *
* *

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Sept20_99

Hardlines Newsletter

September
20, 1999 – Volume v, #37

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

The Hardlines Marketing Conference was, quite simply, the event of
the year! More than 130 people gathered last Thursday to hear a
world-class roster of speakers. Watch for the Hardlines News Extra
with a special report.

MY THANKS
TO THE FOLLOWING CONFERENCE SPONSORS:

Paul
Publow at LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS, for starting us off with the
coffee and muffins; Wolf Gugler at WOLF GUGLER AND ASSOCIATES,
for the cocktails before lunch; Edel Wichmann and Carol-Ann
Itel representing THE COLOGNE INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE FAIR/DIY’TEC,
for their loyal support; Rico Giovannini, Jo’anne D’Amico and
Curtis Popovich at STERLING COMMERCE, for sticking by me through
thick and thin; Micheal Ostoforoff, Dan Desmarais and Jim Prins at
INTACTIX, for coming on board this year; Bruce Smith and
Annalee Ulsud at THE WATT GROUP, for believing in us; Steve
Payne at HARDWARE MERCHANDISING MAGAZINE, for the insults and um,
new haircut. – M.M.

This week in Hardlines:

REVY
OPENS FIRST BIG BOX IN GTA

More than a
year after the merger of Lansing Buildall and Revy Home Centres Inc.,
Revy has opened its first Revy Home & Garden Warehouse in the
Greater Toronto Area.

The
168,000-sq.ft. big box, just the first of 10 such stores planned for
the GTA, intends to compete head to head there against Home Depot,
which already has 18 stores in that market. The tag line “Canada’s
home improvement warehouse store” has been replaced on the new store
with “Brought to you by Lansing Buildall.”

However, the
Canadian angle is not being ignored. In fact, it’s central to the
promotion of the Revy name, which, unlike Lansing, is largely
unfamiliar to Torontonians. The grand opening on Saturday was
unabashedly nationalistic, from the singing of the national anthem to
the appearance of hockey commentator Don Cherry, hockey great Darryl
Sittler and CASCAR Racing star Andy Farr.

Touted as an
alternative to the “American retailers,” the new store is “bigger,
brighter, cleaner, neater,” says Howard Kitchen, director of
marketing at Lansing. Showcasing about 50,000 SKUs, it features a
30,000-sq.ft. drive-through outdoor lumber yard, 25,000 sq.ft.
devoted to lawn and garden, a Stephenson’s Rent-All and a Tim
Horton’s donut shop.

Revy may be
the first to go up against Home Depot in Toronto, but just barely.
RONA inc. has begun construction of a big box L’Entrépot store
in Cambridge, Ont. (Like all its big boxes outside Québec, it
will be called RONA Warehouse.) And Réno-Dépôt
has made clear its intentions to invade Ontario, starting with the
GTA.

The next
Revy openings are in Woodbridge (Hwy. 400 and Hwy 7) in December,
followed by Scarborough (Midland and Eglinton area) and the
Stockyards (yes, it’s true!) in 2001. Other sites being finalized
include Oshawa and Kitchener.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

RONA Inc.
opened a RONA Le Rénovateur Régional in Granby,
Qué., last Wednesday. The 90,00-sq.ft. store, RONA’s eighth
“mini-big box” regional centre, uses a warehouse layout with wide
aisles and large racking and carries 40,000 SKUs. The store also
features specialty boutiques for paint, decor, doors and windows,
ovens and ranges and floor coverings. A 30,000-sq.ft. indoor
lumberyard, a 3,000-sq.ft. greenhouse and a 17,000-sq.ft. garden
centre are also integrated into the warehouse format. The facility
represents a $10 million investment and will create over 95 jobs. The
company claims it will be the largest retail outlet for hardware,
home improvement and lawn & garden in the region.

Home Depot
Canada opened its “Type Six” store in Brampton, northwest of Toronto,
last Thursday, the VERY same day as the Hardlines Marketing
Conference (But it’s okay, really. I’m learning to deal with it! –
M.M.) Store manager is Tony Riga.

Canadian
Tire has launched new charitable foundation called “Foundation for
Families,” with a $1 million initial contribution. The Foundation,
formally unveiled in Toronto at the organization’s annual convention,
will focus on assisting families and communities in times of natural
disaster or crisis. In local communities, it will concentrate on
raising funds in response to community needs. The Foundation’s
honourary chair is Martha Billes, daughter and niece of Canadian
Tire’s founders.

Ontario LBM
buying group Torbsa Ltd. has added a new member: Village Building
Supplies (1977) Ltd., Concord, Ont.

In response
to a growing North American demand for glass fibre reinforced
shingles, Owens Corning and IKO Industries have formed a joint
venture to develop a glass fibre mat facility. The location has yet
to be determined.

Last week,
the board of directors of MacMillan Bloedel Ltd. set October 28,
1999, as the date for the special meeting of the common shareholders,
option-holders and warrant-holders to approve the arrangement
involving MacMillan Bloedel and Weyerhaeuser Company. MB’s board
unanimously supports the bid.

Rayovac
Corp. plans to take a fourth-quarter pretax charge of US$6.3 million
for costs of restructuring several areas of the company. Rayovac said
the cash cost of the charge is $2.5 million. The company will also
realize a $2.4 million after-tax charge for the writeoff of prior
capitalized financing costs. The third-largest U.S. battery maker
projects that it will save US$3.4 million annually before taxes from
its restructuring efforts.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	36.10
Canfor	13.30	4.25	12.65
Goodfellow	11.50	6.00	11.80
Hudsons Bay	23.85	14.00	21.05
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	11.50	23.60
Sears Canada	33.75	15.25	34.20
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.65
West Fraser	41.00	19.05	37.50

“May you
build a ladder to the stars/And climb on every rung/And may you stay
forever young.”

– Bob Dylan

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

David Beaudry has joined TruServ Canada as the new tool and
hardware buyer. He replaces Mel Elliott, who retired back in May
after 37 years of service. Beaudry was formerly a buyer at Princess
Auto and most recently western sales manager for Toolquip Agency. He
reports to Greg Hollander, merchandise manager hardlines – Luc Roy,
buyer for hardware, heating and farm, will turn over hardware to
Beaudry and assume responsibility for plumbing.
(204-453-9600)

James C.
MacKay has been promoted to the position of senior vice-president and
general manager of CGC Inc. He was formerly vice-president sales and
marketing. MacKay will be responsible for day to day operations of
the company, with the senior management team (operations,
manufacturing and finance) reporting directly to him. He in turn
reports directly to Jack O’Brian, vice-president of USG Corp. On an
interim basis, the existing sales and marketing staff will continue
to report to MacKay, as well. (905-803-5600)

