Hardware retailers are among the non-essential retailers prohibited from admitting customers to stores under Ontario’s new lockdown rules. Premier Doug Ford announced the measures last week.

Until at least Feb. 11, hardware dealers will be limited to offering curbside pickup and delivery, beginning no earlier than 7 a.m. with closing time by 8 p.m. at the latest. At the same time, there will no restrictions on what goods they can offer within those hours, provided that customers place pickup orders before arriving outside.

A week earlier, Quebec faced further restrictions of its own. The province’s manufacturing and construction sectors will avoid a total lockdown during the four-week “shock treatment” initiated by Premier François Legault. They are however being asked to focus on essential goods and projects.

Hardware stores remain on the list of essential businesses. However, they may not sell non-essential items, restricting sales to “essential hardware products required for outdoor maintenance, repair, or construction,” and will have to close at 7:30 p.m. to allow employees to respect the 8 p.m. curfew that has also gone into effect.

At the same time, Quebec is loosening restrictions on curbside pickup. Previously, only essential businesses permitted to remain open for in-person shopping were allowed to offer the service. Now, non-essential businesses are allowed to operate for curbside pickup. The curfew, which extends till 5 a.m. with limited exemptions, will continue until Feb. 8.

In Alberta, more than 800 people were in hospital last week, while the province has seen the death rate exceed 1,300. As numbers spiked following Christmas and New Year, Premier Jason Kenney reinstated lockdown measures that will remain in place until at least Jan. 21. Restrictions include bans on all indoor and outdoor gatherings, while stores can only allow 15 percent capacity.

Fot its part, the Government of Saskatchewan has extended its restrictions on businesses and personal gatherings until at least Jan. 29. Current retail restrictions limit store capacity to 50 percent for both smaller stores and those larger than 20,000 square feet.

Meanwhile, the country waits for vaccine supplies to be administered to Canadians. The federal government has locked in an order from Pfizer-BioNTech for another 20 million doses of its vaccine, doubling the available number of doses. They are expected to arrive in April or May.

Identifying digital gift-giving as a popular option during the pandemic, Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has launched a corporate bulk e-gift card program. Home Hardware’s new program provides clients with a way to recognize employees, support charitable organizations and enhance corporate-run promotions.

According to Home Hardware, the program is aimed at its customers, such as contractors, charities, or other organizations, as a way for those groups to incentivize or reward their employees and local communities.

The program allows corporate clients to purchase digital gift cards in denominations between $5 and $2,000 by filling out an online form at homehardware.ca. Bulk orders receive a discount, which is applied at the time of payment, and customers have the option to include a personalized message. Recipients can instantly use their eGift Card in store by printing it or displaying it on a mobile phone.

The eGift cards can be redeemed at any store under the Home Hardware, Home Building Centre, Home Hardware Building Centre, and Home Furniture banners.

“These gift cards can be used as part of loyalty and incentive programs, charity events, or promotional campaigns,” says Michael Gawtrey, director, loyalty and CRM at Home Hardware Stores. “They are also a simple way to say ‘thank you’ to those who have worked so hard throughout the pandemic.”

Organizations can offer Home Hardware gift cards as safety awards, service awards, consumer promotions, business gifts, sales incentives, or performance recognition.

“Sales for our B2B gift card program have been growing rapidly, and with so many people working from home, we know employers are looking for new ways to say thanks,” Gawtrey adds.

The Western Retail Lumber Association’s Building & Hardware Showcase starts today. And if you’re at your computer or phone and download the app, you can attend.

It also helps to have a copy of the WRLA’s magazine, Yardstick, which provides a directory of products and events. The January issue contains a special section on the show.

Details to download the WRLA app on smartphones or desktops were sent via email to WRLA retail members and exhibitors. The show runs until Jan. 29.

“We wanted to take a fresh approach to the typical virtual events that members have been seeing in 2020,” says Liz Kovach, WRLA president. “Using the tools already at our disposal we’ve adapted them to create an innovative event that allows us to recreate the benefits and show atmosphere of the in-person event.”

While attendees at trade shows always value the face-to-face connections made on the show floor, Kovach says the virtual scenario helps there too. “Vendors and dealers can still form connections, plus staff and companies who often cannot travel to the show can take part this year,” she notes. “We know we can’t replace the complete in-person experience but we’re looking to accomplish the next best thing!”

Through the publication and app, members can participate in any of the 80-plus member “booths,” with company profiles, product info, and staff intros created by the members; new products feature area; show specials; and warehouse sales. The show organizers will also run in-app contests.

Retail members can attend virtual product knowledge sessions hosted by the WRLA and exhibitors during the show. The association is also holding various education sessions on industry and business topics.

The severity of COVID cases in parts of the country has forced some provinces to grapple with a second wave. Through it all, the repair and reno markets surged ahead at break-neck speed, creating a new set of opportunities and challenges.

Eganville Country Depot, a Castle dealer in Eastern Ontario, had enough pressure-treated wood to meet demand through to the end of 2020, based on the bookings done in 2019. The store is affiliated with two other hardware stores, and the trifecta has been able to lean on each other to share inventory.

“We were lucky that last year [2019] when we did our booking for this year’s pressure-treated, that was done well enough that we had enough during the time of COVID because that was one of our big sellers,” says store manager Linda Armstrong. The three stores regularly confer to share product and discuss how bookings should look for the year ahead on everything from lumber to seasonal products.

“You try to keep your stock up in case you have the customers come in, but you don’t overbuy,” she says. “It’s a tough balance.”

Malcolm Firkser (shown above) owns three Home Hardware locations on Toronto’s east end. With 40 years’ experience, he has seen a lot in the business, but nothing compares to managing through a pandemic. Firkser spent last fall preparing for this spring and summer. He hopes the early bookings will pay off in multiple ways.

“We place orders now, which often means we’re getting additional discounts, which includes a profit margin,” he said last fall. “It comes in early, and then we’ve got time to merchandise it without the stress. That’s what helps the morale in the store … It helps getting through the January-February-March syndrome.”

Firkser says he is “conservatively optimistic” about 2021 and is ordering accordingly. He doesn’t expect the extraordinary bump in sales in 2020 to be duplicated this year and is referencing 2019 to gauge forecasting demands.

(This is excerpted from a larger article that appears in the latest issue of our print publication, Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly magazine. HHIQ was mailed to more than 11,000 dealers across Canada last week.)

At Nicholson and Cates, Brian Roger has been appointed director of sales and marketing – Specialty Building Materials Division. He previously spent nine years as sales manager. In his new role, Roger will be responsible for developing and executing the division’s sales and marketing plans, as well as developing and maintaining relationships with channel partners.

At Regal ideas Inc., Ernie Couillard has been appointed president. Couillard has spent the last 17 years at Regal in sales, marketing, and distribution for the aluminum railing company. Also at Regal, Clifton Phelps was promoted to director of sales, Canada. He had previously spent the last ten years as Ontario sales manager. Quinton Weber has been promoted to director of sales, USA. He was the former regional manager for Regal in the Midwest. Jim Topliss has been named director of commercial development, USA. He has been at Regal for 20 years in a range of key field management positions.

KM Agency has announced the retirement of Jamie Waldren after 15 years of service, effective Dec. 31, 2020. Waldren started in the industry over 30 years ago with Sumner Sporting Goods. He worked for Thornes Hardware, CN Weber, D.H. Howden, and All Star Marketing before joining KM Agency.

… that if you are the designated Company User for your company’s Hardlines subscription, you can update your company subscriber list at any time? Make sure your sub-user list is up to date by following the instructions here. Need to upgrade your subscription to include more users? Email Michelle for assistance. Make sure everyone on your team is in the know!

For retailers benefiting from online, one of the big challenges has been returns. Amazon and Walmart are among e-retailers pioneering the use of artificial intelligence to calculate the costs of returns. The onset of the pandemic has seen that strategy rolled out more widely. In some cases, that means refunding the customer while letting them keep the items for free. Those orders tend toward one of two extremes: either very inexpensive items whose cost is not worth recouping, or bulky and big-ticket purchases with hefty shipping costs.

Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has launched its Inspired Home Collection, a look-book designed to help Canadians visualize kitchen and bathroom projects. The publication is available in print at Home locations across Canada, as well as in digital format on HomeHardware.ca, reebee, and Flipp.

SUPPLIER NEWS

The Building Supply Industry Association of B.C.’s Wave of the Future Product Expo & PK Sessions take place Jan.19 on Zoom. Talks include keynote addresses from Hardlines’ own Michael McLarney, as well as Marv Franz, author of The Inspired Workplace. Product knowledge sessions will cover categories from outdoor living and construction materials to power and hand tools. Click here for more information. 

DX3 Canada, which bills itself as Canada’s largest retail, marketing, and technology event, will hold its 10th edition March 2 to 5, with Hardlines as a media partner. The all-virtual event encompasses a Retail Summit and a Marketing & Innovation Summit. Among the speakers is Cynthia Wong, associate VP, digital product management at Canadian Tire Corp. For more information, including the full lineup, visit the DX3 Canada site. (For a 25% discount, use coupon code HARDLINES25.)

Armstrong World Industries has launched Kanopi, an e-retail site where customers including small businesses can buy Armstrong’s commercial ceiling tiles directly. The site has been online since September and now counts 11 employees. Armstrong spokesperson Jennifer Johnson told Lancaster, Pa.’s LNP newspaper that number is expected to exceed 100 within three years. Kanopi offers “end-to-end” service including delivery to business owners looking to replace tiles or ceilings quickly.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Total investment in building construction declined for a third consecutive month, edging down 0.1 percent to $15.3 billion in November. Slight decreases in both residential and non-residential construction led to minimal change overall. Non-residential investment was mostly unchanged in November, remaining at $4.4 billion. Investment in residential construction edged down 0.1 percent in November, declining for the first time in six months. Lower investment in multi-unit dwellings more than offset the growth reported for single-unit investment. (StatCanada)

NOTED

British Columbia led the way in residential building permits in November, based on data from StatCan. Michael Straw, an economist for the agency, told CBC News that a handful of major developments in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island helped to drive the province’s numbers. B.C.’s construction industry also avoided the temporary shutdowns that affected other provinces during the pandemic.

OVERHEARD…

“At Lowe’s, we will be committed to offering everything a homeowner needs to provide a ‘total home solution’ across every area in the home. This includes products and services for everything needed to repair and improve the home, for DIY and pro customers alike, across all décor categories including paint, as well as simple and complex installations.”
—Marvin Ellison, CEO and president of Lowe’s Cos., on his company’s “Total Home” strategy to expand categories and drive market share growth under the pandemic. 

After seeing its online sales increase by more than 200 percent in the third quarter of 2020, Canadian Tire has been paying a lot of attention to its digital assets and online branding. That has included increasing online assortments and improving its website to handle increased traffic.

In a call to analysts on the release of Canadian Tire’s Q3 results, CEO Greg Hicks said that part of the retailer’s strategy now includes online-only vendors. It’s part of an effort to expand Canadian Tire’s relevance in key categories. “Baby and furniture are now our top two categories in online-only sales and will serve as a template as we work to accelerate the growth of online-only sales in 2021,” Hicks explained.

By the end of the third quarter, Canadian Tire’s online sales had exceeded $1 billion and showed an increase of 211 percent over the previous year. Triangle, the company’s loyalty program for all its banners—including SportChek, PartSource and Mark’s—acquired approximately 400,000 new members in the quarter. For its Canadian Tire Retail stores, e-commerce was up 178 percent in the quarter.

In creating online-only assortments, the company is considering them as an extension to the categories in which the retailer already competes in-store, as opposed to entirely new categories, “but that certainly would be an option for us as well,” Hicks added.

Under the disruption to both supply and demand under COVID, Hicks and his merchandise teams have been focused on trying to forecast consumer demand for 2021. “That’s keeping them pretty busy, as opposed to thinking through net new assortments.”

TORBSA has appointed Simon Gouin as VP, business development, reporting to the buying group’s president and board.

“Eastern Canada is a major market within Canada and one that we haven’t put the necessary focus on, in the past,” said chairman Steve Guglietti, of Pro Con Building Supplies Ltd. in Brampton, Ont. “It deserves a dedicated staff member from our organization and we understand the need for a knowledgeable, experienced and truly bilingual individual.”

Gouin brings with him experience on both the retail and vendor sides of the business. He was most recently a senior sales manager at Swiss-based polymer manufacturer Rehau Group and was also a general manager at Scodesign Distribution. Before that, Gouin owned two Home Hardware locations in Quebec for nine years, before selling in 2016.

The new initiative comes amidst other changes that have been taking place at the Bolton, Ont.-based buying group. Last summer, general manager Bob Holmes stepped back as Paul Williams took the reins as president of the group this past summer. Williams worked alongside Holmes until Holmes retired officially at the end of 2020.

Williams has set his sights on some key initiatives to ensure the prosperity of the buying group. One is to build dealer ranks. Williams believes strongly that the group’s lean, no-frills operating model is ideally suited to commercial yards that wish to increase their purchasing power without added costs from marketing or other supports that may be better suited to dealers with a more DIY-based customer.

TORBSA is a relatively small group compared to the likes of TIMBER MART, Castle, Sexton Group or ILDC. It has 26 member locations that generated sales of $576 million in 2019 (source: the latest Hardlines Retail Report—Editor). Williams says, however, that the group’s appeal is not strictly about purchase volumes. It’s about having the right dealers in the group to support vendor programs. The majority of TORBSA members are contractor or commercial dealers, who find strength in the camaraderie shared by the membership, Williams said in an earlier interview with Hardlines.

