MEMPHIS — Anticipating his new role as president and CEO of Orgill, Ron Beal is nothing but optimistic about the direction of the company.

Beal, who is currently senior vice-president and general manager of Orgill’s hardware division, will change titles at the beginning of the new year (see People on the move in this issue for full personnel details).

The new warehouse follows on the success of a DC that went into Tifton, W.Va., four years earlier. The success of that facility in expanding Orgill’s reach into the Northeast gave the company the confidence to expand into the Rocky Mountain region of the Northwest with the Utah DC, which will be Orgill’s fifth.

“We’ve done a lot of research before committing to the distribution center,” says Beal. “We have some customers already in California, Nevada and Utah, but they are currently being serviced out of Memphis.” He doesn’t see that as a cost-effective strategy in the long term, hence the need for the new DC.

The expanded presence in the West will also add to Orgill’s credibility as it recruits new dealers to be part of its independent wholesale distribution network. “We’re confident that the business is there, and as we speak, we’re putting together our sales force in place.” The region is being serviced right now by a team of 18, which will be expanded as needed, he says.

Lowe’s expansion strategy mimics the Wal-Mart approach to distribution centers to control the even flow of products. Over the past several years, Lowe’s has built distribution facilities as it reaches critical mass in its store count in a given region. In June, for example, the company opened a 200,000-sq.ft. flatbed DC on 56 acres in Beaumont, Calif., which is handling 70 flatbed semi-trucks a day initially, but has the capacity to handle 140 as Lowe’s expands in California’s Inland Empire region in the south.

Lowe’s operates 11 flatbed DCs and plans to open one or two more this year. It also operates nine massive regional DCs — some larger than one million sq.ft. — and is scheduled to open its 10^th in Poinciana, Fla., in the third quarter of this year, and its 11^th in Plainfield, Conn., next year.

Paul Straus, vice-president and CEO of Home Hardware Stores, says the group’s potential for growth is with the expansion efforts of its own members, either through larger, renovated premises or the addition of stores. “It’s one of the areas we still see for greatest growth is with our existing dealers. We really want to help our existing dealers grow.”

And, he says, there’s an opportunity in the cities. “We’ve got potential in the cities and we’d like to grow in the cities, as well as our rural markets.” However, in those urban markets, available real estate is often tough to come by, so Home Hardware must wait for another business to vacate a building.

Home is not alone among Canada’s Big Four retailers, which collectively comprise almost half of retail sales in this industry. Home Depot will open its first “urban neighborhood” store in Vancouver on Thursday, an upscale, décor-oriented number on two floors in the Park Royal power center. Rona continues to target major cities, including Calgary and Toronto, for big box locations. Even Canadian Tire has gotten excited about the success its experiencing with a large “metropolitan” store in Kingston, Ont. In every case, these big box stores target the upscale, wealthy, often childless urban consumer.

Roy Perkins

Like many Rona dealers, Perkins enjoyed a windfall when the company went public in November 2003. The value of his shares soared, giving him the financial resources to invest in expanding the business. Today, it includes a Kitchen & Bath Showcase, along with the traditional Home Centre.

Thanks to strong emphasis on customer service, aggressive advertising and marketing within the community, Perkins’ business is flourishing — despite the presence of big box stores in both Ottawa and Kingston, Ont. And he is confident the business will weather the arrival of a new Home Depot, slated to open right in his own town in the near future.

Sixty of the top 100 PGA Tour money winners have signed on to play the event, which would be a considerable improvement over its inaugural year, when it drew only one of the sport’s top 21 earners, according to the web site. To further increase interest among the pros, Hardy launched an aggressive campaign to woo them, with gifts, free travel and richer prize money. Any golfer who commits to the event will be flown free of charge, along with four others, to the World Golf Championship event in Ireland. A golfer can bring his wife, caddie, agent, child or all the above, all for free. The deal is valued at $40,000 per golfer. Hardy also offered participants luxury housing in a new resort hotel, Falling Rock, where rooms normally go for $350 to $800 per night.

Demand for organic consumables will grow nearly twice as fast as conventional product sales, but organics will remain a small percentage of the entire market. While growth in bio-pesticides will decelerate, demand for organic fertilizers, which comprised 20% of the organic market in 2003, will grow nearly 15% per year.