Doug Daer
has been appointed general manager, Ontario region, at CanWel
Distribution Ltd. – Bob James has been appointed dealers sales
manager B.C. region. He will be located in the Langley, B.C.,
customer service centre. (604-888-8044)

The
following appointments have been made at King Marketing: Mark Lohr is
sales and service representative for the B.C. territory – Craig
Friesan has joined King’s Calgary team – Steve Guterres and Lee
Greengrass have joined the Vancouver service team – Jack Appleby has
been named Vancouver Island rep – Paul Krueger joins the company as
communications and IT co-ordinator. (604-271-3455)

MAAX has
announced the following appointments: André Heroux has been
promoted from vice-president & general manager of operations to
president – David Poulin moves to the position of corporate
vice-president. (418-387-4155)

Lowe’s Cos.
will now operate three distinct operating regions: northern, southern
and western. Charles W. (Nick) Canter has been appointed senior
vice-president, store operations for the northern division. Canter, a
26-year Lowe’s veteran, most recently served as senior vice
president/general merchandise manager for the lumber/building
materials group. – Greg Wessling will oversee the company’s southern
division – Bill Pelon will oversee the western division.
(336-658-4000)

OVERHEARD

“The
number-one growth category in electrical this year is ceiling
fans.”

– Jack Hayes, vice-president merchandising for Home Depot Canada,
during a walk through the new “Type Six” store in Brampton,
Ont

NOTED

At a recent
media junket hosted by “Home Improvement” star Tim Allen at his digs
in California, our very own Canadian editor, Elena Opasini of Centre
magazine, brazenly sported a Tool Time T-shirt of her own, proving
she had the all credentials to earn, albeit briefly, Binford Tool
Girl status, making us all proud!

MARKET INDICATORS

Wholesale
trade was up 0.4% in July from June, according to Stats Canada.
However, the greatest gains were in computers and software, and in
automotive. Lumber and building materials remained unchanged from
month to month, while metals, hardware, plumbing, heating and
electrical fell 3%.

* * * * * *
* *

In August,
consumers spent 2.1% more than in August 1998 for the goods and
services in the Consumer Price Index, according to Stats Canada.
August’s rise follows annual increases of 1.6% in June and 1.8% in
July, largely reflecting rising prices of gasoline and natural
gas.

THE NEW HARDLINES WHO’S WHO

The
Hardlines Who’s Who (1999-2000 Edition) is a comprehensive guide to
Canada’s leading hardware and home improvement retailers,
wholesalers, buying groups, mass merchants and co-ops. More than 100
listings include sales, product mix, SKUs, store types, executives
and key buyers and their responsibilities.

The cost for
the Hardlines Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and
$135 for non-subscribers. Order your own copy of the Hardlines Who’s
Who today!

* * * * * *
*

COLOGNE
IN Y2K:Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC
with HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

September
20, 1999 – Volume v, #37

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

MY THANKS
TO THE FOLLOWING CONFERENCE SPONSORS:

This week in Hardlines:

REVY
OPENS FIRST BIG BOX IN GTA

More than a
year after the merger of Lansing Buildall and Revy Home Centres Inc.,
Revy has opened its first Revy Home & Garden Warehouse in the
Greater Toronto Area.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Ontario LBM
buying group Torbsa Ltd. has added a new member: Village Building
Supplies (1977) Ltd., Concord, Ont.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	36.10
Canfor	13.30	4.25	12.65
Goodfellow	11.50	6.00	11.80
Hudsons Bay	23.85	14.00	21.05
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	11.50	23.60
Sears Canada	33.75	15.25	34.20
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.65
West Fraser	41.00	19.05	37.50

“May you
build a ladder to the stars/And climb on every rung/And may you stay
forever young.”

– Bob Dylan

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

OVERHEARD

NOTED

MARKET INDICATORS

* * * * * *
* *

THE NEW HARDLINES WHO’S WHO

The cost for
the Hardlines Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and
$135 for non-subscribers. Order your own copy of the Hardlines Who’s
Who today!

* * * * * *
*

COLOGNE
IN Y2K:Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC
with HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Sept13_99

Hardlines Newsletter

September
13, 1999 – Volume v, #36

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

CONFERENCE COUNTDOWN:

Hey, it’s
only three days away. What can I say? Be there or be talked about!
REGISTRATION COSTS JUST $249 FOR SUBSCRIBERS; $349 FOR
NON-SUBSCRIBERS

SPONSOR
PLUG (Hey, they make this day the great event it is. Anyone who
attended our very first conference four years ago will remember how
the paper plates kept slipping off people’s knees.) MY THANKS
TO:

–THE
COLOGNE INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE
FAIR/DIY’TEC

–STERLING
COMMERCE

–INTACTIX

–THE
WATT GROUP

–WOLF
GUGLER AND ASSOCIATES

-HARDWARE MERCHANDISING MAGAZINE

-LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS

This week in Hardlines:

HOME
DEPOT PREPARES TO UNVEIL TYPE SIX STORE IN BRAMPTON

Hardlines
took a tour the other day of the newest store from Home Depot, its
so-called Type Six store, which will open in Brampton, Ont., on
Thursday. The prototype tinkers with the Home Depot format by putting
more emphasis on categories like décor, moving some
departments around and boutiquing of displays.

This is only
the second store of its kind company wide; the first went up four
weeks ago in Tampa, Fla. The next two will open in California and
Atlanta in November and December respectively. Brampton is expected
to do $45 million in sales in its first year.

The store
itself is about 5,000 sq.ft. larger than a typical Home Depot and the
additional space has gone into the creation of

“shops,”
special areas enclosed on three sides off the main aisle across the
front of the store. The shops are about 2,400 sq.ft. each, devoted to
kitchens, flooring, wallpaper and window treatments. The idea behind
them is to give both the customer and the associate an environment
apart from the main retail area in which to concentrate on
décor related buying decisions.

The main
drive aisle runs from a huge staging area for seasonal promotions
inside the store’s main entrance. It runs at a 45-degree angle into
the middle of the store ending at the tool corral, which has been
moved back beside the paint department. A NASCAR race car is
suspended from the ceiling above the tools.

The aisle in
front of the checkouts has been widened so seasonal and special buys
can be stacked up and out from the checkout counter.

While
concepts like the shop will be exclusive to the Type Six design (at
least for now), many of the innovations being introduced here are
expected to filter back to existing stores. The flooring display is
one. Several of the shelves in the flooring aisle are tilted forward
slightly, each of them laid with a different type of hardwood
flooring.

The Brampton
store is Home Depot’s 48th in Canada; number 50 will open in Victoria
this fall.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Hechinger
Co. will finally sell its assets to pay creditors and close its
remaining 117 stores. The Largo, Md.-based retailer, which operates
Builders Square, Home Quarters Warehouse and Hechinger stores, sought
permission in June to reorganize under Chapter 11 of the U.S.
Bankruptcy Code. Its intention at the time was to close 89
underperforming stores in about 36 markets. Despite increased sales,
the move failed to give the company the cash flow it needed to turn
around in time. Hechinger plans to hold going-out-of-business sales,
subject to court approval. The sales will begin immediately and
should be completed by December.