Since Williams moved into his new position last summer, TORBSA has added a number of new members: Alberta’s Monarch Centres with locations in Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer, and Acheson; Rehill Building Supplies in Peterborough, Ont.; A Line Acoustic Supply in Concord, Ont.; and Matériaux de Construction Létourneau, based in Waterville, Que.

Lowe’s Cos. is introducing a “Total Home” strategy to drive growth in its share of the market. The move has no doubt been accelerated by the ability of big boxes to remain open in many North American markets while smaller independents selling narrow product ranges have been deemed “non-essential” and forced to close their doors.

The latest strategy was unveiled at an investor day event early in December. During the COVID crisis, home improvement retail, in general, has seen huge gains, but Lowe’s is playing catch-up in certain categories versus its biggest competitor, Home Depot. Two areas where investors are looking for growth include the contractor market and online sales.

“At Lowe’s, we will be committed to offering everything a homeowner needs to provide a ‘total home solution’ across every area in the home,” said Marvin Ellison, CEO and president of Lowe’s. “This includes products and services for everything needed to repair and improve the home, for DIY and pro customers alike, across all decor categories including paint, as well as simple and complex installations.”

Lowe’s sales to contractors are estimated to be below those at Home Depot, where total sales to pros account for 46 percent of overall revenues. But in their third quarter, Home Depot reported an 80 percent increase in online sales, while Lowe’s showed it was closing the gap by turning in a 106 percent increase.

“Our Total Home strategy will enhance customer engagement and grow market share by intensifying our focus on the pro customer, expanding our online business, modernizing installation services, improving localization efforts, and elevating our product assortment,” Ellison added.

Lowe’s expects total sales to increase by about 22 percent for fiscal 2020.

Dealers and vendors alike have been watching carefully all the changes within Home Hardware as Marianne Thompson has built up a new merchandising team. And Thompson, Home Hardware’s senior vice-president, merchandise, is well aware of that interest.

However, she stresses that the core values of the company remain intact. “The vision has not changed—that is to be Canada’s most trusted home improvement brand.”

She admits that, with more than 1,000 dealers to serve, each of them striving to provide a product mix that suits their respective community, managing that assortment “brings complexity” to her team. “We have to be flexible with that and carry more SKUs in our assortment because we believe in our dealers having that localization of their assortment. It’s what makes them win in their market and makes a customer go to their store in their community.”

And the rise of online selling under the COVID-19 pandemic has added yet another layer of complexity. But Thompson can count on the expertise within her team. Many of the new faces there have been drawn from other large retailers, including Canadian Tire, Lowe’s Canada, and Sobeys.

As a result, Thompson and her team have learned to “double-down” on the e-commerce side of the business. They look for ways to provide a range of products that reflects Home Hardware’s mandate to service all Canadians while staying alert to regional and local needs of the markets Home’s dealers serve.

(This is excerpted from a larger interview with Marianne Thompson that appears in the latest issue of our sister publication, Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly magazine. HHIQ is being mailed to more than 11,000 dealers across Canada this week.)

The North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA) has named its board of directors for the year ahead. The board, which is made up of independent retailers, includes a Canadian: David Dishke, of Grand River Home Hardware in Caledonia, Ont., Dishke’s family started Grand River Home Hardware nearly 50 years ago, and Dishke began working in the store in 1986 at age 15. In 1996, he became manager and part-owner of the business. In 2004, NHPA honoured him as a Young Retailer of the Year. In 2018, he purchased a second store in Hagersville, Ont.

… that our sister publication, Hardlines Dealer News, is designed specifically for dealers and store managers? This monthly e-newsletter has become a valuable tool for stores across the country. You can subscribe at no charge by clicking here. And now you can check out all the back issues here. Happy reading!

Vacuum maker Shop-Vac, which abruptly announced in September it was going out of business, is instead to be acquired by the U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese conglomerate. GreatStar Tools USA, a division of Hangzhou GreatStar Industrial Co. Ltd., plans to retain Shop-Vac’s brand and hire most of the employees laid off from its plant in Williamsport, Penn., to restore production to previous levels. Those workers will however be considered new employees of a company GreatStar is creating to administer the Shop-Vac business.

The Building Supply Industry Association of B.C.’s Wave of the Future Product Expo & PK Sessions take place Jan.19 on Zoom. Talks include keynote addresses from Hardlines’ own Michael McLarney, as well as Marv Franz, author of The Inspired Workplace. Product knowledge sessions will cover categories from outdoor living and construction materials to power and hand tools. Click here for more information and to register.

SUPPLIER NEWS

An Ontario court has agreed with Hudson’s Bay Co. that the “wisdom and efficacy” of Ontario’s retail lockdown rules is “open to question,” but held the province was within its legal rights. Canada’s oldest corporation had complained that Ontario’s definition of essential businesses privileged big boxes like Walmart while encouraging epidemiologically risky behaviour. The pandemic has posed major challenges to HBC, which is currently locked in legal battles with commercial landlords and last month announced its downtown Winnipeg flagship will close in February.

Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has sold off an eight-hectare property in the Waterloo region, near its St. Jacobs, Ont., headquarters, the company confirmed through a spokesperson. The site, which includes the Westhill Meadows Golf Course, was acquired by Home Hardware in 2009 for $3 million. Municipal permissions allow for the property to be used for a building centre.

The U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency have reached an agreement with Home Depot that will see the Atlanta-based retail giant pay $20 million in fines. Home Depot is accused of sub-contracting to renovation firms that failed to adhere to required norms when removing lead paint, causing dust and paint chips to spread on work sites. The agreed amount is greater than any other fine paid to date under the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Investment in U.S. construction rose 0.9 percent in November. Spending on residential construction was up 2.7 percent, with the single-family segment logging a 5.1 percent gain. Investment in non-residential declined by 0.8 percent with spending on office building projects taking an 8.1 percent tumble as the work-from-home trend continues. (U.S. Commerce Dept.)

NOTED

Quebec’s manufacturing and construction sectors will avoid a total lockdown during the four-week “shock treatment” announced last week by Premier François Legault. They are however being asked to focus on essential goods and projects. Hardware stores remain on the list of essential businesses, though they may not sell non-essential items and will have to close at 7:30 p.m. to allow employees to respect the new 8 p.m. curfew.

At the same time, the province is loosening restrictions on curbside pickup. Now, even non-essential businesses will be allowed to operate for curbside pickup. The curfew, which extends till 5 a.m. with limited exemptions, will continue until Feb. 8.

OVERHEARD…

“We’re investing in making sure that we have the best assortment online that reflects what our dealers have in their stores.”
—Marianne Thompson, SVP, merchandise for Home Hardware Stores, on how her team is working to meet the challenge of increased online sales over the past several months under COVID.

SPECIAL REPORT — The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic dominated the news in 2020, as they did life in general. Within the industry, one of the most high-profile impacts was on trade shows.

The International Hardware Show in Cologne, Germany was scheduled to happen in March but ended up being postponed in February due to the pandemic. Then, in mid-March, Home Hardware announced the cancellation of its Spring Market. The following month it held a virtual event instead, and its Fall Market was virtual as well.

Also in May, Hardlines announced the 25th anniversary edition of its own Hardlines Conference would not take place as scheduled in the fall of 2020. (We are happy to announce the event is back on for 2021! —Editor)

After postponing its annual event from May to September, the National Hardware Show’s organizers announced in July that it would be replaced with an all-virtual event in 2020. Orgill likewise cancelled its Spring and Fall Dealer Markets, replacing them with two “e-Volution” online buying events. And by the end of the year, the Western Regional Lumber Association and the Atlantic Building Supply Dealers Association had both announced they would not hold in-person events in winter 2021.

Another major theme in the news during 2020 was the evolution of the Ace banner in Canada. The Canadian licence for the Ace brand was acquired by Peavey Industries in March from Lowe’s Canada.

The deal marked a step toward streamlining Lowe’s multi-banner strategy while cementing Alberta-based Peavey’s position as a national player. Peavey had begun 2020 by completing the amalgamation of its TSC stores in Ontario, which it acquired in 2016. The integration of those stores to the Peavey Mart brand began late in 2020 and continues this year.

Initially, Peavey took on hardware sourcing for Ace dealers, while previous licensee Lowe’s Canada continued to meet their lumber needs under a transitional agreement. In November, however, Peavey and Sexton Group announced a partnership that would see the buying group step in as Ace Canada’s LBM wholesaler.

Personnel changes are always hot stories for Hardlines readers, and the past year was no exception. Canadian Tire Corp. named Greg Hicks as CEO in mid-March, just in time to hit the ground running managing the company’s pandemic response. He was succeeded in the spring as president of Canadian Tire Retail by TJ Flood, previously president of the FGL Sports division.

At Lowe’s Canada, the highly anticipated appointment of former CEO and President Sylvain Prud’homme’s successor was announced in January. The company brought in Tony Hurst from U.S. parent Lowe’s Cos. Tony Cioffi had headed Lowe’s Canada on an interim basis following Prud’homme’s departure.

Home Hardware saw a major shakeup in its merchandising team, which was consolidated under Marianne Thompson as senior VP after the departure of merchandise hardlines VP Joel Marks in early summer. Thompson brought in a new team of directors, all of them recruited from outside the company, in a break with Home Hardware’s usual practice.

All these changes will position the major retail groups for further growth in 2021. Hardlines will be there to report on them as their stories unfold.

WORLD HEADQUARTERS, Toronto — The 25th anniversary Hardlines Conference is a go. After this landmark conference was delayed by COVID-19 in 2020, we are excited to announce confirmed dates for this year. The conference will be held on Oct. 19 and 20 at Queen’s Landing in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.

With the date so far out, the organizers (wait, that’s us! —Editor) are confident that enough normalcy will have been restored, with widespread vaccinations expected for all Canadians by September. And some of the industry’s top leaders agree with us.

The Hardlines Conference will play host to an incredible lineup of retail leaders:

• Kevin Macnab, President and CEO, Home Hardware Stores
• Doug Anderson, President and CEO, Peavey Industries;
• Jamal Hamad, Sr. Director Contractor Services Sales and Operations Pro-Rental-MRO-Home Services at Home Depot Canada;
• Drew Green, CEO of clothing chain Indochino;
• Sascha Jamal, Director, SAJ Consulting; and
• Peter Norman, economist and VP at Altus Group.

With the inclusion of Home Hardware’s Macnab, Anderson from Peavey, and Hamad from Home Depot Canada, attendees are guaranteed to get insights first-hand from some of the industry’s leading home improvement retailers. Macnab has been leading a huge transition at Home Hardware that aims to position the company for growth well into the 21st century. Anderson has made Peavey a household name in this industry, first with the acquisition of TSC Stores and then with the takeover of Ace in Canada.

Home Depot has been aggressively pursuing the contractor customer with new initiatives, programs, and financing that help them stay connected and keep supplies efficiently. Jamal Hamad has headed up that growth, putting independents on alert as Home Depot continues to gain acceptance—and market share—among pros.

The addition of Drew Green to this year’s lineup ensures that the conference will once again look outward for guidance on best practices and trends in retail. Indochino is a burgeoning retailer of custom, made-to-measure suits. Green has been involved in multiple start-ups and in just the past seven years, he’s grown two businesses to over $200 million in market cap. Not to be missed!

Rounding out the Hardlines Conference, we’ll hear from our leading housing and economic advisor, Peter Norman of Altus Group. And in this time of supply chain disruption, global supply chain expert Sascha Jamal will outline how overseas supply has been disrupted by rising prices, new markets, and, of course, the pandemic.

The 25th annual Hardlines Conference in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., guarantees a world-class destination to maximize networking among the retail home improvement industry’s leading dealers, retail chains, buying groups and suppliers. (Click here for more info on the conference and our amazing venue!)

SPECIAL REPORT — Online shopping will continue to grow, without dampening customers’ eagerness to return to in-person shopping. That was the consensus of a virtual talk last month between the Retail Council of Canada’s Diane Brisebois and Michael Ward, CEO and chief sustainability officer of IKEA Canada.

“Click and collect is a winner,” said Ward. “People love it.”

At the same time, “consumers want to go back to stores,” said Brisebois. “How do you change your store environment and your merchandising so that customers want to go back in? What makes sense in a bricks-and-mortar environment? … As we look to the future, we’re quite hopeful for bricks and mortar. But there’s no question we’ll see a lot of new tech.” That pivot, she added, has already begun.

“I don’t think it’s one or the other,” Ward agreed. “We’ve always been clear this is an omnichannel strategy.” An on-the-spot poll of the Zoom audience echoed that view. Eighty-four percent of respondents indicated that they planned a mix of online and in-person shopping for the holidays. Ward noted that IKEA has “an advantage because our buildings are big” and can be used for fulfillment.

Large retailers, however, aren’t alone in benefiting from this new mixed-economy reality. Last spring, as governments ordered businesses in many areas to limit themselves to curbside pickup of remote orders, it was their small size that allowed many independents to adapt more nimbly to the change.

Also, at banners that have smaller formats, such as Ace and Home Hardware, online ordering allows stores with limited retail space to offer a wider selection of big-ticket items like appliances.