Sales of conventional pesticides, which make up more than 30% of the market, are expected to be sluggish.

One cause for concern, though, was the 5.5% decline in permits in August, compared to July, to an annualized rate of 1,952,000 units. That permit number was even slightly below the August 2003 figure. Whether that indicates that homebuilders are finally about to pause a bit to catch their breath, or are simply building at a rate that will sustain demand, remains to be seen.

SPECIAL REPORT — Wal-Mart has admitted that it has sent a team of analysts to Russia to check out possible expansion there, says Reuters. The likely location for a first opening would be in St. Petersburg. However, Wal-Mart refused to comment on their Russian foray. If and when it enters Russia, it will be in good company. Ikea has targeted that country for growth, and German-based home improvement retailer OBI has opened its first store there.

VANCOUVER — Rona‘s North Vancouver store has been re-opened as a Rona Home Centre event after undergoing a two million dollar facelift. Under the supervision of manager Al Shamley, the North Vancouver RONA was entirely redesigned from top to bottom. It features the “boutique concept”, which is unique to RONA among the home renovation industry. The North Vancouver store includes brand new paint and décor, lighting and kitchen boutiques. Located at 1160 East 3^rd in North Vancouver, the newly renovated 39.850 sq.ft. stores is part of Rona’s efforts to invest in its Western operations. The store in Vancouver’s Granville neighborhood got a similar facelift recently.

ATLANTA & VANCOUVER — Home Depot is going to donate more than 250,000 volunteer hours through community service projects next week, in a series of volunteer community improvement projects throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and China. All this week, volunteer staff from Home Depot will work with national non-profit partners Hands On Network and KaBOOM! on everything from building playgrounds and creating walking trails to painting school murals and landscaping in public parks. In addition, the company has announced the donation of $3 million in grants, tools and supplies to help hurricane victims in Florida.

ATLANTA — Home Depot has unveiled a program to recruit military veterans at its stores. Joining forces with the U.S. Departments of Defence, Labor and Veterans Affairs, the giant retailer will provide career opportunities for veterans interested in a new career. The program includes separating active duty service members, national guard members, reservists and military spouses. The U.S. Department of Labor will make Operation Career Front information available through its 2,000-plus One-Stop Career Centers throughout the country.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Wal-Mart is getting sued, this time for discrimination against blacks. The suit was filed by Daryal T. Nelson of Coldwater, Miss., in U.S. District Court here. It alleges that Wal-Mart rejects and discourages black applicants for truck-driving jobs at the chain’s distribution centers in 12 Southern states: Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Nelson wants to turn this into a class-action suit.

Steve Stephens has been appointed director of marketing for The Toro Co., Irrigation Division. In his new role, Stephens will develop and implement the strategic marketing plans for all irrigation division product lines, including Toro residential/commercial and golf products, and Irritrol Systems brand products. Prior to joining Toro, Stephens was vice-president, operational marketing, for Centex Homes. He also held a number of marketing positions with Black & Decker.

At Western Forest Products Inc., Reynold Hert has been appointed president and CEO. He assumes his new duties with WFP at the company’s Duncan, B.C., office effective October 4, 2004. Hert joins WFP from Weyerhaeuser Canada, where he has spent 26 years in various roles, most recently as vice-president, Canadian Forestlands. Western Forest Products is an integrated Canadian forest products company and the second largest coastal woodland operator in British Columbia.

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With the aid of Jim Inglis, former vice-president from Home Depot’s Atlanta office, Sodimac effectively transformed itself from a traditional home center chain into a company that offered an alternative to the big box, with careful focus on two distinct customer groups, women and pros. Without copying Home Depot’s format, Sodimac tripled the amount of SKUs available to contractors to ensure a one-stop shopping environment. The home center side of the business was enhanced “to make it extremely attractive to the female,” Aguero explained.

Both Aguero and Inglis shared their stories and insights at the Conference, capping off two days of presentations by analysts, retail experts and industry execs.

SPARTA, Wis. — A 25,000-sq.ft. home improvement store here called All American Do-it Center became the first to be opened by a dealer-member of Do-it Best Corp. with help from the buying group’s RetailSTART! program.

Brian Buswell, president of All American Do-it, said the help he got from the co-op’s two field staffers who managed this project, included market and site analysis, demographic research, project financing and assistance with matching the store’s inventory with the market’s needs.