Costco
Wholesale Corp. reported net sales of US$2.19 billion for the four
weeks ended August 29, 1999, an increase of 16% from US$1.88 billion
in the same four-week period of the prior fiscal year. Same-store
sales increased 13%. For the fiscal year ended August 29, 1999, the
company reported net sales of US$26.98 billion, an increase of 13%
from US$23.83 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales for the year
increased 10%. During fiscal 1999, Costco opened 21 new locations,
including two in Canada, for a total of 58 here. Masco has added to
its stable of companies with the acquisitions of Arrow Fastener, Behr
Process, Inrecon, Mill’s Pride, and Superia Radiatoren, a Belgian
radiator company. Cost of the acquisitions is about US$3.8
billion.

Illinois
Tool Works Inc. (ITW Construction Products in Canada) announced last
Thursday it will buy Premark International Inc. The all-stock deal,
valued at about US$3.6 billion, is the largest of a long series of
acquisitions by ITW and will blend two of the Chicago area’s largest
companies. ITW is the 11th-largest company in the Chicago area based
on market capitalization, or the total value of its stock, with
revenues of US$5.65 billion. Premark, with revenues of US$2.7
billion, will become a wholly owned unit of ITW. Premark’s brand
names include West Bend, Florida Tile, Wilsonart, Hobart and
Vulcan.

CCPC
Acquisition Corp., the parent of Corning Consumer Products Co., will
purchase 93% of the outstanding shares of EKCO Group Inc. Corning is
an affiliate of Borden Inc. The deal is expected to go through in
about a week.

GoodHome.com
and nHabit.com have announced they will merge, resulting in the
largest company of its kind, combining more than US$65 million in the
first major consolidation in the Internet home products category. The
consolidated company, which will operate under the GoodHome.com name,
will launch its flagship Web site this month. GoodHome.com will let
consumers mix and match fabrics on furniture, click to change window
coverings and wallpaper, and customize colours, trims, and
accessories to create and visualize their ideal room &endash; right
online.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	36.30
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.10
Goodfellow	11.50	6.00	11.75
Hudsons Bay	23.85	14.00	21.05
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	11.50	24.10
Sears Canada	33.75	15.25	33.70
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.85
West Fraser	41.00	19.05	36.70

“I am as I
paint.”

&endash; Pablo Picasso, to Jean Cocteau during the development of a
play by Cocteau in the ’30s, for which Picasso was doing the set
design &endash; in his typically irascible fashion.

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Louise Rainville has been promoted to the position of
merchandising manager at OSRAM Sylvania Ltd. She comes up from the
customer service department. (1-800-544-4828)

The Home
Depot in Atlanta has named Pat Farrah executive vice-president of
merchandising, replacing Bill Hamlin, who is retiring for health
reasons. Farrah was responsible for coming up with the idea that was
the precursor to the big box in California back in the ’70s – Mark
Baker is taking on additional responsibility as the senior
vice-president of merchandising for the core business, replacing
Farrah. Baker also will oversee marketing and communications and
proprietary brands – Steve Mahurin has been promoted to senior
vice-president of merchandising for lumber and millwork – Greg Turner
has been promoted to senior vice-president of merchandising for
flooring, paint, hardware, blinds and wallpaper – Ken Ubertino
continues as senior vice-president of merchandising for plumbing,
electrical and lighting, garden, kitchen and bath.
(770-433-8211)

OVERHEARD

“We sought
Chapter 11 protection in order to evaluate the various alternatives
for reorganizing the company. Unfortunately, it is clear that
continued losses and stiff competition have made it highly unlikely
that a traditional reorganization would be possible.”&endash; Richard
J. Lynch, CEO of Hechinger Co., commenting on the company’s announced
liquidation.

NOTED

The Supreme
Court of Canada has ruled to permit leafleting at secondary retail
locations. The decision allows unions to approach customers to hand
out leaflets in front of stores or other locations even though their
dispute is not with that store or even that retailer. The ruling
stemmed from a 1992 dispute on Vancouver Island between a union and
K-mart Canada Ltd. During a strike, union members distributed
leaflets and other materials at K-mart stores not involved in the
fight.

MARKET INDICATORS

Housing
starts in Canada remained essentially unchanged in August at 147,400
units seasonally adjusted, up 1.1% from 147,000 in July, according to
CMHC. Urban multiples were up 10.6% to 53,000 units while urban
single starts declined 6.1% to 72,000. CMHC now expects this year’s
starts to outpace last year’s total of 137,439, based on August’s
activity and given recent trends in employment growth, mortgage rates
and migration.

Residential
construction in Prairie urban centres increased 10.3% from July to
29,000 units. Singles rose 5.6% to 16,900 while multiples rose to
12,100 units. Starts were up in Alberta, but down in Manitoba and
Saskatchewan. Overall, Ontario starts increased by 1.1% last month to
61,800 from 61,100 units in July. Multiples rose by 21% to 27,200
units. Singles went down 10.6% to 34,600. Toronto’s residential
construction was up sharply to 38,400 from 29,200 units in July.

British
Columbia starts were 12,900 units in August compared with 13,400 the
previous month. Singles decreased to 7,300 units and multiples to
5,600 units. In Vancouver, starts went down to 8,000 from 8,900 units
the previous month.

Residential
construction in Québec urban centres decreased 6.2% to 16,600
units. Singles dropped 6.7% to 9,800 while multiples went down 5.6%
to 6,800 units. Starts in Montréal were down to 9,200 units.

Atlantic
starts dropped by 23.0% in August to 4,700 units, compared with 6,100
in July. Starts were up in Prince Edward Island but down in Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

* * * * * *
* *

The new
housing price index increased 0.2% from June to July, according to
Stats Canada. This index of contractors’ selling prices for new
houses rose 0.6% from July ’98. In most areas, the increase was due
to higher costs for materials such as lumber and drywall.

THE NEW HARDLINES WHO’S WHO WILL BE AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 16 AT THE
HARDLINES MARKETING CONFERENCE!

The cost for
the Hardlines Who’s Who is only $105 for Hardlines subscribers and
$135 for non-subscribers (but we’ll have a special price at the
Conference and for reorders). Order your own copy of the Hardlines
Who’s Who today!