ATLANTA — As the impact of the COVID-19 crisis continued to grow across North America through the fall of 2020, The Home Depot faced “unprecedented demand,” according to Craig Menear, the company’s chairman and CEO. That demand was met by fine-tuning every aspect of the business.

“Actions we have taken across our supply chain, in our stores, and in partnership with our suppliers have helped us to improve in-stock levels, reduce lead times, better manage in-store replenishment, and improve fulfillment options and delivery times,” he said in a call to analysts.

President and COO Ted Decker expanded on Menear’s comments. He noted that the crisis required a close look at what products were being sold—and how. “The actions we took include adjusting our assortments and planograms, introducing alternative products and, in some cases, reducing the numbers of SKUs in certain categories to focus on the highest-demand products.”

Home Depot continues to strengthen its distribution network to get product into stores and to the growing ranks of pro dealers in its customer base. That has included the mechanization of its rapid deployment centre network. “We’ve now implemented mechanized floor loading in two-thirds of our facilities, meaningfully improving our productivity in those buildings.”

These improvements have resulted in reduced product lead times and continued improvement in Home Depot’s in-stock positions, Decker said.

During the call, the execs admitted the company may have lost sales due to stock outages during the period, though Decker said Home Depot faced that more in its second quarter. (Home Depot’s third quarter ended Oct. 31, unlike many other retailers that ended their quarter at the end of September.)

Though stock levels were not perfect by the third quarter, Decker said the period saw “incredible improvement” overall, with inventory up more than $400 million over the same time a year earlier.

The transition of the new leadership at TORBSA has been finalized. Former General Manager Bob Holmes retired officially at the end of 2020, making way for Paul Williams, previously Ontario regional manager for CGC Inc., who took the reins as president of the Bolton, Ont.-based buying group this past summer. Holmes sent a note to members and suppliers expressing “what a sincere pleasure it has been to have partnered with you over these many years and to thank you for helping me achieve many of my personal and corporate goals.” You can contact him at homer.eh@gmail.com. Williams can be reached at paul@torbsa.com.

… that the 25th anniversary Hardlines Conference will be held Oct. 19 and 20 at Queen’s Landing in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.? Add this to your calendar now! Click here for more info.

VAUGHAN, Ont. — TIMBER MART has announced the addition of Quincaillerie J.D. Lafontaine as the fifth Quebec dealer to join the buying group in 2020. The business has served the Gaspésie community of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts for more than 40 years. It covers a 40,000-square-foot store and warehouse.

SASKATOON — Federated Co-operatives Ltd. reported revenues of $7.9 billion for the financial year ending October 31, 2020, with earnings of $177 million. From these earnings, FCL returned $117.5 million to local Co-ops across Western Canada. The company enjoyed strong results in the food, home, and building and agriculture business lines, but these were not enough to offset declines in the energy sector.

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — The new RONA Des Ormeaux store in Montreal is now open. Contractors and dealer-owners Pascal Ferland, François Tremblay, and Simon St-Laurent are also co-owners of the RONA Oka and RONA Villeray stores. The new location is the result of an investment of more than $1 million and several months of work.

TORONTO — Canadian Tire CEO Greg Hicks took the reins of the iconic company just in time to contend with the outbreak of COVID-19, as he relates in a new interview with the Globe and Mail. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the closure of the province’s schools on Hicks’s first full day on the job. One of the priorities of his tenure has been to raise the profile of Canadian Tire’s owned brands, which make up more than $4 billion in sales and more than a quarter of the CTC’s revenues.

ATLANTA — With the DIY boom still going strong months into the pandemic, The Home Depot is making a major investment in home décor e-retail. The recently launched HD Home collection encompasses everything from furniture to wall treatments and cookware.

SEATTLE — Amazon has opened a pickup depot in the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit, which the e-retail giant says will allow it to cut delivery times in the region. Amazon Prime customers can now select the pickup location at checkout and expect their parcels in three to five days instead of two or three weeks. Amazon is teaming up with Inuit-owned airline Canadian North, which will fly Amazon Prime orders in dedicated cargo space on flights every Wednesday and Sunday.

DELFT, Netherlands — IKEA has ceased publication of its famous print catalogue after more than 70 years. “Times are changing,” the company said in a statement. “IKEA is transforming its business model to become more accessible and digital while embracing new ways to connect with more people.” By 2016, more than 200 million copies of the catalogue were being printed annually in 32 languages. But the trend toward online buying, hastened by COVID-19, has diminished the print catalogue’s utility.

SUPPLIER NEWS

SURREY, B.C. — The B.C. Building Supply Industry Association is offering a Christmas bonus for the industry with thousands of dollars in prizes donated by more than 35 sponsors and presenters. Participants in the BSIA 2021 Wave of the Future – Product Expo & PK Sessions on Jan. 19 will have several chances to win each hour. Discounted ticket registration will be available to all, with proceeds going to the BSIA Bursary Fund.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

The total value of building permits rose 12.9 percent to $9.4 billion in November, the third-highest value on record. Much of this growth was led by large permits for multi-family dwellings in British Columbia and Ontario and an office building in the city of Toronto. The value of residential permits rose to new heights in November, increasing 10 percent. Every province posted gains in this sector except for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, which reported slight declines. (StatCan)

Sales of existing U.S. homes in November declined for the first time in six months, falling 2.5 percent. However, compared to last November, sales were up 25.8 percent. High demand and increasingly tight supply have combined to drive the median house price up by more than 14 percent. (National Association of Realtors)

Housing starts in the U.S. rose by 1.2 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.55 million units. Meanwhile, October’s increase was revised up from 4.9 percent to 6.3 percent. (U.S. Census Bureau)

OVERHEARD…

“My philosophy is all about wanting to help people. Whether it’s a small project or a large project with a contractor or a homeowner, we’re interested in helping people. That’s what drives me.”
—Matthew Payzant, general manager, Payzant Home Hardware Building Centre, Lower Sackville, N.S.

TORONTO — The Home Depot Foundation Canada has wrapped up this year’s Orange Door Project fundraiser. Home Depot customers who donated to the campaign will support housing and programs for at-risk and homeless youth across Canada.

Through the Orange Door Project, The Home Depot Canada Foundation supports 125 organizations fighting youth homelessness. The Home Depot Canada will also donate $364,000, or $2,000 on behalf of each of its 182 stores, to help charitable organizations address the impact of COVID-19.

“This pandemic has been devastating for our partners and the youth they support, and while we continue to support them during this time, youth are facing more barriers to access than ever before,” said Pamela O’Rourke, who is VP of merchandising at The Home Depot Canada and chair of The Home Depot Canada Foundation’s board.

All stores have been participating in the Orange Door Project since the beginning of December, with the funds raised by each location staying within their local communities. Since the program’s inception in 2009, Home Depot has raised $13 million.

The roots of the Foundation’s chosen cause go right back to the wishes of Home Depot workers themselves. When polled some years ago to determine which charities or causes to support, the associates felt strongly about the fact that upwards of 6,000 young people can be without a place to sleep every night. Investing in this younger generation emerged as the cause of choice for the Foundation.

Home Depot’s charity partners have seen an increase in demand for their services since COVID-19 hit. And with the added costs and stresses under the pandemic, many benefactors have pulled back their support.

“Home Depot was the first to step up and say, we’ll continue to provide for people in need,” says Michael Braithwaite, CEO of Blue Door, an organization that provides emergency housing for homeless youth in the York Region north of Toronto.

Braithwaite notes the local Home Depot store stays connected with his organization beyond the Christmas campaign. That includes materials and volunteer labour from store associates. “The relationship continues and the store helps year-round for our other efforts,” he adds. “There’s a pride of community for that store.”

MONTREAL — Lowe’s completed the rollout of Solum electronic shelf labels (ESL) in all U.S. stores and has begun installing them in select Canadian Lowe’s locations, beginning with the appliance department through last month.

Richard Emery, president of Self Edge Solutions, Solum’s premier distributor in Canada, did not share what categories are next, or when they would be implemented. Lowe’s Canada did confirm it is currently working with Solum for a nationwide rollout of ESL in its corporate stores. After the initial rollout in the appliance departments of its Lowe’s stores, the technology will be extended to other departments later in 2021. Deployment in select RONA corporate stores will take place in January 2021, and select Réno-Dépôt stores through March and April 2021.

However, Solum faces an incumbent in its expansion efforts. JRTech Solutions is a Montreal-based company that is the preferred partner in Canada for its Pricer digital price tags. It has been rolling out the electronic label technology to stores in Eastern Canada for years. Already, its ESL is in some 400 hardware and building supply locations in this country. About half of those stores are BMR dealers, firmly establishing JRTech’s presence in the province of Quebec. But the company also has dealers in Ontario and the Maritimes using its technology.

According to Diego Mazzone, president and CEO of JRTech Solutions, JRTech is also in Lowe’s Canada stores, having been there since 2014. These are former RONA affiliate stores, in Blainville and Ste-Thérèse, that were part of the later buyout by Lowe’s Canada. The JRTech system in those stores will not be changed out, Lowe’s confirms.

Mazzone says his company has begun installing its labels in Canadian Tire as well. Its Pricer labels are in 60 Canadian Tire stores already and another 100 to 200 are expected to be added through 2021.

Mazzone has seen acceptance among larger chains, such as Patrick Morin, which has two dozen stores in Quebec, as well as Home Hardware stores and other independents. Most recently, JRTech finished a rollout in the three stores in the Laferté chain just before Christmas. Laferté is a member of Independent Lumber Dealers Co-operative.

Smaller dealers are seeing the value of investing in ESL, he says, especially as interconnected selling through both online and bricks-and-mortar channels has accelerated during COVID. Dealers who wish to change their pricing in response to lower prices that appear online have the capability with ESL.

“ESL can digitize a dealer’s products in real-time to compete with the dynamic pricing online,” Mazzone says. “This is changing the paradigm of retail.”

RED DEER — Since taking over the licence for Ace Hardware in Canada last spring, Peavey Industries has been working to bring the full force of that brand to bear for its Ace-bannered dealers.

That includes providing Ace-branded products for the stores, to round out their assortments with pricing that can help them compete with larger chains. The Ace name is especially strong in tools, a category Peavey wants to exploit. The deal with Ace falls under the Ace International division, so Peavey has access to products coming directly out of Ace’s factories in Asia.

Another important brand for Ace is Craftsman. “We’re going to maintain that brand,” says Scott Bennett, senior vice president of merchandising for Ace Canada. “We wanted to make sure we protected the dealer with any of the big national brands already in place.” Craftsman will remain exclusive for the Ace dealers under Peavey.

But, Bennett adds, Peavey has some of its own private brands. The brands are licensed under Mid-States Distributing Company, a buying group representing 36 farm and ranch retailers, of which Peavey is the only Canadian member. Bennett says four brands in particular are popular at Peavey: Wildology, a premium pet food line; Harvest King, which includes motor oils and additives; heavy equipment under the Black Diamond name, which includes products like log splitters and 60-gallon compressors; and Noble Outfitters.

Peavey also has a range of brands of its own that includes consumables such as fertilizer and grass seed, as well as dog and cat food lines. Those products, already in Peavey Mart stores and MainStreet Hardware outlets, will be made available to Ace dealers as well. “We work hard on our private labels. We’re trying to bring good value to the Ace dealers,” Scott adds.

Peavey held its first-ever buying show for the Ace dealers at the end of September last year. The two-day virtual event brought more than 150 vendors together with almost 100 Ace dealers.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — Consumer demand has changed a lot under COVID, and product assortments have changed to match those expectations. At Home Hardware Stores Ltd., the company worked hard over the past several months to keep pace with surges in demand, complicated by supply chain disruptions that caused ongoing product shortages.

According to Marianne Thompson, SVP merchandise at Home Hardware, demand was high across a range of categories, with a surge through the spring and summer in forest products, flooring, seasonal, yard maintenance, and canning. Products that lent themselves to easy fixups and cosmetic enhancements by DIYers, such as paint and stain, were especially strong categories, says Thompson.

Flooring also ended up taking off as well. “It’s a category that is both DIY and pro and we’ve definitely seen a real pickup in what we call DIY flooring.”

Looking long term, she says, products that reflect Home Hardware dealers’ growing sales with the contractor segment are gaining momentum.

“Lumber and building materials have, for us, continued to grow. Our dealer-owners have such strong relationships with the pros in each of their communities,” Thompson says. “We help build homes across the country and, regardless of the pandemic, that business has been growing.”

When asked what lessons she’s learned under COVID, Thompson noted the importance of getting people what they want amidst disruption. This has resulted in Home Hardware being able to “double-down on the e-commerce side of the business,” she says. “Through the pandemic, we’ve learned a lot about consumer behaviour and for us, it’s about providing the customers what they want, when they want it, and how they want it. So obviously we’re investing heavily in e-commerce.

“We’re investing in making sure that we have the best assortment online that reflects what our dealers have in their stores.”

Brian Straus has joined RTS Companies Inc. in St. Clements, Ont., as RTS corporate sales and marketing. Formerly director, merchandise hardlines at Home Hardware Stores Ltd., he spent a total of 26 years there, mainly in merchandise roles.

Willmar Windows founder Bill Fast is among the latest appointees to the Order of Canada, with the rank of Member. Fast got his start in the window business working for his father-in-law at Allmar Distributors. He and his wife Margaret bought Allmar’s window division in 1970, renaming it Willmar. Jeld-Wen bought the business in 1997 and continues to manufacture the Willmar Collection of windows.