To participate in RetailSTART!, a dealer-member must have at least two stores (All American is Buswell’s third), and the new store must be at least 5,000 sq.ft. For this fiscal year (which ends June 2005), Do it Best had originally planned to undertake 50 RetailSTART! projects. Already, says David Heine, vice-president of retail development, the company expects to exceed that target.

SPECIAL REPORT — Day two of the recent Hardlines Conference Series featured an all-American success story. Joe Scarlett, chairman of Tractor Supply Co., outlined his company’s fantastic growth against a backdrop of growing rural populations and a focused niche in farm and rural hardlines sales.

Maintaining a corporate culture is a major part of his company’s success. That culture earns a high level of trust from customers. “We hire our customers,” Scarlett added, “farmers, and ranchers, horse riders and welders. With these people in our stores, we can walk a customer through just about any project they may encounter.”

Recently voted number 43 on Fortune‘s list of America’s 100 fastest growing companies, Tractor Supply must now keep pace with that growth. “Our biggest challenge over the next four to five years is the selection of people and maintaining our culture.”

Even if interest rates start to climb, he adds, the increase will not be sufficient to deter home buyers.

The new stores, which range in size from 8,500-10,000 sq.ft., represent at least two times the 4,500 sq.ft. typically devoted to hardlines in a Sears department store. They have an interior circular service area, with products laid out like a full-line store — and with a similar look. The stores will have a heavy focus on power and benchtop tools, with almost 90% of the selection under Sears’s own Craftsman brand. Other brands, including DeWalt, will also be present.

Other categories that get showcased include outdoor power equipment and a broader range of small and builders’ hardware than is typically found in a department store.

New for Sears is the introduction of workshop storage, called “Craftsman Garage Storage Solutions.” Products include shelving, mobile cabinets, and storage components. “It offers us some versatility that differentiates us from other brands,” says Power.

If the new store format performs well in the three test markets, Power expects it to be rolled out on a more widespread basis eventually.

While Sears Hardware has a counterpart in the United States, another off-mall concept does not. Two Sears Coverings stores will also be launched, one in St. Catharines, and the other in Mississauga, Ont., by late October or early November. These will feature carpeting, hardwood flooring, paint and wallpaper, and window shades and blinds.

The third format to watch for is Sears Appliances and Mattresses. Three Ontario stores are expected to open before year’s end, starting with Stoney Creek in early November, followed by Burlington and Oshawa. Another store, in Scarborough, will open in spring 2005.

“Sears is strong in these businesses in our main stores, and this gives Sears the way to have these products at the power center without going to the mall,” says Power. “We want to get to people closer to where they live — that’s the strategy.”

Sears plans to open 30 new-format stores, including Sears Wellness stores, by the end of 2005. They will be located mainly in power centers and high-traffic strip malls.

Consumer demand is driving the push to get energy-efficient products on the shelves, says Ian Cleghorn, a merchandiser for Home Depot’s electrical division. For example, in the last three years, he’s seen huge growth in the popularity of compact fluorescent bulbs. “In dollars, it’s gone from 3-5% three years ago to close to 20% of the category,” says Cleghorn.

Jeff Porter, national sales manager for Leviton, which makes outdoor lighting products, agrees that sales of energy efficient products are soaring. “In five years, solar has come to account for 60% of our outdoor lighting sales.”

Consumer interest in these categories will continue to affect the mix of products Home Depot offers its customers, says Cleghorn. “This year, for the first time, Home Depot will not carry conventional Christmas light bulbs. We’ll only carry LED lights.”

Home Depot is also experimenting with a program called “The Power of One”, under which it commits to purchase $1 worth of renewable energy for every Philips 16W marathon mini-household energy-saving bulb purchased in Ontario until the end of October.

Rona is investing in both the Home Centre format and Rona Building Centre, which features somewhat more contractor emphasis. Both formats have been used to replace existing Rona Cashway stores in Ontario, however, the latest re-opening there indicates Rona is still maintaining the Cashway name, too. In Simcoe, Ont., a refurbished store was re-opened last week, keeping the Rona Cashway banner. The 22,000-sq.ft. store features more than 20,000 SKUs.