* * * * * *
*

COLOGNE
IN Y2K:Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC
with HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

September
13, 1999 – Volume v, #36

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

CONFERENCE COUNTDOWN:

Hey, it’s
only three days away. What can I say? Be there or be talked about!
REGISTRATION COSTS JUST $249 FOR SUBSCRIBERS; $349 FOR
NON-SUBSCRIBERS

–THE
COLOGNE INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE
FAIR/DIY’TEC

–STERLING
COMMERCE

–INTACTIX

–THE
WATT GROUP

–WOLF
GUGLER AND ASSOCIATES

-HARDWARE MERCHANDISING MAGAZINE

-LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS

This week in Hardlines:

HOME
DEPOT PREPARES TO UNVEIL TYPE SIX STORE IN BRAMPTON

The store
itself is about 5,000 sq.ft. larger than a typical Home Depot and the
additional space has gone into the creation of

The aisle in
front of the checkouts has been widened so seasonal and special buys
can be stacked up and out from the checkout counter.

The Brampton
store is Home Depot’s 48th in Canada; number 50 will open in Victoria
this fall.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	46.00	29.00	36.30
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.10
Goodfellow	11.50	6.00	11.75
Hudsons Bay	23.85	14.00	21.05
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	11.50	24.10
Sears Canada	33.75	15.25	33.70
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	13.85
West Fraser	41.00	19.05	36.70

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Louise Rainville has been promoted to the position of
merchandising manager at OSRAM Sylvania Ltd. She comes up from the
customer service department. (1-800-544-4828)

OVERHEARD

NOTED

MARKET INDICATORS

Atlantic
starts dropped by 23.0% in August to 4,700 units, compared with 6,100
in July. Starts were up in Prince Edward Island but down in Nova
Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

* * * * * *
* *

THE NEW HARDLINES WHO’S WHO WILL BE AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 16 AT THE
HARDLINES MARKETING CONFERENCE!

* * * * * *
*

COLOGNE
IN Y2K:Come to the Cologne International Hardware Fair/DIY’TEC
with HARDLINES, March 12-15, 2000, in Cologne, Germany.

Six good
reasons to travel with Hardlines:

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Sept7_99

Hardlines Newsletter

September
7, 1999 – Volume v, #35

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

CONFERENCE UPDATE:

I CAN’T
BELIEVE THE INCREDIBLE RESPONSE WE’RE GETTING FOR THIS YEAR’S
HARDLINES MARKETING CONFERENCE! PEOPLE ARE COMING FROM RIGHT ACROSS
THE COUNTRY &endash; AND EVEN UP FROM THE U.S. BUT WHO CAN BLAME
THEM? JUST CHECK OUT THIS LINEUP OF SPEAKERS …

DAN
COTTER OF TRUSERV CORP.: the changing role of the independent as
it competes alongside new retail formats &endash; including the big
box.

DAVID
KRAWZYK OF WICKES
LUMBER:
his company’s strategy for targetting the contractor customer and
increasing sales in the very competitive U.S. home improvement
market.

LARRY
MOORE OF SEARS
CANADA:
the HomeCentral program, the latest in home maintenance and
customer relation-building.

MIKE
LARGENT OF STAMBAUGH
HARDWARE:
can a small hardware store be tightly formatted? It worked for
Mac’s Milk, Blockbuster Video and lots of other retail chains. Why
not hardware?

JOHN
MacDOUGALL OF AWARD: Imagine offering your customer a monthly
payment plan with on the spot financing for their home improvement
projects.

JUST $249
FOR SUBSCRIBERS; $349 FOR NON-SUBSCRIBERS. SPACE IS FILLING FAST SO
REGISTER NOW!!!

HOTEL: CALL
THE SHERATON
PARKWAY TORONTO NORTH HOTEL
FOR OUR HARDLINES CONFERENCE RATE: 1-800-668-0101.

WOW! TWO
NEW SPONSORS HAVE SIGNED UP TO SUPPORT THE CONFERENCE. MY THANKS
TO:

HARDWARE
MERCHANDISING MAGAZINE AND WOLF
GUGLER AND ASSOCIATES,
WHO JOIN:

–THE
WATT GROUP

–THE
COLOGNE INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE
FAIR/DIY’TEC

–INTACTIX

–STERLING
COMMERCE

-LOGISTICS SOLUTIONS

This week in Hardlines:

CANADIAN
TIRE ROLLS OUT PARTSOURCE PROGRAM

Canadian
Tire Corp.
is finally rolling out its PartSource retail chain nationally. The
stores, which feature about 7,000 sq.ft. of selling space, are aimed
at both heavy automotive DIY customers and professional automotive
installers. Stores stock approximately 20,000 products and offer
same-day deliver of an additional 100,000 products.

Bruce Allen,
previously vice-president, Automotive for Canadian Tire, is the
president of PartSource. A new management team has been put in place,
including new buyers, to oversee the program, which will operate as a
strategic business unit within Canadian Tire.

The
stand-alone stores will be franchised in the same manner Canadian
Tire store ownership is structured. Some will be franchised by
existing Canadian Tire dealers.

Seven stores
were opened last year on a test basis in Hamilton and Cambridge,
Ont., and Calgary. Canadian Tire plans to open about 200 PartSource
stores in total, with a total investment of up to $400 million and
the creation of 3,000-4,000 retail jobs during the next few years. A
market-by-market assessment process is underway which will determine
markets to be targeted first.

RONA L’ENTREPÔT EXPANSION WILL CREATE NORTH AMERICA’S
LARGEST HOME RENOVATION CENTRE

RONA inc.
plans to expand its L’entrepôt de St-Bruno big box store to a
total of 161,000 sq.ft. by the end of 1999. The result, says the
company, will be the largest home renovation centre in North
America.

Plans
include expansion of the existing indoor drive-through lumberyard to
37,000 sq.ft. Other departments slated for expansion are seasonal,
plumbing, lighting and paint. The project will cost $3.5
million.

Under RONA’s
partnership formula, the St-Bruno warehouse store is owned by the
following RONA dealer-owners: Simon Cloutier, owner of the
Rénovateur in Ste-Marie-de-Beauce; Raynauld Archambault and
Robert Houle, co-owners of the Houle Inc. hardware store in
Iberville; André H. Gagnon, Stéphane Gagnon and
Jean-François Gagnon, co-owners of the Gagnon et Fils hardware
stores in St-Hyacinthe and Granby; Jean-Pierre Lauzon, of the J.P.
Lauzon hardware store in Chambly; Gérard Mercier, owner of the
Brien hardware store in Longueuil; and Renaud Morissette of Acton
Vale.

The company
has just announced construction of a 12th L’entrepôt warehouse,
to be located in Brossard, and upcoming openings of two new
medium-size Le Rénovateur Regional stores in Granby and
St-Hyacinthe. Since early 1999, RONA has opened five Le
Rénovateur Régional stores and one L’entrepôt in
Québec. It also plans to open about 20 new stores in Ontario
over the next four years.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

RONA inc. is
currently determining the site for a second l’entrepôt big box
store in the Ottawa region. Details should be forthcoming in the next
few weeks.