BMR Group has named Stephany Robinson as advisor, strategy and dealer integration. She has been part of BMR’s business development team for the past four years.

… that the 25th annual Hardlines Conference is a go for 2021? That’s right, the conference will be held on October 19 and 20 at the Queen’s Landing in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. It’s Canada’s only national event for all banners and vendors in the retail home improvement industry, so you won’t want to miss it!

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — More than 400 associates of Lowe’s Canada took part this month in the 2020 Opération Père Noël campaign. Some 900 gifts will be distributed throughout Montreal’s South Shore and elsewhere in Quebec. This year both affiliate dealers and members of the corporate head office participated. A total of 17 corporate and affiliated stores served as drop-off points to collect gifts from the community.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — Home Hardware Stores Ltd. has launched a corporate bulk e-gift card program. The program allows corporate clients to purchase digital gift cards in any denomination between $5 and $2,000 by filling out an online form at homehardware.ca. Bulk orders receive a discount, which is applied at the time of payment, and customers have the option to include a personalized message.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Castle Building Centres has added Hayduk Lumber & Hardware Ltd. in Calmar, Alta., is its newest member-dealer. Brent Hayduk, whose father established the business nearly 90 years ago, took ownership 40 years ago.

BOLTON, Ont. — Alberta’s Monarch Centres is the newest shareholder member of TORBSA. With locations are Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Red Deer, and Acheson, Monarch has provided building materials to the Alberta marketplace for more than 20 years.

QUEBEC CITY — The Cité 3000 project in Contrecœur, Que., will break ground in 2021 with the construction of a Canac warehouse and store, the city and its partners have announced. The Cité 3000 commercial hub is part of Quebec’s maritime strategy, which calls for the development of the Contrecœur-Varennes industrial port zone. Construction of Canac’s 32nd branch is expected to start next summer.

SUPPLIER NEWS

COLOGNE, Germany — Trade show organizer Koelnmesse has cancelled the 2021 edition of Eisenwarenmesse, the International Hardware Show, which was planned for Feb. 21 to 24. The hybrid event was already postponed from 2020.

COPENHAGEN — Rockwool Group has unveiled its new carbon emissions reduction goals, which amount to a one-third decrease in its life cycle greenhouse gas emissions by 2034. The plan has been verified by the Science Based Targets Initiative, a joint project of organizations including the UN Global Compact and the World Wildlife Fund.

CANDIAC, Que. — Fenplast has acquired all shares of Fenêtres Drummond of Drummondville, Que., including its manufacturing business, Fenêtres Contemporaines. Fenplast was founded in 1989 and today unites more than 80 independent dealers of doors and windows. Fenêtres Drummond has been owned by Isabelle and Michael Bahl for the past 40 years.

NOTED

Retail sales rose 1.1 percent to $53.9 billion in September, the fifth consecutive monthly increase since the record decline in April. Sales of building materials and garden equipment and supplies came to $3.82 billion, an increase of 0.9 percent from August and up 19.5 percent from September 2019. (StatCan)

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Sales of existing homes in Canada edged down by 1.6 percent monthly in November, yet continued to run well above historical levels. Activity was up 32.1 percent year-over-year, matching October’s gain. For the fifth straight month, year-over-year sales activity was up in almost all Canadian housing markets. (Canadian Real Estate Association)

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts in Canada was 246,033 units in November, up 14.4 percent from 215,134 units in October. The SAAR of urban starts for the month rose by 15 percent. Multiple urban starts increased by 22.5 percent, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 3.8 percent. (CMHC)

NOTED

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business has estimated that 225,000 Canadian businesses may permanently close due to COVID-19.

OVERHEARD…

“If you are in bricks-and-mortar, you have to look at all your outlets for selling. You have to be fluid.”
—Diego Mazzone, CEO of JRTech Solutions, on the value of dealers adopting electronic shelf tags to maintain dynamic pricing in their stores as a way to compete more effectively against online sales.

BURNABY, B.C. — Taiga Building Products has developed an online B2B ordering, catalogue and administrative platform. Branded as TaigaNow, it allows for placement of orders with internet access.

According to Russ Permann, Taiga’s COO and EVP operations, the program has been in the works for six years, as the wholesaler has committed to moving to online sales. He admits the company examined the move carefully, evaluating how important e-commerce would be in a B2B environment. But with a younger generation of dealers taking over the industry, the move proved both practical and inevitable. “This cohort is completely comfortable shopping online and wants to be there,” Permann says.

The company tested TaigaNow initially by making it available to customers served by the wholesaler’s Calgary and Saskatoon branches. Early in 2021, the initiative will be rolled out to Taiga’s 13 other distribution centres across Canada. Dealers will be able to access the inventory of any Taiga DC to find out exactly what’s available.

When the dealers place an order, the system even generates all necessary shipping documents, making TaigaNow accessible to anyone in the store. And like any type of online shopping, it’s available around the clock. “It’s a pretty straightforward process,” Permann says. The goal down the road, he notes, is to be able to integrate Taiga’s e-commerce functionality with the POS systems of the dealers themselves.

“The backbone of TaigaNow is this automation of the distribution process,” Permann adds.

The rollout comes amidst a planned restructuring within Taiga’s executive team. Effective January 1, Permann will assume the role of co-CEO, as Trent Balog, Taiga’s current CEO and president, plans to step back at the end of this year. He will serve as co-CEO alongside Permann through 2021. After that time, Permann will take over as Taiga’s sole CEO.

INTERNATIONAL REPORT — In 2019, the worldwide retail home improvement market reached $958 billion in sales, an increase of 4.2 percent compared to the previous year, says the latest edition of the Global Home Improvement Report 2020.

The report, produced by the combined European and global retail home improvement association EDRA/GHIN, reveals that Canada ranks as the number-three home improvement market by sales, after the U.S. and Germany.

North America and Europe combined represent 86 percent of this market—58 percent and 28 percent respectively—even though their collective populations account for only 16 percent of the world population. The retail home improvement markets of these two continents reached $829 billion, an increase of 3.7 over 2018.

The combined sales power of the North American market totalled almost $550 billion, says the report. Canada represented about $53 billion, making it number three on the world stage after the U.S. and Germany. The U.S. alone weighed in with $496 billion in sales. North America also had the highest average expenditure per capita in 2019, at $1,507 per person in the U.S. and $1,398 in Canada.

Approximately 81 percent of the Global DIY market is concentrated in only eight countries: the USA, Germany, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Australia and Italy. Moreover, the three major markets in Europe—Germany, France and the UK—represent 50 percent of the continent’s sales.

The top 10 major home improvement retailers worldwide are The Home Depot, Lowe’s Cos., Adeo in France, the UK’s Kingfisher, Menards in the U.S., Bunnings in Australia, OBI and Bauhaus—both in Germany—Ace Hardware and Chile’s Sodimac. Home Depot and Lowe’s together account for 26.3 percent of the global market share.

More detailed information, including a global analysis, detailed data on 50 of the largest retail home improvement markets and the top 10 home improvement groups worldwide, is contained in the latest edition of the Global Home Improvement Report 2020.

Want the full report? You can order it here.)

SPECIAL REPORT — Big box retailers are adapting to changes in the holiday shopping season by encouraging customers to look to them for housewares. And the likes of Home Depot Canada (whose website assortments are shown here) and Lowe’s Canada are offering fashion trend guidance to reinforce their positioning. 

Black Friday, long a mainstay of the annual U.S. retail business cycle, has been in flux in recent years. The boom in online sales growth has helped to morph the event from a single-day rush to bricks-and-mortar stores into an extended season of in-store and online deals.

In that sense, the outbreak of COVID-19 has only accelerated a trend already in motion. With big sales events that encourage surges in store traffic not feasible under widespread lockdowns, retailers are pursuing a longer season of promotions leading into the holidays.

As part of that shift, retailers including the big boxes are positioning themselves as destinations for a number of housewares and home décor categories outside the traditional hardlines ranges.

Home Depot’s Fall + Winter 2020 Look Book reflects this shift—and highlights it with a series of design themes. “Mid-Century Modern” features natural wood with subtle colour accents in shades of beige and matte blues and greens. Offerings include coloured Thomasville Cabinetry items, exclusive to the banner, for kitchens.

In plumbing, customers can choose between dark-toned faucets by Moen and Vigo and a variety of gold accessories from brands including Pfizer, Moen and Delta.

Another design theme, “Modern Farmhouse,” evokes the rustic charms of reclaimed wood furniture and sliding barn doors. Products include sinks from Kohler and Vigo and flooring by OptiWood. In the “Soft Industrial” style profile, concrete textured vanities meet contrasting countertops in blacks, whites and natural wood tones.

Meanwhile, Lowe’s unveiled a gallery of four seasonal design themes for the kitchen or bathroom. The “Collected” kitchen is all about maximalism. Surfaces like porcelain and granite are offset by intense accents of bronze and black. Wood and granite also feature in the “Refined” collection, which offers a clean, casual look, characterized by whites and greens.

The “Lavish” bathroom is described as “Global-inspired”, with elements of a “70s glam” look. Dramatic shades of blue, green and violet pair with white and gold plumbing fixtures. The “Raw” look combines mid-century modern with irregular textures. Once again, wood grain and marble-effect porcelain are seen alongside bold black faucets and lighting pieces.

With so many trends on offer, big boxes stand to compete with housewares retailers, department stores and local hardware stores as décor destinations.

CHICAGO — The spread of the coronavirus has had a debilitating effect on bricks-and-mortar retail sales in the U.S. that are expected to decline by 10.5 percent this year. The silver lining has been e-commerce, which is projected to rise by 18 percent in 2020 and account for 14.5 percent of total retail sales, according to emarketer.com.

The Home Improvement eRetailer Summit, scheduled for March 7 to 9, 2021 at the Aloft Chicago Downtown River North hotel, has designed its agenda with an eye toward providing insight into future market conditions and tools to help dealers plan for and respond to those conditions proactively.

“The summit has always strived to keep its attendees ahead of the curve, and we believe our upcoming agenda will again meet the high bar we’ve set,” says Sonya Ruff Jarvis, the summit’s founder.

In comparison to many other industry events, the Home Improvement eRetailer Summit prides itself on being less formal and more participatory. It limits attendees to 100 people, resulting in a program that is welcoming and interactive.

The summit has also earmarked a session that identifies the five top retail tech trends and predicts which are likely to be temporary and which will endure. Supply-chain management is a pillar in any successful e-commerce strategy. There will be two sessions on this topic.

Most important, there will be ample opportunities for attendees and sponsors to network. “We believe our agenda will stimulate a lot of discussion during the Q&As and networking periods,” says Ruff Jarvis.

(For more information about the Home Improvement eRetailer Summit, contact Sonya Ruff Jarvis at 203-295-3385 or sruffjarvis@eretailersummit.com.)

Jean Piuze has been appointed president of SJM Group, whose holdings include store fixture and storage system maker Equipement Boni Inc. Puize’s mandate in the role will include refining the vision and focus of SJM Group and establishing its growth strategies. He joined in 2000.

… that just two provinces account for more than half of all retail home improvement sales in Canada? Or that one retailer has twice the share of the market in British Columbia than the nearest competitor? It’s all in the new Hardlines Market Share Report. Hardlines subscribers save more than 20 percent on pricing, so be sure and take advantage of this! Click here now to learn more and order yours!

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — BMR Group is currently working on the rollout of a new business management system at its head office. The deployment of this enterprise resource planning (ERP) software by Solstice is getting ready to go live. ERP can connect the day-to-day business activities of everything from accounting and procurement to project planning and supply chain management.

VAUGHAN, Ont. — TIMBER MART’s newest member is Matériaux Audet, with locations in Quebec City and Saint-Marc-des-Carrières. “TIMBER MART will provide us with the buying power we need to be more competitive in our key categories and the freedom to grow our business the way we feel is best,” said Mario Audet, who is co-owner of the business along with Marie-Claire Audet. Matériaux Audet has operated for more than 70 years. Its two locations are supported by some 80 staff and a fleet of 15 trucks.

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Ace Hardware Corp. reported record Q3 sales and profits. Revenues of $2 billion represented an increase of $470.4 million, or 30.7 percent, from the comparable period in 2019. Net income for the quarter was $98.7 million, up $38.2 million from a year prior. U.S. same-store-sales increased by 28.9 percent, while sales via the online channel surged by 221 percent.

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Loblaw Cos. has teamed up with California-based startup Gatik AI to launch an autonomous delivery service beginning in January. Five Ford Transit 350 trucks, equipped with Gatik’s self-driving technology, will operate on fixed routes from Loblaw’s automated picking facility to Toronto-area stores.

SUPPLIER NEWS

SURREY, B.C. — The Building Supply Industry Association of B.C. is hosting its first product-centred online conference on January 19. With more than 30 sponsors, “BSIA 2021 Wave of the Future – Product Expo and PK Sessions” will feature presentations from companies including CanWel, EAB, TIMBER MART, King Marketing, Sexton Group and Hardlines. Several draws for prizes will be held each hour. (Click here for information and to register.)

VANCOUVER & TORONTO — West Fraser Timber Co. is acquiring all outstanding common shares of Norbord Inc., reportedly the world’s largest OSB producer. The all-stock transaction is valued at approximately $4 billion. Following closing, the combined company will operate as West Fraser. The company will continue to be led by West Fraser President and CEO Raymond Ferris, and CFO Chris Virostek.