“Every year, Rona expands, renovates and updates about 20% of its 530 points of sale across the country,” says Claude Bernier, executive vice-president of traditional and specialized stores for Rona, in a prepared release.

According to a prepared statement, National insures 301,260 homes and 304,917 vehicles in Florida.

In related news, Lowe’s has re-activated its in-store customer donation program to support the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Through September 20, all Lowe’s stores on the Gulf and East coasts served as official cash donation sites for the fund. Lowe’s is matching customer donations dollar-for-dollar, up to $1 million.

ATLANTA — Home Depot will sell $1 billion aggregate principal amount of its 3.75% Senior Notes due 2009 through an institutional private placement. The net proceeds from the offering will be used for general corporate purposes, including assigning up to $500 million of the net proceeds to fund the repayment of a previous note offering.

MEXICO CITY — Remember all those dumb pics people email of a Wal-Mart beside the pyramids? Well, they’re about to become true. A discount store owned by Wal-Mart is being erected only a half-mile from the ancient temples of Teotihuacan, sparking opposition by a small coalition that doesn’t want to see the big box from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun.

SURREY, B.C. — Irly Distributors, the Western-based wholesale buying group, has added a new member to its Irly Building Centres group: Valu-Mart Country Store, Salmo, B.C., which was formerly affiliated with Irly through the group’s independent Western hardware distribution division. Since creating a dealer development department two months ago, Irly has added two new dealers, and six members have joined the Western division.

TORONTO — Canadian Tire Corp. has reached an agreement with its Canadian Tire associate dealers to revise the contract that’s offered to individual dealers. The form of the new contract defines their future business relationship with Canadian Tire Retail, a division of Canadian Tire Corp. The contract is based on an Agreement in Principle reached in the fall of 2003, with terms extending for a 10-year period. Major financial terms will be subject to review at the end of five years. Canadian Tire expects to have substantially completed the individual contract signing process by the end of 2004. Canadian Tire has 443 associate dealers, who own and operate 455 Canadian Tire stores across Canada.

HOFFMAN HILLS, Ill. — Sears Roebuck & Co. is going beyond online appliance sales with the launch of online sales of home furnishings and apparel. About half of Sears’ apparel offerings and 70% of its home furnishings will be available on Sears.com, with a focus on its best-selling items and brands. Sears is expected to benefit from the expertise of Lands’ End, a chain it acquired two years ago that has been an innovator in online selling.

Bill Granger of Delta Faucet Canada received the Joseph K. Seidner Award from the Canadian Institute of Plumbing and Heating. The award was presented in recognition of Granger’s contributions to Canadian plumbing codes and standards. He is manager, product engineering for Delta Faucet in London, Ont.

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Lowe’s, which has 65 stores in Florida, sent more than 600 truckloads of supplies to the sunshine state, and transferred more than 450 employees from stores in other states to help out at the company’s stores in markets that were in the storms’ paths.

That extra manpower was especially needed in the days between when Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Frances hit, as customers lined up at Lowe’s stores for supplies and sometimes had to take numbers to buy product that hadn’t even arrived. “At one store in Fort Lauderdale, we got 1,000 sheets of plywood yesterday afternoon and within 30 minutes it was all gone,” said Chris Ahearn, a Lowe’s spokesperson. “People were waiting for the truck to arrive.”

Carol Tomé, Home Depot’s CFO, told the NBC affiliate in Atlanta that Home Depot’s stores in hurricane-ravaged towns were seeing “a fivefold increase [in sales] in one day.”

Independents have been working hard to help, as well. In the first three days of September, Ace Hardware sent 9,980 flashlights to its dealers’ stores in southeast Florida, compared to 9,683 flashlights that it shipped for the entire month of September 2003. Shipments of generators were five times greater than the same period a year ago. Natalie Danaher, an Ace spokesperson, stated that the co-op’s distribution centers in Tampa, Fla., and Loxley, Ala., maintain a three- to four-month supply of emergency products “constantly.”

Home Depot operates around 130 stores in Florida. It sent an estimated 450 truckloads of supplies and more than 1,000 of its employees from other states to help keep many of its stores open 24 hours. Several markets were without power for days after each hurricane blew through the state, causing a run on generators. Both Home Depot and Lowe’s shipped thousands of generators from their stores around the country to Florida in what Don Harrison, a Home Depot spokesperson, called “the biggest re-supply in the company’s history.”