Sexton Group
has added the following new members: Empire Lumber, Manning, Alta.;
Crawford Truss and Floor Systems, Aldersyde, Alta.; Metal Building
Systems, Airdrie, Alta.; Redriver Lumber, Estevan, Sask.; Rightway
Building Products Inc., High Level, Alta.; Fouillard Discount Centre,
St. Lazare, Man.; Longlac

Building
Centre, Longlac, Ont.; Figure 8 O/A Deh Cho Hardware, Fort Simpson
NWT; Oakland Supply, Saskatoon; Ed Kaun & Sons, Fort Frances,
Ont.; Curtis Lumber (Sunshine Coast), Madeira Park, B.C.; and Kenroc
Drywall Supplies, Minneapolis, Minn.

Better
Living Products of Canada has signed Williams Marketing Group to
represent it in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Williams is headed up by D’Arcy Williams.

Rubbermaid
Canada will expand its Mississauga, Ont., manufacturing and
distribution facility, beginning this month, with completion
estimated by sometime in the second half of 2000. The expansion will
include increased warehouse space and new manufacturing
technology.

Nu-Gro Corp.
has signed a letter of intent to purchase the assets of the Canadian
operations of Consolidated Envirowaste Industries Inc., a developer
and operator of organic waste recycling facilities that produces
saleable end products. The cash deal is expected to close by
September 30.

German
cement and building materials company Dyckerhoff AG agreed last
Thursday to buy U.S. cement and ready-mixed concrete company Lone
Star Industries for US$1.2 billion including the assumption of debt.
Dyckerhoff did not specify the amount of debt it agreed to assume but
launched an all-cash tender offer for all of Lone Star’s outstanding
common stock at $50 a share.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	45.00	29.00	37.25
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.10
Goodfellow	11.50	6.00	11.15
Hudsons Bay	23.85	14.00	20.60
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	11.50	23.35
Sears Canada	33.75	15.25	32.45
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	41.00	19.05	37.50

“What are
the three words guaranteed to humiliate men everywhere? ‘Hold my
purse.'”

&endash; Francois Morency

“I got
kicked out of Riverdance for using my arms.”

&endash; Gary Valentine

(On the
1-800 hotline number on a jar of pickles) “Who the hell’s got pickle
questions?”

&endash; Tim Steeves

(Highlights
from the annual “Just For Laughs” festival held this summer in
Montréal)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

DTim Urquhart has left Homecare Building Centres, where he was in
charge of purchasing for building materials, to join Cameron Ashley
Building Products as vice-president, western division … Urquhart
replaces Gary Robb, who has been appointed vice-president, business
planning. (403-203-5070)

David Hoyes
has joined Homecare Building Centres Ltd. as manager of purchasing.
He was formerly at Beaver Lumber as director of merchandising for
building materials and millwork. (905-671-2424)

The
following corporate management changes, effective November 1, 1999,
have been announced at the WINROC Corp.: Jake Kooy has been appointed
operations manager for Allroc Building Products Ltd. He was formerly
operations manager for Winroc’s Canadian Prairie Region … Bob
Hancock has been appointed operations manager for Winroc’s U.S.
locations. He was formerly Allroc’s general manager … Russ
Andrew has been appointed to the position of operations manager for
Winroc’s Canadian locations. He was formerly operations manager for
Winroc’s British Columbia Region. (403-236-5383)

Jeff
McCarroll has joined Castle Building Centres as hardlines
co-ordinator. A graduate of business administration at Sheridan
College, he reports to Carmen Ruffolo, Castle’s product manager,
hardlines. (905-564-3307)

Janet M. Roy
has been appointed vice-president, sales and marketing, for Canada
Cordage Inc. A past president of the Canadian Hardware and Housewares
Manufacturers Association, she was most recently a group product
manager at CIBC. Before that, she was vice-president, consumer
products, for Pyrene Corp. (519-745-7391)

Brass Craft
Canada Ltd. has appointed Terry V. Gillard to the position of
vice-president of retail sales. He has been with the company for the
last 10 years as treasurer. (519-633-0340)

Clint
Ellicott has been promoted to Ontario sales manager at Lafarge
Packaged Materials. (416-787-4917)

Greg LaVigne
has been appointed Ontario sales manager for BPB Westroc. He was
formerly at the Lighting Division of Philips Electronics as director
of trade marketing. (905-823-9881)

CORRECTION:
Garry Boniface is the new national acounts team leader at LePage for
the Maritimes and Ontario. (905-459-1140)

MARKET INDICATORS

Wholesale
trade remained unchanged in June from May, amounting to $29.8
billion, according to Stats Canada. Discounting the automotive
sector, sales rose 0.4% and sales of metals, hardware, plumbing and
heating rose 1.2%. Lumber and building materials rose 1.2%, as
well.

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

September
7, 1999 – Volume v, #35

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

CONFERENCE UPDATE:

DAN
COTTER OF TRUSERV CORP.: the changing role of the independent as
it competes alongside new retail formats &endash; including the big
box.

DAVID
KRAWZYK OF WICKES
LUMBER:
his company’s strategy for targetting the contractor customer and
increasing sales in the very competitive U.S. home improvement
market.

LARRY
MOORE OF SEARS
CANADA:
the HomeCentral program, the latest in home maintenance and
customer relation-building.

MIKE
LARGENT OF STAMBAUGH
HARDWARE:
can a small hardware store be tightly formatted? It worked for
Mac’s Milk, Blockbuster Video and lots of other retail chains. Why
not hardware?

JOHN
MacDOUGALL OF AWARD: Imagine offering your customer a monthly
payment plan with on the spot financing for their home improvement
projects.

JUST $249
FOR SUBSCRIBERS; $349 FOR NON-SUBSCRIBERS. SPACE IS FILLING FAST SO
REGISTER NOW!!!

HOTEL: CALL
THE SHERATON
PARKWAY TORONTO NORTH HOTEL
FOR OUR HARDLINES CONFERENCE RATE: 1-800-668-0101.

WOW! TWO
NEW SPONSORS HAVE SIGNED UP TO SUPPORT THE CONFERENCE. MY THANKS
TO:

This week in Hardlines:

CANADIAN
TIRE ROLLS OUT PARTSOURCE PROGRAM

The
stand-alone stores will be franchised in the same manner Canadian
Tire store ownership is structured. Some will be franchised by
existing Canadian Tire dealers.

RONA L’ENTREPÔT EXPANSION WILL CREATE NORTH AMERICA’S
LARGEST HOME RENOVATION CENTRE

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

RONA inc. is
currently determining the site for a second l’entrepôt big box
store in the Ottawa region. Details should be forthcoming in the next
few weeks.