NATIONAL REPORT — A growing number of platforms are offering e-retail customers the chance to pay for purchases in instalments, while assuming the risks on behalf of merchants. According to CBC News, services such as Afterpay, PayBright, Sezzle and Affirm charge lower fees—in some cases, none at all to the customer. Afterpay, for example, is free for consumers. Retailers pay a fee of four to six percent of the sale, and in return Afterpay pays them up front, assuming the risk of non-payment on the customer’s part.

VALLEYFIELD, Que. — Matériaux Pont-Masson, through its sister business, Structure du Nord, has acquired a site in Beauharnois for its roof truss manufacturing. The new plant will be used to manufacture roof trusses and distribute engineered wood products such as joists, LVL beams and columns.

STOCKHOLM — Husqvarna Group’s Construction Division has signed an agreement to acquire Blastrac, an international provider of surface preparation technologies for the global construction and remediation industry. The companies are aiming to close the deal, subject to approval by competition regulators, by the end of 2020.

NOTED

Retail sales rose 1.1 percent to $53.9 billion in September, the fifth consecutive monthly increase since the record decline in April. Sales of building materials and garden equipment and supplies came to $3.82 billion, an increase of 0.9 percent from August and up 19.5 percent from September 2019. (StatCan)

NOTED

The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the challenges facing small local merchants. According to Retail Council of Canada’s annual national Holiday Shopping Survey, 90 percent of survey respondents said it was important to buy from a retailer within Canada this holiday season. The average planned spend this Christmas is $693, down from $792 last year.

LONDON, Ont. — Peavey Industries has converted the first TSC stores in Ontario to the Peavey Mart banner.

Red Deer, Alta.-based Peavey completed its acquisition of the TSC chain at the end of 2017, adding 50-plus stores to its existing network of 36 Peavey Marts in Western Canada.

Three TSC sites got the new signs earlier this month, all of them in London. The stores are close to the original TSC headquarters, based in this city in Southwestern Ontario. That location now serves as another office and second distribution centre for the network of stores under the Peavey umbrella, which consists of Peavey Mart, MainStreet Hardware and Ace.

Today, the company starts conversions on the stores in Tillsonburg, Goderich and Brantford. These will be completed by week’s end.

The switch has met with some consumer resistance, however. Jest Sidloski, vice president of marketing, customer experience and e-commerce for Peavey Industries, says social media has lit up wondering just what Peavey Mart is all about. Some even think it’s a U.S. brand. But, Sidloski notes, the Peavey Mart name is very strong in Western Canada and he’s confident that it will catch on. “People in Ontario are not aware of us, but we are as Canadian as you can get.”

The company plans to have three-quarters of the TSC locations converted by the end of the year at a rate of about three stores a week. The remaining sites, mainly in areas of Northern Ontario, will be switched early in 2021.

ATLANTA — Months into the pandemic, consumer investment in home projects continues to boom, leading Home Depot’s third-quarter sales to surge by 24 percent.

Home Depot’s earnings of $3.18 per share were up from $2.53 a year earlier. And just days before the company reported its Q3 earnings, it announced the acquisition of commercial supplier HD Supply.

Sales for the third quarter grew $6.3 billion to $33.5 billion, up 23.2 percent from last year. Comp sales were up 24.1 percent, with U.S. comps positive 24.6 percent.  Canada posted double-digit positive comps that were above the company average. That growth included sales to both DIY and contractor customers.

Home Depot’s online sales remained strong through the quarter. Through its interconnected retail strategy, Home Depot saw an increasing number of those sales fulfilled through its stores. “Sales leveraging our digital platforms increased approximately 80 percent versus the third quarter last year and approximately 60 percent of online orders were fulfilled through a store,” said Craig Menear, chairman and CEO.

During the quarter, the company continued to support its workers with enhanced benefits in response to COVID-19. Those benefits amounted to about $355 million. The company’s ongoing wage top-ups are being turned into permanent compensation enhancements for front-line, hourly associates. This will result in approximately $1 billion of incremental compensation on an annualized basis.

Overall, the costs to the company from the pandemic in the quarter added up to about $60 million. That included personal protective equipment for staff and customers and enhanced cleaning measures for the stores.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — One day after the release of its biggest competitor’s results, Lowe’s Cos. reported strong results of its own. Solid gains in its third quarter included 15 percent growth in all merchandising departments, 20-plus percent growth across all geographic regions and triple-digit online growth.

Sales rose to $22.31 billion from $17.39 billion in Q3 of 2019, up a healthy 28 percent. Same-store sales surged by 30.1 percent, while comps in the U.S. were up 30.4 percent. Online sales for the quarter were up a whopping 106 percent.

Q3 net income actually fell to $692 million ($0.91 per share), however, from $1.05 billion ($1.36 per share) a year prior. Accounting for a $1.1 billion pre-tax loss from debt payments, earnings were $1.98 per share.

Fifteen merchandising departments generated positive comps exceeding 15 percent, the company reported. Lumber led the way, again driven by strong demand across pro and DIY customers and supported by Lowe’s continued investments in job lot quantities.

In addition to lumber, the retailer saw above average comps in décor, lawn and garden—especially live goods and landscaping—and seasonal and outdoor living. Within décor, growth was driven largely by furniture and accessories, along with strong results in home organization, as customers continued to update and create new spaces for home offices and remote schooling.

Marvin Ellison, president and CEO of Lowe’s, told analysts that the Canadian business managed to post positive comps that exceeded 25 percent. Ellison attributed the gains to both customer engagement and internal refining of processes.

“That growth was supported by strong pro and DIY demand, as well as early success implementing our retail fundamentals playbook to improve operating efficiency—while driving sales.”

Lowe’s invested $245 million in COVID-related support for front-line hourly workers in the third quarter, bringing its total COVID-related staff financial support to more than $800 million so far this year.

CHICAGO — The North American office of the Cologne Trade Fairs organization wants to assure everyone that Eisenwarenmesse, the International Hardware Fair, is not being cancelled. And new policies have been put in place to make committing easy for exhibitors, including hassle-free cancellation.

“It’s scheduled with no indication at this time that management will change its mind,” says Darrin Stern, director of new business development in North America for Koelnmesse, the giant trade show organization that owns Eisenwarenmesse. The show is scheduled for February 21 to February 24, 2021.

Stern points out that Northern Germany, which plays host to numerous shows from facilities in Cologne, Dusseldorf and Frankfurt, has been open for business. “For example,” he notes “a camper and caravan show that was open to the public with 108,000 visitors recently, with no reported cases of COVID.”

The International Hardware Fair will follow a range of protocols to ensure the safety of its attendees, as well. In fact, the whole city is actively requiring face masks on public transit, in restaurants and even in open-air “crowded zones”. Onsite at the show, security measures will include spacing restrictions and ways to manage traffic flows should they get too heavy.

The show is expecting 2,250 exhibitors, down from 3,000 originally projected. Nevertheless, says Stern, visitors will have lots to see. Companies that wish to exhibit have the benefit of a cancellation policy that lets them pull out up to three months ahead of the event. And if travel or quarantine rules in the region change right before the show, exhibitors will still have the option to cancel without penalty.

(For more information about attending or exhibiting at the International Hardware Fair, contact Darrin Stern.)

At BMR Group, Antonio Di Pasquale has been appointed VP, supply chain and operational excellence. Di Pasquale brings more than 20 years of experience in the field. In his new role, he will lead the development and optimization of BMR Group’s processes and strategies relating to procurement and demand planning.

Jeld-Wen Windows & Doors has named Michael MacLeod as national account manager. He was previously an area sales manager for eight years at Owens Corning Canada, supporting the commercial and retail dealer channels across Ontario.

Shere Perkins is the new director of national accounts – USA craft and hobby for OLFA North America, reporting to VP Greg McNeilly. Perkins was most recently director of sales with Darice, a division of Michaels Stores.

… that subscriptions for the weekly Hardlines Newsletter are going up on December 1? Any subscriptions set for renewal after December 1 will be invoiced for the updated prices. If your subscription is set to auto-renew by credit card, you will automatically be billed the updated price. To check your renewal date, update your credit card information, or change your current sub-users, please follow the instructions here. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Michelle. And thank you for your ongoing support!

VAUGHAN, Ont. — TIMBER MART launched its regional dealer meetings and annual vendor negotiations earlier in the fall and is reporting that the shift to a virtual format has been a “resounding success.” TIMBER MART is set to take its annual buying show virtual next February and expects to welcome a larger number of participants than it has at in-person events.

ATLANTA — The Home Depot has reached a deal to acquire HD Supply Holdings, a distributor of maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products in the multi-family and hospitality markets. Under the terms of the agreement, a subsidiary of The Home Depot will commence a cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of HD Supply common stock for $56 per share, for a total value of about $8 billion. The deal is expected to close during the company’s fourth quarter.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — Home Hardware Stores and Tree Canada have launched a partnership to restore trees in areas of Nova Scotia hit by Hurricane Dorian last fall. The initiative will see Home Hardware donate $65,000 to Tree Canada’s Operation ReLeaf, ear-marking the funds to help provincial municipalities restore trees lost in the storm.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart’s Q3 revenues were up 5.2 percent to $134.71 billion. Operating income rose by 22.5 percent to $5.79 billion. Same-store sales in the U.S. increased by 6.4 percent, excluding fuel. In Canada, operating income declined but both sales and comp sales increased by 7.7 percent, while online sales soared by 177 percent.

Sales of existing homes in October slipped by just 0.7 percent after September’s all-time record gain. The small change reflected gains in about half of all local markets (including Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton) offset by declines in the other half (including Greater Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver). Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales activity posted a 32.1 percent year-over-year gain in October, a new record for that month. (Canadian Real Estate Association)

The seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 214,875 units in October, up three percent from September. The SAAR of urban starts increased by 3.5 percent in October to 202,584 units. Multiple urban starts decreased by 0.2 percent to 144,796 units, while single-detached urban starts increased by 14.3 percent to 57,788 units. (CMHC)

U.S. housing starts for October were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53 million, up 4.9 percent from September. Single-family starts rose to 1.179 million. Building permits for the month were unchanged from September. (U.S. Census Bureau)

U.S. retail sales inched up by a less-than-expected 0.3 percent in October. At building material and garden retailers, however, sales were up by six percent. (U.S. Commerce Dept.)

NOTED

The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the challenges facing small local merchants. According to the Retail Council of Canada’s annual national Holiday Shopping Survey, 90 percent of survey respondents said it was important to buy from a retailer within Canada this holiday season. The average planned spend this Christmas is $693, down from $792 last year.

OVERHEARD…

“In an effort to keep not only our employees but also our dealers and vendors safe, we are hosting hundreds of meetings on virtual platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and are finding that with information sharing prior to the meetings, everyone is well prepared to engage with each other online and make the most of their time together.”
—Randy Martin, VP of procurement for TIMBER MART, on the buying group’s ongoing success with virtual events.

RED DEER, Alta. & WINNIPEG — Ace Canada, a division of Peavey Industries LP, has established a formal business arrangement with Winnipeg-based buying group Sexton Group Ltd. Under the joint supply agreement, Ace dealers, who now get their hardware supplied through Peavey, will have access to the LBM offerings of Sexton’s programs. Sexton members will likewise have access to the hardware products and programs of Ace Canada.

According to the release, “This agreement provides the opportunity for all Ace dealers and Sexton Group members to benefit from expanded and improved product selection, distribution and other services that only two innovative and exceptional leaders in their own areas of expertise could bring to the table.”

“When we purchased the Ace Canada licence from Ace International in March of this year, and at the same time acquired existing dealer agreements from RONA, we knew a long-term plan was needed for LBM support and supply to our dealers going forward,” said Doug Anderson, president and CEO of Peavey Industries.

Noting that the stores represented by both companies are strongly rooted in the communities they serve, Anderson said, the "new strategic alliance reinforces both of our companies’ growth objectives while providing us with the opportunity to bring our strengths together as parallel supports for our LBM dealers.”

And the deal is designed to help Sexton dealers with the front end of their businesses. “Current Sexton Group members will also have a guided opportunity to become Ace dealers if they wish, and we welcome that too!” Anderson added.

The joint supply agreement has been signed, with the collaborative terms taking effect January 1 for all Canadian regions, aside from Quebec, although stores in that province will be also be included. “We have allotted additional time to ensure our LBM program will effectively support our Quebec dealers,” says the release.

“This is not expected to be a lengthy process as our LBM portal, a major element already in place, has been bilingual since its inception. The target date for Quebec dealer activation within the agreement is between the second and third quarter of 2021.”

(Click here to read the full press release from Ace Canada and Sexton Group.)

TORONTO — Canadian Tire saw sales both in-store and online spike through the summer, driving strong results for the company during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our e-commerce channel year-to-date has now surpassed $1 billion in sales, up 211 percent from 2019,” said President and CEO Greg Hicks in a call to analysts following the release of Canadian Tire’s third-quarter results.

“Both digitally and in-store, our existing Triangle [online loyalty] members were key contributors to increases in store transactions and basket size, and the Triangle program acquired approximately 400,000 new members in the quarter,” Hicks noted.

The Canadian Tire Retail stores saw a big jump in sales, likewise thanks in large part to online sales. “CTR experienced continued growth in our e-commerce channel, up 178 percent in the quarter. E-commerce penetration is now double where it was a year ago.”