Frank’s had emerged from Chapter 11 in May of 2002, but still reeled under a soft economy and stiff competition from dealers such as Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart and Target. For the fiscal year ended in January 2004, Frank’s reported a $23.8 million loss on $316.9 million in sales, which were essentially flat from the previous year, but compare unfavorably to the $512 million in revenue it generated in 1998.

Frank’s president and CEO, Walt Spokowski, had just joined the company in August from another bankrupt dealer, the tool specialty retailer Woodworkers Warehouse.

The Imperial Manufacturing Group was recognized in the Newsmaker Award’s manufacturer category. Started as a sheet metal shop with six staff, the company 25 years later has 10 divisions across the United States and Canada that employ 800 and produce more than 10,000 products. (l-r) Steve Finlay, Greg Parlee and Normand Caissie, president of Imperial, accepted the award from Ian Gray of LBMX.

The final award of the program, held during lunch on day one of last week’s Hardlines Conference Series, went to a personality. Ron Marchetti, currently retiring as national business development manager for Castle Building Centres, was given recognition for his personal impact on an industry he has spent more than 40 years in (shown here accepting his award from Brent Davies of CRC and Ian Morrison of IKO).

But the Conference had still more excellence to honour. This year, for the first time, Hardware Merchandising magazine held its illustrious Outstanding Retailer of the Year Awards in conjunction with the Hardlines Conference Series. The winners came from every end of the country and almost 200 people filled the room to pay tribute. (we’ll have the full line-up of ORA winners, including pics, later this week. Stay tuned!—Michael)

The decision to engage in a multi-year contract was based on success Rona enjoyed with the program in the Quebec. In addition, more than 70% of Canadian households actively collect Air Miles, with the percentage increasing farther west—more than 90% of households use the program.

As for any possible overlap with existing home improvement partners, Tim Urquhart, president and general manager of Tim-BR-Marts Ltd., regards the Rona signing as a positive move. “We believe that increased consumer awareness will be a benefit for both companies,” he says.

Flyers and TV spots started last Wednesday, and an official “re-launch” of the Air Miles program was orchestrated in Quebec. Support for the launch also came from a number of vendors, which put their products on special. They included OSRAM Sylvania, Venmar and Tango Laminate Flooring.

And this is just the beginning. “It’s important that we make additional acquisitions that will increase our volumes and add value,” says Smith, hinting that there’s more to come.

Since 2001, Home Depot has invested nearly $14 billion in new store construction, modernization and technology. It currently operates 14 stores with approximately 3,900 associates in the New York boroughs. Another Manhattan store is scheduled to open later this year, this one in the Midtown area.

Another category that had a strong presence at the show was motorized garden equipment and garden technology, which actually made up the show’s largest product group. Products included professional garden equipment and landscaping machinery.

Trade visitors showed equally strong interest in decorative garden elements, plants and plant-care products, floristry supplies and decorative items.

gafa was held in tandem with spoga, the International Trade Fair for Sport, Camping and Garden Lifestyle, which focuses more on the leisure activities in the garden or while. Product segments included garden furniture and barbecue equipment.

Since spoga runs every year, but gafa is biennial, all gafa product groups related to garden will have a chance to exhibit annually, starting next year. That’s when spoga will feature a redesigned “Garden Lifestyle” section. This section will provide gafa suppliers of lifestyle-oriented products an opportunity to showcase their products annually in Cologne. (The next spoga Cologne, International Trade Fair for Sport, Camping and Garden Lifestyle, will be held September 4-6, 2005.)

Although TORBSA has always catered to GSDs, there has been a growing trend in the industry that finds more and more of this kind of dealer becoming affiliated with a group. TIM-BR Mart Ontario has enjoyed tremendous growth in both sales and membership through its commercial division, Commercial Independent Dealers (CID), while a brand new group, The Signature Group, was established earlier this year to attract GSDs exclusively.

“If you look at the marketplace today, and look at the dealers out there, very few are not affiliated,” says Holmes. “I expect that all dealers will be affiliated eventually.”