Better
Living Products of Canada has signed Williams Marketing Group to
represent it in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
Williams is headed up by D’Arcy Williams.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	45.00	29.00	37.25
Canfor	13.30	4.25	11.10
Goodfellow	11.50	6.00	11.15
Hudsons Bay	23.85	14.00	20.60
MacMillan Blo.	27.85	11.50	23.35
Sears Canada	33.75	15.25	32.45
Taiga Forest	14.75	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	41.00	19.05	37.50

“What are
the three words guaranteed to humiliate men everywhere? ‘Hold my
purse.'”

&endash; Francois Morency

“I got
kicked out of Riverdance for using my arms.”

&endash; Gary Valentine

(On the
1-800 hotline number on a jar of pickles) “Who the hell’s got pickle
questions?”

&endash; Tim Steeves

(Highlights
from the annual “Just For Laughs” festival held this summer in
Montréal)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

David Hoyes
has joined Homecare Building Centres Ltd. as manager of purchasing.
He was formerly at Beaver Lumber as director of merchandising for
building materials and millwork. (905-671-2424)

Brass Craft
Canada Ltd. has appointed Terry V. Gillard to the position of
vice-president of retail sales. He has been with the company for the
last 10 years as treasurer. (519-633-0340)

Clint
Ellicott has been promoted to Ontario sales manager at Lafarge
Packaged Materials. (416-787-4917)

Greg LaVigne
has been appointed Ontario sales manager for BPB Westroc. He was
formerly at the Lighting Division of Philips Electronics as director
of trade marketing. (905-823-9881)

CORRECTION:
Garry Boniface is the new national acounts team leader at LePage for
the Maritimes and Ontario. (905-459-1140)

MARKET INDICATORS

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Aug23_99

Hardlines Newsletter

August
23, 1999 – Volume v, #33

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

This week in Hardlines:

RÉNO-DÉPOT
PREPARES TO ENTER ONTARIO

The
guesswork has come out of Réno-Dépôt’s plans for
challenging Home Depot in Québec. With the hiring of two
former Home Depot people, Réno-Dépôt has chosen
to take its battle to the marketplace.

Réno-Dépôt
had been challenged by Home Depot’s recent decision to flout the
non-compete clause that prevents the two companies from entering each
other’s markets. But the hiring of two ex-Home Depot executives,
Dennis Kennedy as regional vice-president of operations for Ontario
and James Jones as general merchandising manager for Ontario,
confirms Réno-Dépôt intention to enter that
province.

Réno-Dépôt
president and CEO Yves Archambault would not confirm or deny the
expansion move, but said, “The writing is on the wall.” He would also
not comment on whether Réno-Dépôt will continue
its challenge of Home Depot in the courts.

Further
details will be forthcoming as plans for Ontario expansion become
fine-tuned. This will include choosing a name for the stores, as the
Réno-Dépôt name cannot be used outside
Québec. This is part of an agreement between
Réno-Dépôt and Home Depot that is not part of the
disputed non-compete clause.

HOME DEPOT CANADA’S GROWTH EXCEEDS COMPANY AVERAGE

Home Depot
in the U.S. has reported a 45% rise in second-quarter net income of
US$679 million, compared with US$467 million for the same period last
year. Revenue rose 28% to US$10.4 billion from $8.1 billion, while
the average sale per transaction increased 7%.

Same store
sales were up 11% year to date, but Canada’s stores were slightly
higher than that, says Home Depot Canada’s vice-president,
merchandising, Jack Hayes. He adds that sales transactions per
customer also increased faster than the company average.

Home Depot
has recently launched its Villager Hardware test store in New Jersey.
However, Canada will have to wait until at least 2001 before the
concept comes here, says Hayes.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Sales at
Sodisco-Howden Group climbed 13% to $205.4 million, up $23.1 million
from $182.3 million in the same period of 1998. Net earnings for the
first six months jumped 193% to $3.3 million, a $2.2 million increase
over the same period last year. In addition, the company’s working
capital reached $16.6 million, compared with $6.2 million last
year.

During the
second quarter ended June 30, 1999, sales reached $130.8 million, up
18% from $111.2 million in the same period last year. The growth was
attributed to improved results from its retail customers and the
addition of new customers, both inside and outside the bannered
network.

* * * * * *
* *

Sales by
RONA inc. increased during the second quarter ended June 30, reaching
$303.7 million, up 17.7% from $258 million a year earlier. Net
earnings for the second quarter were $5.8 million, up 12.5% from $5.1
million during the same period in 1998.

RONA has
begun construction of its 12th L’entrepôt big box, this one in
Brossard. The 145,000-sq.ft. store will open early in 2000 with a
staff of 250. RONA will also open a Rénovateur Régional
in Granby in September and one in St-Hyacinthe in November.

* * * * * *
* *

T. Eaton Co.
has filed for protection under federal bankruptcy laws. The move
gives the 130-year-old company 30 days to provide a plan to its
creditors. During this time it intends to pursue discussions with
potential buyers of either its assets or shares. Eaton’s expects to
start the big liquidation sale early this week.

* * * * * *
* *

Weyerhaeuser’s
planned acquisition of MacMillan Bloedel moved further toward closing
last weekend when the U.S. Federal Trade Commission allowed the
mandatory 30-day waiting period following pre-merger notification to
expire without taking further action. This effectively ends antitrust
review by the FTC. The transaction is still subject to other
regulatory approvals, a favourable vote by MacMillan Bloedel
shareholders, court approval in Canada, and other customary closing
conditions.

* * * * * *
* *

Nu-Gro’s
sales for the third quarter ended June 30 grew from $39.13 million a
year earlier to $48.51 million. Net earnings grew from $3.28 million
to $4.51 million. For the nine month period, sales were $106.58
million, up 50% over the same period in 1998. Acquisitions accounted
for 29% of the increase.

* * * * * *
* *

PMMI
International has launched a new division, PMMI Industrial Ltd., to
sell into the industrial hardware market. PMMI has a new address:
1145 Bellamy Rd. N., Unit 9, Scarborough, Ont. M1H 1H5; phone:
416-289-0588; fax: 416-289-0396.

* * * * * *
* *

Sears in the
U.S. will change its Orchard hardware stores back to Sears Hardware.
Orchard Hardware & Garden was bought by Sears in 1996 and the
name was applied to Sears Hardware stores. However, the Orchard name
failed to attract women shoppers, while the Sears name had better
recognition among traditional customers. The change will affect 250
hardware stores across the country.

* * * * * *
* *

EXPO Design
Center, a division of Home Depot in the U.S., will expand into
Boston, San Francisco, New Jersey and Detroit with a total of 11 new
stores. EXPO currently has 12 stores with plans to build three more
this fiscal year. The 11 stores planned for 2000 will bring the total
to 26. Home Depot plans to operate 200 of these large interior-design
showrooms in North America by 2005. However, no schedule has been
determined for any stores in Canada.