Store traffic remained strong as well for Canadian Tire stores. Revenue for that business was up 28 percent, while comparable sales grew by 25.1 percent. Growth came from more than 90 percent of CTR’s 200 categories, with 80 percent of those categories achieving double-digit growth. The top-selling products in Q3 were in kitchenwares, as people stayed home and spent more time and money on food preparation.

CTR enjoyed big growth in home improvement categories that typified sales across the industry. These included lawn and garden, tools, paint and hardware. The stores also capitalized on the surge in popularity of backyard living, camping and road trips, which drove sales across all seasonal categories. Hicks admitted that those sales could have been even stronger, especially in outdoor living and barbecues, if not for scarcity of product. “We will certainly need to replenish store inventory and that’s the big question for the teams—how we forecast consumer demand heading into next year.”

Hicks said the trend has given the stores the opportunity to attract new customers. He noted that “the average paint customer is much more lucrative than the average CTR shopper. Not only do they spend three times more than non-paint customers, they visit the store more frequently.”

Although e-commerce sales, especially for bulky items, stabilized at the end of the third quarter, Hicks expects them to pick up again for the holidays, which he says represents Canadian Tire’s busiest season. And the arrival of snow in some Western markets has already helped ignite seasonal sales. But he also anticipates continued demand for amenities to brighten up the home, with big increases in customer searches for game rooms, ping pong tables, pool tables and winter cycling.

To meet the demand, the company will maintain services including home delivery, curbside pickup and click-and-collect processes that will see more automated pickup lockers across the CTR network.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — Home Hardware Stores Ltd. is expanding its base in Quebec, and Home Hardware dealers themselves are driving some of the expansion.

In just one week, the company announced a couple of deals in that province that saw existing dealers in their respective regions buy out another dealer. First, three of its dealers partnered to purchase a Home Hardware Building Centre location in Saint-Lin-Laurentides. Louis Turcotte, Daniel Gervais and David Blair own and operate multiple Home Hardware and Home Hardware Building Centre stores across Quebec and Ontario. They have purchased the Saint-Lin-Laurentides from retiring dealers Yves and Gilles Morels.

The Saint-Lin-Laurentides store has been family-owned for its more than a century in existence, and under the Home Hardware banner for the past 20 years.

Just a few days after this deal made the news, Home Hardware announced that the dealer-owners of another group of Quebec stores had purchased Centre de Rénovation Pine Hill Inc. in Brownsburg-Chatham.

Hugues Nepveu and Isabelle Patry own and operate three Home Hardware Building Centre locations in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, L’Épiphanie and Fabreville. They took over Pine Hill from former dealer-owners Serge and Ghislaine Séguin. Looking to retire after 30 years in operation, they wanted to see the business kept under the Home Hardware banner.

Home Hardware already picked up two new dealers through the summer. L’Acadien Bricoleur Gentilly, located in Becancour, opened August, was followed a month later by Materiaux Marquette in Baie-Comeau.

SPECIAL REPORT — While the industry eyes Amazon with trepidation today, 25 years ago the company that kept every retailer awake at night was Walmart. This week in 1995, Hardlines reported on expansion plans by Walmart Canada. Those plans involved five new stores in the year ahead, adding to the five that had already opened in 1995. In conjunction with that growth, the giant retailer began another wave of price reductions, putting further pressure on vendors.

This news came just a week after Hardlines broke some big news for the home improvement industry. The first-ever Hardlines “Fax Extra” (since replaced by our online Breaking News—your historically minded Editor) announced that Beaver Lumber had confirmed a supply deal for hardware from Ace Hardware. The deal provided Ace with a solid footing in Canada, but at the expense of Canadian suppliers. By choosing Ace, Beaver, under President and CEO Ralph Trott, effectively thumbed its nose at D.H. Howden & Co., at the time the major hardware wholesaler for independents nationally.

This deal marked Ace’s second attempt to get established in Canada. Previously, it had teamed up with LBM wholesaler CanWel, under Tom Longworth. He tried bringing Ace products up for cross-docking at one of CanWel’s warehouses in the Vancouver area. The arrangement became unworkable when the Canadian dollar took a big tumble.

Where are they now? Beaver got sold to Home Hardware five years later. Ace had to scramble, continuing to recruit dealers one at a time. The Ace business would eventually get taken over by Howden. That wholesaler, in turn, after many sales and mergers, got buried somewhere in Orgill’s acquisition of Chalifour Hardware 20 years later. Tom Longworth went on to join the board of the Port of Vancouver.

(Ralph Trott met up with me for a coffee at the National Hardware Show in Chicago a few months after the Beaver sell-off. He shared with me his idea of launching a big-box retailer that would focus on storage and storage products. Trott was already ahead of the curve. Sure enough, in just a few more years, that category would explode. —Your nostalgic Editor)

… that subscriptions for the weekly Hardlines Newsletter are going up on December 1? Any subscriptions set for renewal after December 1 will be invoiced for the updated prices. If your subscription is set to auto-renew by credit card, you will automatically be billed the updated price. To check your renewal date, update your credit card information, or change your current sub-users, please follow the instructions here. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email Michelle. And thank you for your ongoing support!

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — BMR Group has launched a pilot program for a click-and-collect system in its corporate stores. The platform, from Tecsys, provides omnichannel retail order management software (OMS) to help retailers fulfil orders across channels. It’s been identified as a way to support some of the BMR stores during the pandemic by offering in-store pickup.

TORONTO — Canadian Tire saw strong growth in its private-label products in its third quarter. Its so-called “owned brands” accounted for an incredible 36 percent of its retail sales in the quarter, delivering impressive 23 percent growth over last year. At CTR, owned brands grew 28 percent, thanks to big names, such as Mastercraft, MotoMaster, NOMA, Woods and Canvas, as well as the more recent addition of Vermont Castings. 

QUEBEC CITY — For the eighth year in a row, Canac has partnered with Leucan to raise funds for the agency, which helps children with cancer. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a record $36,500 was raised. A. Since 2013, Canac has generated a total of $161,668 for Leucan.

SUPPLIER NEWS

CHICAGO — The fifth Home Improvement eRetailer Summit is scheduled to take place March 7 to 9 at the Aloft Chicago Downtown River North hotel. It aims to provide insight into future market conditions and tools to help dealers plan for and respond to those conditions proactively. This unique forum provides insights and access to growing online sales for vendors and buyers alike. Attendance is capped at 100 participants. For more information and to request an invitation, visit the Summit website.

DELTA, B.C. — Regal ideas Inc. has been recognized with a Davey Award for its DeckStars integrated marketing campaign. The Davey Awards honour the best in web, design, marketing and social media worldwide. Regal ideas tapped industry veteran Joe Jacklin to lead the program in 2019.

VANCOUVER — Western Forest Products reported solid third-quarter results, with net income of $11.5 million, reversing a net loss of $18.7 million for the third quarter of 2019 and net income of $8.5 million from the second quarter of 2020. The company says strong demand from the repair and renovation and new home building sectors, combined with constrained supply, managed to drive record pricing for logs and lumber in the quarter.

MONTREAL — Intertape Polymer Group said its Q3 revenues increased by 10 percent to $323 million, primarily due to increased demand in products with significant e-commerce end market exposure. That included water-activated tape and protective packaging. Net earnings increased $14.2 million to $26.7 million.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Total investment in building construction decreased 1.7 percent to $15.2 billion in September, after reaching a record high in August. This can be attributed to decreases in the non-residential sector, which was down 8.5 percent. The drop was partially offset by increases in residential sector investment, which was up 1.6 percent. (StatCanada)

NOTED

Retail Council of Canada’s annual national Holiday Shopping Survey shows that Canadians will be spending less in some categories, but they are eager to support local retailers. Product categories that help make people’s experience at home better, improve their wellness and promote getting outdoors are seeing increases this year. The dramatic shift toward online shopping will continue over the holidays as fewer Canadians plan to shop in stores this season. Only 58 percent of respondents said they would shop in stores this Christmas, compared to 72 percent in 2019.

MEMPHIS — Orgill Inc. plans to replace its in-person 2021 Spring Dealer Market in favour of what it calls a more dynamic and flexible approach to how it connects with its dealer customers and vendor partners. The show usually takes place in the third week of February.

Orgill will offer a combination of events, including physical shows like its traditional Dealer Markets, plus online-only buying events like its recent Orgill e-Volution event that was held August 24 to September 4. In future, the giant hardware wholesaler plans to round these out with virtual educational events and blended shows that merge online technology with a physical event.

“Just like the retailers we serve, this year taught us a lot about how to be agile and how to push outside our comfort zones to meet the needs of our customers,” says Boyden Moore, Orgill president and CEO. “We believe that live shows, online buying events and educational conferences should not exist in a vacuum—they should all work together in how we do business in the future.”

“The days of a stand-alone physical event are a thing of the past,” says Greg Stine, Orgill’s executive vice president of marketing and communications. “We believe that this expanded strategy will provide a platform of support for our dealers, allowing them to efficiently buy products and gain knowledge that will help them grow and strengthen their businesses.”

He adds that the company’s virtual event last summer helped his team realize that, with technology, Orgill could reach more customers than even a live event, “and offer unique and richer experiences to everyone who participates in them.”

The online event attracted nearly 10,000 retailers who interacted with the thousands of vendors and service providers participating in the show. Orgill says the event set records for retailer participation and set sales records for the company.

In addition to harnessing the best elements online and live shows offer, Orgill also looks to create a consistent cadence for these events throughout the year that allows more retailers to participate and is also more conducive to buying cycles.

Orgill plans to hold its first Online Buying Event of 2021 from February 8 to 19, with a pre-event planning period from February 1 to 7. Orgill will unveil a full schedule of online, in-person and hybrid events for the year in early 2021. The company still has its sights set on hosting a live Fall Dealer Market in Chicago in August 2021.

SCARBOROUGH, Ont. — A recent meeting by Lowe’s Canada executives before a virtual group of vendors was hosted recently by the Canadian Hardware and Housewares Manufacturers Association (CHHMA).

The meeting was welcomed by the suppliers, especially given the number of new faces at the retailer’s head office. Most notably, Lowe’s Canada President Tony Hurst (shown here), in place since the beginning of the year, made his first general appearance before the Canadian supplier base. Joining Hurst were Senior Vice President of Merchandising Chris West, along with Merchandising Vice Presidents Marc Gingras (building products), Oliver Horton (hardlines and seasonal) and Charles Valois (home décor).

The meeting was welcomed by Lowe’s Canada as a way to introduce the new Lowe’s Canada merchandising team’s leadership. It was restricted to vendors and manufacturers and closed to the media—including Hardlines. (We share here some top-line details, courtesy of our industry moles and some friendly fact-checking with Lowe’s Canada. —Your Diligent Editor)

Hurst and his team shared Lowe’s Canada’s vision of its interaction with the vendor community, aimed at developing relationships that are meaningful and ambitious.

The execs talked about a “reset” of vendor partnerships that would create genuine collaboration. This will require exploring new ways to connect, with more transparency and accessibility, while staying open to feedback from the vendors themselves.

The senior merchants said they had listened to the feedback from the CHHMA and its member suppliers. Acknowledging that there were areas in which they could make improvements, the team committed to simplifying their business processes to ease vendor interaction. That will reportedly include the formation of a vendor advisory board.

Vendors can also count on more harmonization of back-end programs. While the Lowe’s Canada team would not put a firm date on this process, they offered assurances that they are committed to this goal long-term.

The group also reaffirmed their stance regarding Canadian vendors, that is, when selection criteria are met, “We will always favour domestic vendors,” they were quoted as saying—a policy that they recognize has positive advantages for customers and the business overall. That support extends to the “Well made here” program, an initiative to identify and promote products made domestically.

MONCTON — Plans to hold the 2021 ABSDA Building Supply Expo as an in-person event have been cancelled, according to the show’s organizer, the Atlantic Building Supply Dealers Association.

The ABSDA board made the decision and sent out a release to the industry, signed by the association’s president, Denis Melanson, at the end of October. The show, which has been running since 1955, moved to Halifax from Moncton in 2018. It was cancelled due to the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The 2020 edition of the show was held March 11 to 12 at the Halifax Convention Centre. Already, people were expressing concerns about the rise of the pandemic and the show ended just one day before Canada began locking down in earnest. Nevertheless, the event managed to draw dealers from some 250 locations throughout Atlantic Canada.

According to Melanson, “Our 2020 Expo was a tremendous success, laying the groundwork for the future. The decision to pull back on the 2021 in-person event was arrived after many discussions with members, board deliberations and consulting with officials at the Halifax Convention Centre.”
 
As Melanson and his team tried to envision what the effects of the pandemic might look like five months out, safety of attendees had to be taken into consideration. The association is exploring options for connecting suppliers and dealers in 2021 and says it will announce further plans in the near future. 

PICKERING, Ont. — A new platform that tracks customers and visitors to enable contact tracing is being made available at no charge.

CANATRACE offers a secure, bilingual method for businesses to collect patron information per city guidelines across Canada. It’s the brainchild of Groundlevel Insights, a company that specializes in consumer location intelligence.

Hardlines has partnered with CANATRACE to make this available to dealers and businesses in the hardware and home improvement industry. The platform helps businesses support healthy environments, whether it’s a store, distribution centre, gym, school, museum or restaurant.