WEST JORDAN, Utah — The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone providing information that leads to the arrest of people connected to a June 14 fire that caused $1.5 million in damages to Stock Building Supply‘s yard here. The FBI suspects that the Earth Liberation Front is behind the arson, as the initials ELF were found spray painted at the property. The Bureau has also traced a fax claiming responsibility for the blaze that ELF allegedly sent to a University of Utah health clinic in Midvale, Utah, according to local news reports, which have reported earlier that the group said the yard was torched because Stock had ignored warnings to repair its forklifts that emitted more pollution than diesel engines.

CHICAGO — A new RFID trade association, the International RFID Business Association, will announce its official launch tomorrow at the Frontline 2004 Conference at Navy Pier. The RFIDba, through its executive and advisory committees, will present the mission of the organization to an audience of Auto-ID, RFID, and mobility experts from around the world. The not-for-profit trade organization’s mission is to help in implementing current and future RFID applications across a range of industries. The RFIDba is not meant to compete with any standards or trade organizations, but to promote the work of the standards bodies and provide greater bandwidth and variety in what is shaping up to be a strenuous RFID adoption period.

TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. — Coopérative fédérée de Québec officially inaugurated the expansion of its distribution center here last week. The expansion was in response to its growing distribution networks, under the CO-OP and Unimat banners. The expansion represents a $2.3 million investment and the addition of 35,000 sq.ft. of space. Coop fédérée serves 155 CO-OP stores and six Unimat stores.

CLEVELAND, Ohio — CSA International, the certification and testing organization, opened its new OnSpeX test center here last week. OnSpeX conducts consumer product testing for both manufacturers and retail customers. It focuses on two broad categories: Accelerated Product Evaluation Programs and Quality Assessment & Advisory Services. The Accelerated Product Evaluation Program offers both certification services and consumer product evaluation to increase the speed of information delivery and reduce delays in the supply chain process. The accelerated full-cycle program offers factory evaluation, product design review, pre-certification assessment (qualified lab), certification document preparation, performance testing, safety analysis, reliability testing, package testing (ISTA), in-process inspections, pre-shipment inspections, data collection of QA results from factory and data analysis of QA results.

CALGARY — Canadian Tire Corp. is getting more creative in cross-promoting its Mark’s Work Wearhouse chain. Last week, hundreds of motorists lined up at a Canadian Tire gas bar here to redeem five- and 10-dollar free gas cards they’d earned buying clothes at Mark’s stores. The added incentive? The first 350 customers got to fill up for free.

Some sectors have fared better than others. The big boxes continue to dominate the news, if not the industry. They grew to account for more 21.6% of the overall industry, with sales of $6.9 billion – from only 172 stores.

While the big box sector continues to burgeon, independent building centre dealers, the sector considered the most vulnerable to the big box onslaught, fared even better. For example, buying groups, which account for the lion’s share of this sector, are dominated by family owned businesses across the country. They grew their market share to 35% of the overall market, from 33%.

Full details of the dynamic growth of the amazing retail home improvement sector will be presented at the Hardlines Conference Series, September 8-9, 2004. The Conference, a symposium for senior management and executives from all aspects of retail, distribution and manufacturing, will be held at the Renaissance Toronto Airport Hotel. For more information, click here.

“People are not spending money,” Kurt Barnard, president of Retail Forecasting Group, told Reuters. “They are intimidated by the [economic] outlook.”‘

Overall, the U.S. economy grew at a relatively modest 2.8% annual rate in the second quarter, a slower pace of expansion than previously thought. More Americans filed first-time unemployment claims in the last week of August than at any time since mid-April, according to a government report. First-time applications for unemployment benefits rose by 19,000 to 362,000, the Labor Department said.

“The slowdown in job growth has curbed consumers’ confidence,” explained Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board‘s Consumer Research Center, which reported that its Consumer Confidence Index in August was at its lowest level since April. “The level of consumer optimism has fallen off and caution has returned. Until the job market and pace of hiring picks up, this cautious attitude will prevail.”

Manufacturing continues to expand, but at a slower rate. The Institute for Supply Management reported that its “factory index” last month was 59, which wasn’t that far off from the two-decade-high index of 63.6 in January, but did represent the index’s lowest level since last October.

TTI generated the equivalent of US$1.69 billion in sales last year. Its brands include such well-known names as Homelite, Regina and Dirt Devil. But where this company has really made a name for itself has been in its proprietary relationship with Home Depot, through which it markets its Ryobi and Ridgid lines of portable and benchtop electric tools.