* * * * * *
* *

The Stanley
Works received the Vendor of the Year Award at the National Hardware
Show in Chicago last week. The award recognizes the one supplier that
demonstrated the greatest overall commitment to serving home center
and building material dealers in the past year. It is sponsored by
National Home Center News.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	45.00	29.00	38.35
Canfor	10.75	4.25	11.90
Goodfellow	10.25	6.00	10.95
Hudsons Bay	35.10	14.00	22.30
MacMillan Blo.	20.40	11.50	25.65
Sears Canada	32.00	15.25	32.25
Taiga Forest	13.30	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	39.50	19.05	37.75

“Warmed up
cabbage wears out the poor master’s life.”

-Juvenal (60-130 A.D.)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Dawn Brinkmeier’s duties at Federated Co-operatives have shifted.
Formerly buyer for paint and plumbing, she now handles paint and
housewares. (306-244-3311)

At LePage,
Doug Whaley has been promoted to director of Canadian sales for DIY,
office products group and professional accounts. He was formerly
national accounts manager – Richard Marcoux has been named national
acounts team leader for Québec. He was formerly key account
manager for the region – Alan Moyer becomes national acounts team
leader for Western Canada, from key account manager. Barry Boniface
assumes the role of national acounts team leader for for the
Maritimes and Ontario, also from key account manager.
(905-459-1140)

Susanna
Trebuss has been promoted to director of marketing for Masco Corp.
She was formerly director of retail sales. She will still be
responsible for all retail accounts in Canada.
(313-792-4401)

Gary Minaker
has joined Task Tools and Abrasives as key account manager.
(519-751-1077)

John
Frizzell has joined Northern Marketing and Sales Inc. in a senior
sales position with key account responsibility. He moves over from
Brass Craft Canada, where he was vice-president of sales.
(519-680-0385)

Philip
Orsino, president and CEO of Premdor Inc., has been diagnosed with a
form of leukemia and is currently undergoing treatment in Toronto. He
will continue to run the company. (905-670-6500)

MARKET INDICATORS

National
housing levels dropped 4.5% in July, to 145,000 units seasonally
adjusted from 151,800 in June, says CMHC. Urban single starts were up
2.1% to 76,100 units, while urban multiples decreased 15.6% to 46,500
units. Ontario was down 10.8% to 60,600 units. Starts in
Québec were up 2.9%. British Columbia was up from 11,400 units
to 11,900 units. In Vancouver, starts were up to 7,900 from 6,400 the
previous month. Prairie housing starts remained unchanged at 26,300
units. A decrease in Alberta was offset by strong gains in
Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Starts in Atlantic Canada dropped to 6,100
units from 6,800 in June. The drop was due to a decline in Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick; Prince Edward Island was up and
Newfoundland remained stable.

Building
permits increased 4.9% in June from the previous month, according to
Stats Canada. This is the first year since 1991 that building permits
have reached or exceeded $3 billion in more than one month. Housing
intentions rose 1.4% in June, following a 10.5% jump in May.
Single-family units rose 6.8% while permits for multi-family
dwellings fell 11.2%.

OVERHEARD…”The programs we’re offering the independent are
working very successfully. We are able to provide the programs to
help independents not just compete, but grow their businesses. I
think the independent, well positioned, will do extremely well, and
our numbers are a tribute to that.”-Tony Molluso, president and CEO
of Sodisco-Howden Group, on the strength of the company’s
second-quarter results.

-“In our
research, we asked customers where they liked to shop and they said
Sears Hardware, and that they preferred it not only to Orchard, but
also to the competition. They told us they wanted Sears Hardware
back.”- Chuck Merydith, a spokesperson at Sears headquarters in the
U.S., on the company’s decision to eliminate the Orchard Supply
name.

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

August
23, 1999 – Volume v, #33

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

This week in Hardlines:

RÉNO-DÉPOT
PREPARES TO ENTER ONTARIO

HOME DEPOT CANADA’S GROWTH EXCEEDS COMPANY AVERAGE

Home Depot
has recently launched its Villager Hardware test store in New Jersey.
However, Canada will have to wait until at least 2001 before the
concept comes here, says Hayes.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

* * * * * *
* *

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	45.00	29.00	38.35
Canfor	10.75	4.25	11.90
Goodfellow	10.25	6.00	10.95
Hudsons Bay	35.10	14.00	22.30
MacMillan Blo.	20.40	11.50	25.65
Sears Canada	32.00	15.25	32.25
Taiga Forest	13.30	8.65	14.00
West Fraser	39.50	19.05	37.75

“Warmed up
cabbage wears out the poor master’s life.”

-Juvenal (60-130 A.D.)

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Dawn Brinkmeier’s duties at Federated Co-operatives have shifted.
Formerly buyer for paint and plumbing, she now handles paint and
housewares. (306-244-3311)

Susanna
Trebuss has been promoted to director of marketing for Masco Corp.
She was formerly director of retail sales. She will still be
responsible for all retail accounts in Canada.
(313-792-4401)

Gary Minaker
has joined Task Tools and Abrasives as key account manager.
(519-751-1077)

Philip
Orsino, president and CEO of Premdor Inc., has been diagnosed with a
form of leukemia and is currently undergoing treatment in Toronto. He
will continue to run the company. (905-670-6500)

MARKET INDICATORS

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

Aug2_99

Hardlines Newsletter

August 2,
1999 – Volume v, #32

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE: HARDLINES WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED AUGUST 9, AUGUST 16
OR AUGUST 30. THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF HARDLINES WILL REMAIN OPEN
WITH REDUCED STAFF DURING THIS TIME.

ARE YOU RETAIL READY? A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

Get the big
picture on how retailers can stay successful in the next millennium.
Join me at the Fourth Annual Hardlines Marketing Conference and hear
from a who’s who of North American retail experts:

September
16, 1999, at the Sheraton
Parkway Hotel,
just north of Toronto. Only $249 for subscribers; way more for
non-subscribers. Register now!!!

HOTEL
RESERVATION DEADLINE: To secure your room reservation at the low
Hardlines Conference rate of $149.00 or the adjoining Best Western
Hotel at $119, you must call call the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North
Hotel by August 16: 1-800-668-0101.

My thanks to
this year’s sponsors:

–The
Watt Group

–Cologne
International Hardware
Fair/DIY’Tec

–Intactix

–Sterling
Commerce

–Logistics Solutions.

COLOGNE INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE FAIR IN Y2K

Don’t miss the largest hardware and home improvement show in the
world – join Hardlines on an excursion to the Cologne International
Hardware Fair/DIY’Tec, March 12-16, 2000. We’re putting together an
outstanding package that will make the trip affordable – and
profitable – for exporters and buyers alike. E-mail
us for more info!

This week in Hardlines:

ACE TO
LAUNCH ITS OWN DEALER MARKET

Ace
Hardware
will host its first annual dealer market in Canada on October 24 and
25 at the Toronto Congress Centre. The timing is right, says Wolf
Gruber, president of Ace Hardware Canada. “We are now of the size,
and have progressed, such that we can have our own show.