Patrons only have to scan a QR code posted at the front of the establishment. It takes them to a custom-designed landing page of for that business. They enter their contact info and mandatory contract tracing and screening information. A screen pops up on the patron’s phone showing a green check mark, which signals to the proprietor or host that the individual is ready to enter the premises.

If a store owner gets notified that someone in their establishment has been infected, they simply contact CANATRACE, which in turn will provide the local health authorities with a list of all customers that may have been exposed.

(Any company wishing to try this out can click here to register.)

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TORONTO — Canadian Tire Corp. had a strong third quarter, with consolidated retail sales up by 13.1 percent. Excluding the petroleum business, consolidated retail sales were up 19.1 percent over the same period last year. As in the second quarter, Canadian Tire delivered strong same-store sales growth, up almost 19 percent, thanks in large part to its online business. The company’s Canadian Tire Retail division led the surge, with 25.1 percent comp sales growth. Sales of private-label products were up 28 percent. Online sales have reached $1 billion year to date, a 211 percent increase. Once again, CTR led the way, with 178 percent growth.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Castle Building Centres has added two new members in Quebec. Matériaux M.B. Inc. is in Preissac, in the province’s Abitibi region. Under owners Bertrand Bolduc and his daughter Manon, the store provides lumber, building materials and hardware to local contractors and consumers. D.F. Rouleau, in the village of Les Hauteurs in the province’s Bas-Saint-Laurent region, has also signed. Owner Valérie Potvin took over the store, which turns 100 this year, in 2014. Today, with her partner, Samuel Labonté, Potvin has built a business that provides not just hardware and building materials, but also groceries, under the Omni banner through Sobeys.

TORONTO — The Home Depot Canada suffered a data breach last week, as personal information, including some credit card details, were inadvertently emailed out to customers. The information sent out was in the form of confirmation emails for customers awaiting online orders. The emails got sent instead to hundreds of other Home Depot Canada customers by mistake. While such breaches are often the work of hackers or online predators, this appears to have been the result of human or system error, says the company.

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — As the holiday season approaches, Lowe’s in the U.S. is positioning itself as the source for a broad range of home products that will fill the bill as gifts. To support the promotion, Lowe’s has expanded its assortments to feature playing and recreation products such as exercise bikes, electric scooters and trampolines, as well as putting a big focus on kitchenwares, home styling and décor.

SUPPLIER NEWS

BURNABY, B.C. — Pledging to support customers and organizations in need through difficult times, Taiga Building Products has created the Taiga Community Fund. The charity, says the building products distributor, has “the express purpose of giving back to the communities where we live and work. We recognize the tremendous effect that COVID-19 has had on our neighbours and families, so we created a fund worth $110,000 and asked our people to build a plan to support organizations in their backyard that could use some help.”

QUEBEC CITY — Tando, a brand of Derby Building Products, has rolled out a new technology within its free online tool, My Tando Home Creator. The tool lets homeowners and contractors design projects using Tando products, including its TandoStone composite stone and its cedar shingle replacement, Beach House Shake.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Home sales in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) were up year over year for the fourth month in a row. Sales through the Toronto area were up 25.1 percent compared to October 2019. Condo listings more than doubled, but sales were only up by 2.2 percent. The average selling price for all home types combined was $968,318, up 13.7 percent from a year earlier. (Toronto Regional Real Estate Board)

Total construction spending in the U.S. for September was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,414 billion, up 0.3 percent from August. Year-to-date spending for the first nine months is up 4.1 percent. (U.S. Census Bureau)

OVERHEARD…

“These events certainly don’t take the place of face-to-face shows, but they do offer some things a live show can’t, like the ability to get a lot done in a short window of time and eliminating the need to leave your store to travel.”
—Jeff Curler, Orgill’s senior vice president of purchasing, on the hardware wholesaler’s plans to offer a series of virtual events tied in with live experiences in 2021.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Castle Building Centres Group Ltd. has forged an exclusive partnership with an online platform for homeowners to source renovations and repairs. Rendoodle is a virtual marketplace that connects retailers and industry experts with consumers to help them plan and execute their home improvement projects.

Under President Ken Jenkins, Castle represents independent lumber, building materials and hardware dealers in more than 300 locations across Canada, so this partnership will give Rendoodle access to a national network of local businesses. The platform provides consumers with tools to turn their home renovation concepts, or “doodles,” into reality by connecting them to contractors and to products through a local Castle location.

Rendoodle, based in Vaughan, Ont., was co-founded by Jenkins’s son, Lucas Jenkins, who is also president of the online company. He believes a tool like the one his company offers can give independents more ways to compete effectively. “We see Rendoodle as a way to really level the playing field with the big box retailers and create a stronger competitive advantage,” says the younger Jenkins.

Castle’s partnership with Rendoodle gives Castle members the opportunity to be home improvement retailers of choice for the platform. Together with Rendoodle, Castle intends to build a sustainable online community of Castle retailers, leading manufacturers and reputable certified contractors. The marketplace offers member benefits such as access to project leads, increased sales potential and access to a certified installer listing.

“Our deal with Castle as a whole will allow for all of their retail locations across Canada to be a part of the program,” Lucas Jenkins continues. “The onboarding process is one that is simple and efficient.”

The partnership with Rendoodle will connect those dealers to the consumers. Customers using the platform can get their projects completed with products from a reliable retail source by pros who are monitored to ensure they meet stringent certifying criteria.

Some of the benefits being touted for vendors include assurance that their products are being installed by trained contractors, while enjoying opportunities to showcase products to consumers and drive retailers to stock their products.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — The changing lineup of buyers at Home Hardware Stores Limited includes a brand-new role, one that has been filled by a veteran of retail with grocery experience domestically as well at superstores in Europe.

According to Marianne Thompson, SVP merchandise for Home Hardware, the addition of Meriyem Kaf (shown here) to her merchandise team reflects the added complexity of the new processes being created for the category review process. Those processes are driven, in turn, by Home Hardware’s efforts to re-imagine itself, not as simply a hardware distributor, but more sharply focused on the retail customer—“to support our strategic transformation from a wholesaler to becoming that dealer-owned retailer,” says Thompson.

Kaf has been appointed to fill the newly created role of director, merchandise strategy and execution. Her background includes Carrefour in France and Sobeys in Canada. At Home Hardware, one of her key responsibilities is the design of Home Hardware’s category management capability. “She will develop, build and deploy a capability roadmap to support the overall category growth strategy. This includes defining the people, process and technology requirements,” Thompson says. “She brings a category management process.”

Kaf will also lead the development of a private-brand strategy. Thompson says this will drive “above-average growth and profitability within private brands” and include responsibility for building and implementing a global import sourcing strategy. Kaf will determine assortments and supplier matrix, which countries to tap for production and financial targets.

With more emphasis on private label, what will this mean for Home’s traditional vendors?

“Home Hardware is on a journey of growth and we’re building all the growth strategies to support that,” Thompson says. Her teams are now holding supplier partnership meetings with vendors—something new for the company. “This is really to ensure that our suppliers are aware of our journey, ensuring that we have alignment with our suppliers. Our success is dependent on our supplier partners and their support.”

She adds that, as Home Hardware grows, those suppliers are growing with them. However, as category reviews are held, some SKU counts are changing. “We are moving away from one-off product additions and building powerful strategic assortments, guided by a longer-term category plan,” she says.

Thompson stresses however that “it’s not a strategy to reduce SKUs and it’s not a strategy to reduce suppliers." But, she adds, “there will be a dramatic reduction in individual item additions to the assortment outside of the line review cycle, in favour of building powerful merchandise programs. Our new assortments will leverage Home Hardware’s strengths and will enhance competitive long-term positioning.”

QUEBEC CITY — One of Quebec’s fastest growing retail chains has more expansion planned. Canac has 30 stores, of which 13 are in the Quebec City area. The company has been adding stores over the past decade at a rate of about one per year on average, moving farther east and south with each new site.

Canac’s latest focus of growth has been the Montreal area, where the company set up stores in May 2019 in Notre-Dame-des-Prairies and in Prévost, in the Laurentides region, in February of this year. Now, says President and General Manager Pierre Laberge, more are in the works.

The next store will open in La Prairie, on the south shore of Montreal in February 2021. That location will consist of just over 40,000 square feet of retail space, with a 23,792-square-foot warehouse. It will also be Canac’s 31st location, making the firm one of the largest privately-owned home improvement chains, not just in Quebec, but in the country.

That opening will be followed by another store before the end of 2021. Laberge says there are other sites in the works, but the exact location will be determined by the how quickly permits can be secured for each site.

Canac still has its sights set on expansion into neighbouring Ontario. Land has been purchased in the Eastern Ontario town of Hawkesbury and is awaiting development. The planned store is part of a major redevelopment of a former Amoco oil plant. Laberge expects it to be up and running there within two years—if not sooner.

To support this growth, another expansion is planned for the company’s distribution centre in Drummondville, Que. This latest construction represents phase three for the site, which was acquired in 2015 and now holds a 500,000-square-foot hardware DC.

Laberge says the new LBM facility will replace two existing warehouses that can no longer handle the volume. One is in Beauport, serving Canac stores in the Quebec City market, while the other is part of a store in Rock Forest (a former Gaston Coté location).

Laberge says his team is awaiting further permits and approvals, but he expects the new addition be completed by the beginning of 2022.

WINNIPEG — Liz Kovach is hailing it as a victory, not just for the province, but for the retail home improvement industry.

With the return of Premier Scott Moe’s Saskatchewan Party to government in that province’s election last week, the Home Renovation Tax Credit (HRTC) is now in effect. The centre-right party, formed in 1997 by majorities from the provincial Liberal and PC parties as a united front against the NDP, has governed Saskatchewan since 2007.

The Western Retail Lumber Association, headed by Kovach (shown here, with Premier Scott Moe), welcomed the fulfillment of Moe’s re-election pledge, which is backdated to October 1 and runs through to December 31, 2022.

The tax credit has been a major lobbying initiative for Kovach and the WRLA, which sent letters to political leaders in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Dealers in many of these markets were already struggling before the pandemic hit. Her office has been pushing for the tax credit for months.

With Saskatchewan’s HRTC, homeowners will be able to claim a 10.5% credit on up to $20,000 in eligible home renovation expenses incurred during the period, for savings of up to $2,100. Eligible expenses will include permanent additions to the home but not include items such as furniture, appliances, hot tubs, tools or maintenance.

Elkay Manufacturing has announced new roles in its Elkay International Systems (EIS) division. Tony Lutz has been named SVP for EIS. Lutz has led Interior Systems since 1987. Mia Nicolaisen has been promoted to VP, EIS North America. In this expanded role, she will be responsible for the entire EIS North America business. Most recently, she headed up EIS’s North American Operations. Rod Krings has been promoted to general manager, EIS North America.

… that we don’t always know? We rely on you, our Faithful Readers, for input and feedback—especially during these tough times. Can you help us improve what we do? Please take two minutes (really, it’s quick!) to fill out this survey and let us know what you think about the Hardlines weekly newsletter.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — Home Hardware and Beauti-Tone were sponsors of the LivABLE Environment Conference, billed as “a three-day virtual event on residential design and how accessibility, living in place and wellness in the home can be enhanced.” The conference was held last week. Home Hardware and Beauti-Tone were among 30 companies participating in the event.

SURREY, B.C. — Thomas Foreman, president of the Building Supply Industry Association of B.C., visited TIMBER MART’s Langley, B.C., LBM distribution centre recently to present the business with the 2020 Orion Supplier of Year Award. Warehouse supervisor Alex Stanculescu received the award on TIMBER MART’s behalf and was also personally presented with the Customer Service award. TIMBER MART members also took three out of four prizes in the retail category, while the award for Building Supply Centre (Mini-Box) went to Ladysmith Home Hardware in Ladysmith, B.C.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — In anticipation of an opioid-related civil lawsuit from the federal government, Walmart has filed a suit of its own against the feds. According to the Wall Street Journal, Walmart is claiming that the Justice Department and Drug Enforcement Administration are trying to make the retailer, particular its 5,000-plus pharmacies, a "scapegoat" for the opioid crisis in that country. Walmart says it is being blamed for filling problematic prescriptions, even though the doctors who wrote them were practicing legally.

STELLARTON, N.S. — Analysts are noting that Sobeys will likely follow Loblaw and Metro in demanding higher fees from suppliers, raising concerns the move would drive competition down and prices up. Loblaw wrote to suppliers last week saying that its business has become “more challenging and costly to operate” and that it will charge more to carry products beginning in January.

SUPPLIER NEWS

TORONTO — The Canadian Hardware & Housewares Manufacturers Association is hosting a series of online educational events every Tuesday and Thursday in November. Topics range from cybersecurity to the post-pandemic economy and artificial intelligence. Click here for more info.

TUPELO, Miss. — BBC Capital, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Renin Holdings, has acquired Montreal-based Colonial Elegance. The company supplies and distributes building products, including barn doors, closet doors and stair parts, to big boxes in the U.S. and Canada.

MINNEAPOLIS — 3M Co. posted Q3 earnings of $1.4 billion, down from $1.6 billion last year. Strong sales in the health care segment, which grew by 25 percent, partially offset the decline. Revenues increased to $8.35 billion, compared to $8 billion a year ago.

LIVONIA, Mich. — Masco Corp. reported that Q3 sales rose 16 percent to $2 billion. Operating profit for the quarter increased 47 percent to $424 million; adjusted operating profit increased 43 percent to $425 million.

CLEVELAND — Sherwin-Williams reported Q3 earnings of $705.8 billion or $7.66 per share, $0.39 higher than estimates. Comparable sales in Canada and the U.S. rose by 3.1 percent for the quarter.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Sales of existing U.S. homes rose by 9.4 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units. On an annual basis, sales were up by 20.9 percent. September’s pace is the strongest since 2006. (National Association of Realtors)

U.S. housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.42 million in September, up 1.9 percent from August’s activity. The growth was driven by an 8.5 percent rise in single-family starts, particularly in the Northeast, as multi-family starts declined. (U.S. Census Bureau)

NOTED

Canadians are planning to spend about 18 percent less than usual during this holiday season, according to the 2020 Holiday Retail Outlook report from Deloitte. Online shopping, however, is “gaining traction at an exponential speed,” with Amazon standing to gain the lion’s share. About one in three consumers (35 percent) plan to reduce overall expenditures for the season while increasing spending at restaurants and cannabis stores.

OVERHEARD…

“We are proud to collaborate with the LivABLE Conference Environment on the creation of barrier-free living and accessibility in residential homes. It’s important that, as Canadians, we are part of the global conversation around ways we can improve residential design and make a lasting impact within our industry.”
—Home Hardware President and CEO Kevin Macnab on his company’s sponsorship of a forum dealing with better accessibility, living in place and wellness in residential design.

RED DEER, Alta.— It’s been almost eight months since Peavey Industries announced its takeover of the license and distribution rights to Ace Hardware stores in Canada. And certainly a lot has happened since then. Through it all, Peavey President and CEO Doug Anderson remains confident in the viability of the move, one that he believes will bring stability supported by a truly Canadian supply chain.

“At Peavey, we understand small towns,” Anderson says, making reference to fact many Ace dealers flourish in smaller communities. He notes that Peavey is an employee-owned company with the flexibility that kind of structure can bring. “We’re very focused on Ace long-term as a company.”

The Ace banner in Canada has had a varied history, one that dates back to the early 1990s. At that time, LBM wholesaler CanWel attempted a cross-docking arrangement for Ace products through one of its distribution centres in the Vancouver area. To this day, a handful of dealers, mainly in British Columbia, maintain an Ace affiliation from that period. Ace then came to Canada through a deal with Beaver Lumber back in the mid-1990s. That ended with Beaver’s demise barely five years later. Since then, ownership passed to now-defunct hardware wholesaler Sodisco-Howden Group, back to CanWel, then TIMBER MART, RONA and finally Lowe’s Canada (whew!—Editor).

Peavey acquired the Ace business from Lowe’s Canada.

“As a counter to the past, we believe we can provide the stability that the brand needs,” Anderson says. Ace’s legacy of change has also had an impact on the dealers themselves. Some chose to switch banners during the disruptions. However, the brand continued to add new dealers under Lowe’s Canada, offering an option that can support smaller stores.

“Our goal is to stop the churn. There’s no reason why the Ace brand can’t flourish in Canada. It’s an amazing brand—an international brand.”

Anderson points out that Peavey is big enough to provide the nearly 100 Ace dealers—plus a handful of un-bannered stores—with the purchasing power to stay competitive and the distribution system to support them. But, he adds, Peavey is not so large as to alienate or lose sight of its newly acquired retail customers. “Those values will definitely add value to the Ace banner and Ace network.”

The company has distribution centres in Red Deer and in London, Ont., home of TSC Stores, which Peavey acquired three years ago. Hardware distribution from Lowe’s Canada to Peavey was completed by the end of August, amidst the hindrances caused by the COVID pandemic.

For the next few months, LBM distribution for the dealers will continue to come from Lowe’s Canada.

Anderson expects to begin promoting the Ace banner to potential new dealers in the future. But for now he and his team will focus on the existing dealers “and prove ourselves to them and make them feel confident and comfortable.”

QUEBEC CITY — A privately held chain of building centres is on a path of tremendous growth, bearing witness to the appeal of aggressive marketing backed by low prices.

Canac is part of Laberge Group, which is run by the Laberge family and whose holdings include apartments and commercial real estate, as well as a custom window company and a commercial dealer division, Manugypse. That business, with two locations, in Quebec City and Boucherville, is part of the TIMBER MART buying group.

Back in the summer, CEO Jean Laberge, long the voice and face of the company, retired, while maintaining the chairman role at Laberge Group. Guy Bedard had previously retired as general manager at Canac five years ago. Jean’s cousin Pierre Laberge moved from the VP role to take over Canac fill the roles. “I have replaced Guy Bedard and Jean Laberge as president and general manager of the company,” says Pierre. “All of us have participated in the growth of Canac—including Guy, who has been a fantastic general manager.”

Other changes included Stéphanie, Jean daughter’s, replacing him for future site and store development. Charles, the son of Gilles Laberge, will replace Jean for construction and renovation on all stores and the distribution centres. Marc Laberge, who developed the contractor side of the business, has also retired. His son Jerome replaces Marc on contractor sales and operations related to contractors. Gilles Laberge, Pierre’s cousin and Marc’s brother, remains in charge of finance for Laberge Group.

And, Pierre adds, “Thomas Laberge in charge of IT and Simon Laberge is in charge of logistics and supply chain. They are both my sons.” Both my sons.

The family now oversees a chain of retail home improvement stores that is one of the largest independents chains in this sector in the country. With 30 stores—soon to be 31—and annual retail sales of $875 million, Pierre Laberge says the company has managed to double its sales over the past five years and is on track to exceed $1 billion in sales in 2020.

Laberge attributes much of the company’s success to its people. “We have great people in the stores. We have a great team and a fair price—and people like that,” he says. “It’s not that complicated.”

The company has gained notoriety for its adherence to low prices, making it a noteworthy competitor for other Quebec dealers. Laberge admires the model of Walmart found Sam Walton. “We buy cheap and we sell cheap and we try and make some money in between,” he says with a chuckle. “We try to buy the best quality at the best price.”

NORWALK, CT. — The 2020 National Hardware Virtual Show officially wrapped up last week. The four-day online event boasted a variety of educational sessions, webinars, networking opportunities and a platform for industry meetings.

According to show organizer Reed Exhibitions, the virtual show attracted more than 4,000 industry professionals, facilitated some 1,200 meetings, logged 111,387 profile and product views, and generated 12,726 educational content and session views.

(Due to ongoing demand for the sessions and networking, the National Hardware Virtual Show platform will remain open for continued access. Anyone who didn’t join initially can still access to the platform. Click here to register.)

“The 2020 Show was certainly different from years past, yet it provided the same great experience NHS patrons have come to know and love,” said Rich Russo, industry vice president of the National Hardware Show. “As always, the show provided attendees with premium educational content for the ever-expanding and ever-evolving industry, the opportunity to connect with key exhibitors, buyers and media, as well as unmatched sourcing opportunities of newly launched products that keep businesses growing and modern.”

The All-Industry Conference, hosted by the North American Hardware and Paint Association (NHPA, formerly the NRHA) featured 12 different sessions and kicked things off with a keynote from Dan Starr, president and CEO, Do it Best Corp. Entitled “How Independents Are Still Disrupting”, the keynote took place immediately following the NHS opening ceremony and addressed the future of the industry and the opportunities that are available for independents to innovate, compete and win in their markets.

NHPA executive vice president Dan Tratensek says this year’s event still empowered members of the industry to network and collaborate.

“While there is no doubt we all miss being able to interact with one another in person, I think we have all become accustomed to the virtual show experience. It’s exciting to be able to connect with retailers, offer seminars and feel engaged with the industry in a broader way,” said Tratensek. “Once again, the National Hardware Show has offered retailers of all banners a place where they can explore new products, learn from one another and pick up new ideas.”

The 2021 National Hardware Show is scheduled for May 11 to 13 in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

ATLANTA — The Home Depot is relying on its vendors more than ever to deliver innovative new products. Speaking at Goldman Sachs’ Global Retailing Virtual Conference last month, Craig Menear, chairman and CEO of The Home Depot, with Ted Decker, Home Depot’s EVP merchandising, talked about how much of that innovation is directed at maintaining and strengthening the retailer’s relationship with both its pro and DIY customers. Decker called it “the hallmark” of good merchandising.

Menear laid out the importance of continual input from vendors. “So when you think about innovation, what the merchants are focused on at Home Depot is ‘how do you bring product to market that makes it easier for the consumer to be able to do a project? How do you bring product to market that allows the pro to be more efficient?’”

Decker went even deeper on the subject. He said Home Depot’s supplier partners must work on product development with the end user in mind, “and it really goes across the whole store.”

He cited some examples of new products that have been driven by new technology. “You’ve heard us talk a lot lately about cordless battery technology in power tools that is now exploding in outdoor power equipment. So categories that were exclusively gas for decades and decades are quickly shifting to cordless technology.” He said a lot of products in this category will be launched in the spring of 2021. “What you are going to be able to do in terms of size of job and run time and power with cordless technology and outdoor power equipment is incredible.”

Innovation is occurring in departments across the store, including building materials, appliances and even the grout bay, where one vendor introduced everything from floor levelers and large-format tile to quick-adhesion grouts and grouts that come pre-mixed for quick jobs. “It’s something you wouldn’t think a lot about—innovation in tile-set material—but it really is remarkable for all the new products that came in that reset,” Decker said.

Darryl Jenkins has been promoted at Canadian Tire to senior vice president,
corporate development and growth initiatives. He joined Canadian Tire in 2019 to head up the company’s newly acquired Party City business as managing director. Prior to that, he served as chief merchandising officer at TSC Stores.

David Stern has joined Wolseley Canada Inc. as vice president, Eastern Canada, based in Laval, Que. He was most recently with Lowe’s Canada, where he served as VP, pro, commercial and installed sales.

… that we are always looking for new products to feature for dealers? We have two publications that serve home improvement retailers. Our print magazine, Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly, and our monthly e-newsletter, Hardlines Dealer News, both reach audiences of dealers and store managers across the country. And one of the things we know they are interested in is new products. If you’re a supplier with new products that are available to Canadian dealers, let us know! Send your product info to our New Product Editor, Geoffrey McLarney. (And yes, this is a free editorial service!)

VAUGHAN, Ont. — Quincaillerie J.P & F. Larochelle in Dunham, Que., is the newest member of TIMBER MART. Founded in 1975 as an army surplus store by Jean-Paul and Cécile Larochelle, it has branched out into hunting and fishing gear, hardware and garden supplies. The owners are Yvon and Sylvain Larochelle.

ST. JACOBS, Ont. — Fines Home Hardware in Cornwall, Ont., is moving to a larger space in the new year, a former Kmart store that has been vacant since 2013. The move is expected in March 2021. The Fines location in Ingleside, Ont., will continue its operations there.

ATLANTA — The Home Depot has reached an agreement with Enel Green Power to purchase renewable energy from a new plant Enel is slated to open in Texas next year. The hybrid Azure Sky Solar + Storage plant is expected to generate 586 gigawatt hours of energy each year. Home Depot has set a goal of making or purchasing 335 megawatts of alternate energy projects by 2025. It will receive 75 megawatts, enough to power 150 stores, annually from Enel’s new facility.

BRAMPTON, Ont. — Hudson’s Bay Co. is gearing up to modernize its stores by converting some properties into mixed-use developments. The reinvented spaces could host offices and residential units in addition to other retail stores. Executive Chairman and CEO Richard Baker has left the door open to selling off some real estate assets as well, noting plans to continue “generating value from these assets.”

SUPPLIER NEWS

SURREY, B.C. — The B.C. Building Supply Industry Association is following the success of its previous online conference with the BSIA 2021 Wave of the Future – Product Expo & PK Sessions. On January 19, presenters will be able to give 20 minute sessions and receive business card-sized ads in the BSIA News Magazine among other marketing and promotional benefits to connect with retailers. Networking opportunities will include interactive panels, discussion groups and product demos. For more information, visit the BSIA website.

DORVAL, Que. — Dural is reintroducing its Multibond brand with Advanced Hybrid Adhesive for flooring. The rollout was announced along with changes to the packaging of DuraPro adhesives.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Sales of existing Canadian homes edged up a further 0.9 percent between August and September, raising them to yet another all-time monthly record. About 60 percent of local markets saw gains, including Ottawa, Greater Vancouver, Vancouver Island and Calgary. These were mostly offset by declines in the Greater Toronto Area and Montreal. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales posted a 45.6 percent year-over-year gain in September, a new record for the month. (Canadian Real Estate Association)

Retail sales rose 0.4 percent to $53.2 billion in August, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase since the record decline in April. Core retail sales—which exclude automotive and gasoline categories—also rose 0.4 percent on higher sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (up 4.5 percent) and food and beverage stores. (StatCan)

Sales of existing U.S. homes rose by 9.4 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.54 million units. On an annual basis, sales were up by 20.9 percent. September’s pace is the strongest since 2006. (National Association of Realtors)

NOTED

A new poll commissioned by La Presse found that 33 percent of Quebecers believe retailers make more from online than in-store sales, while just 13 percent believe the opposite. Patrick Delisle, director of marketing at Canac, remarks that “big myths” about e-retail persist among the public. Canac shuttered its transactional website in the spring because it wasn’t profitable enough, even without the option of home delivery.