“All Ace
customers [in Canada] will be invited to that show – and
those that want to be Ace customers will also be invited,” says
Gruber. Ace claims to ship to more than 500 customers each
week.

The show
will have much in common with a typical dealer market, including show
specials, prizes and guest speakers. But the highlight, says Gruber,
will be the unveiling of Ace’s Canadian Discovery Programs, “the next
generation of category management approaches to merchandising.” The
theme of the event is “Discover Ace.”

No
information is available yet on when Ace will introduce a spring
market in addition to the fall one.

REVY CONTINUES EXPANSION IN GTA

Despite
delays, the Lansing division of Revy Home & Garden will begin
opening stores this fall in the Greater Toronto Area. The first is
scheduled for September 18 at the Erin Mills location in Mississauga,
Ont. The next one will open its doors in Vaughan, north of the city,
sometime before the end of the year, according to Revy president Carl
Grittner. “We may even get a third store up by the end of the year,”
he adds. Two more sites, for a total of five, have been finalized,
including one in Scarborough, south of Highway 401, in a power centre
alongside a Wal-Mart and a Canadian Tire.

Revy is also
looking at sites in southwestern Ontario, including one in Kitchener.
“But Toronto is our key market,” Grittner says.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

Home Depot
Canada opened its latest store in Toronto last Thursday. The store is
in Etobicoke, on Kipling Avenue just north of Highway 401. Other
openings in coming weeks include a store in Ajax, followed by a new
store in Scarborough (referred to as “Scarborough South”), at
Eglinton Avenue East and McCowan Road.

* * * * * *
* *

Le Groupe
Forex Inc. has received an offer from Boise Cascade Corp. for the
acquisition of all the shares of Forex valued at $30 cash per share.
The offer must be approved by Forex shareholders, who have until
August 9 to decide. The Boise Cascade offer exceeds the offer of $26
per share made by Louisiana-Pacific.

* * * * * *
* *

DAP Products
Inc. and DAP Canada Corp. have entered into an agreement to be
purchased by RPM Inc. RPM, which also owns Tremco, made the deal with
DAP’s parent company, Wassall PLC. The sale is expected to close on
or around August 5.

* * * * * *
* *

The
involvement of the Lumber and Building Materials Association of
Ontario in the Canadian Hardware and Building Materials Show,
February 6-8, 2000, has spurred exhibitor involvement by LBM
suppliers. There are 95 LBM companies already booked for the show,
including a number of first-time exhibitors that were formerly at the
LBMAO’s now-defunct Canadian Home Centre Show.

Also: the
cost of onsite registration for CHS will increase from $20 to $25.
About 4% of attendees register at the door.

* * * * * *
* *

Home Depot
Inc. has been sending letters out to its vendors asking them not to
sell directly to consumers on the Internet. Home Depot sees
e-commerce as a huge growth opportunity and has made it clear that it
will be reluctant to do business with vendors who become competitors
by selling online. Home Depot spokesman Jerry Shields said the letter
was not intended to sound coercive. The company doesn’t sell online
yet, but Shields said it hopes to start in late 1999 or early 2000.

* * * * * *
* *

CLARIFICATION:
Castle’s buying agreement with Ace Hardware Canada, as reported last
week, is not a preferred agreement, but a wholesale supply
arrangement only, and bears no similarity to Castle’s deal with
TruServ Canada.

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	45.00	29.00	39.20
Canfor	10.75	4.25	11.50
Goodfellow	10.25	6.00	10.05
Hudsons Bay	35.10	14.00	18.00
MacMillan Blo.	20.40	11.50	26.10
Sears Canada	32.00	15.25	30.70
Taiga Forest	13.30	8.65	13.20
West Fraser	39.50	19.05	36.50

“Four things
I’d been better without: Love curiosity, freckles, and doubt.”

&endash; Dorothy Parker

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

Blair Douglas, president of N.F. Douglas Home Hardware in
Caledonia, N.S., has been elected president of the National Retail
Hardware Association for 1999-2000. Douglas is a past president of
the Canadian Retail Hardware Association, which is affiliated with
the NRHA, and he serves as the CRHA’s representative on the NRHA
board. (902-682-2334)

MARKET INDICATORS

CMHC’s
second quarter market analysis states that housing starts in primary
and secondary urban markets will decline by 2.1% in 1999, due largely
to weakness in British Columbia and in Alberta, which will have a
declining influx of population. Ontario, and especially Toronto, will
remain strong, while Quebec and the Atlantic region will be healthy.
The decrease in 1999 follows a 1.4% decrease in 1998. Drops will
occur in both multiple and single family starts.

Hardlines
Classifieds

* * * * * *
*

August 2,
1999 – Volume v, #32

Michael McLarney, Editor & Publisher

Ph: 416-489-3396 Fx: 416-489-6154

HOLIDAY SCHEDULE: HARDLINES WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED AUGUST 9, AUGUST 16
OR AUGUST 30. THE WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF HARDLINES WILL REMAIN OPEN
WITH REDUCED STAFF DURING THIS TIME.

ARE YOU RETAIL READY? A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

September
16, 1999, at the Sheraton
Parkway Hotel,
just north of Toronto. Only $249 for subscribers; way more for
non-subscribers. Register now!!!

My thanks to
this year’s sponsors:

–The
Watt Group

–Cologne
International Hardware
Fair/DIY’Tec

–Intactix

–Sterling
Commerce

–Logistics Solutions.

This week in Hardlines:

ACE TO
LAUNCH ITS OWN DEALER MARKET

No
information is available yet on when Ace will introduce a spring
market in addition to the fall one.

REVY CONTINUES EXPANSION IN GTA

Revy is also
looking at sites in southwestern Ontario, including one in Kitchener.
“But Toronto is our key market,” Grittner says.

COMPANIES IN THE NEWS

* * * * * *
* *

Also: the
cost of onsite registration for CHS will increase from $20 to $25.
About 4% of attendees register at the door.

* * * * * *
* *

CANADIAN
STOCK WATCH

COMPANY	52-WEEK HIGH	52-WEEK LOW	CLOSE (FRI.)
Canadian Tire	45.00	29.00	39.20
Canfor	10.75	4.25	11.50
Goodfellow	10.25	6.00	10.05
Hudsons Bay	35.10	14.00	18.00
MacMillan Blo.	20.40	11.50	26.10
Sears Canada	32.00	15.25	30.70
Taiga Forest	13.30	8.65	13.20
West Fraser	39.50	19.05	36.50

“Four things
I’d been better without: Love curiosity, freckles, and doubt.”

&endash; Dorothy Parker

PEOPLE ON
THE MOVE

MARKET INDICATORS

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