Last year, Atlas Copco’s tool brands generated US$700 million in sales in the U.S. and Europe. However, the company decided last spring to put this division on the block, partly because it was having a hard time getting premium prices for its products. Its electric tool division employs 3,100 people, nearly two-thirds of whom work for Milwaukee.

A week before it made this deal, Atlas Copco had agreed to acquire the assets of Chinese pneumatic toolmaker Qingdao Qianshao Precision Machinery.

“I feel we are just gaining momentum,” says Dave Leonzio, national growth manager for TruServ Canada. “We are delivering consistent performances in all aspects of service – especially fill rates – both in the distribution center and at store level with our field support. Our most recent successes have been a direct result of nurturing established relationships with key partners in the industry.”

Those existing relationships include the supply agreements TruServ has developed with key buying groups, such as Sexton and Castle. Some of the latest recruits are members of these groups who have added the True Value name and programs, to expand their hardware lines and grow their front end.

Another area of potential growth is from the Country Depot program, which was picked up by TruServ as part of its acquisition of the retail division of Growmark in January 2003. With about 50 stores in Ontario, the deal gave TruServ the critical mass to begin expansion in earnest in that province. A distribution center was installed in Kitchener, Ont., last spring to serve new and existing dealers in Canada’s largest province.

According to Morrison, TruServ’s retail farm and rural concept has tremendous potential. “Country Depot is going to become a national offering,” he says. “I see the opportunity for 60 more in markets we’re not in today.”

Home Depot Canada raised C$450,000 for Habitat for Humanity through an annual golf tournament it held during the last week of August near Toronto. The money raised – which exceeded last year’s take by 80% – will be used to help Habitat’s affiliates across Canada fund their building efforts in 2005. The Canadian division’s parent company, The Home Depot in Atlanta, has been supporting Habitat since 1997.

More than 300 golfers, many of them suppliers, also participated in a golf event last month conducted by The Rona Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Boucherville, Que.-based buying group and retailer, to raise money in the Foundation’s ongoing battle against illiteracy and school dropouts. The C$400,000 generated was three times what Rona raised at a similar event last year.

Rona had originally opposed the purchase of Matco Ravary by BMR, questioning the value of the offer to all shareholders. Rona, which has been on an acquisition campaign of its own, did not make an effort to purchase Matco Ravary’s five Montreal-area stores outright, a move that became clear when its own acquisition of Réno-Dépôt was announced soon after. Réno-Dépôt has 10 stores in the Montreal area.

Rona began its relationship with Matco Ravary back in 1988, shipping it hardware and building materials. Soon after, Rona made the investment in the company, intending to underwrite expansion of Matco Ravary in the Montreal market. However, the growth of Réno-Dépôt, followed by the arrival of Home Depot a decade later, hampered Matco Ravary’s growth.
(To hear the latest on how Rona is delivering at the dealer level, don’t miss Roy Perkins of Rona Home Centre in Cornwall, Ont., who will be speaking at our Hardlines Conference Series, September 8-9, 2004 in Toronto. For more info, click here)

Company officials said that Home Depot had been refining its benefits offering for a year. But last June, Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights group, targeted Home Depot and three other companies that were offering pet insurance, but not domestic partner coverage, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “Employees there have been asking the company for this benefit for about five years,” Kim Mills, education director at Human Rights Campaign, told the newspaper.

Home Depot revised its non-discrimination policy in May 2001 to include sexual orientation. Its benefits, though, are not offered to employees’ opposite-sex partners.

VANCOUVER — Taiga Forest Products has formed a new division, International Supply Management. This new division will look for expansion of its sourcing from emerging nations, as well as new markets in major offshore economies. It will be led by Frank Iannucci, director, International Supply. The new division will focus on delivering a reliable, quality supply of products to the North American marketplace.

MONTREAL — Sodisco-Howden Group has renewed its contract with workers at its London, Ont., warehouse. The contract, with the Canadian Auto Workers, is for three years. The contract with workers at its Victoriaville, Que., distribution center was ratified last year, also for three years.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears, Roebuck and Co. reported that same-store sales fell 6.1% for the four weeks ended August 28. Total domestic store revenues were $1.91 billion for August, down 7.1%.

VANCOUVER — The recently announced purchase by Ainsworth Lumber of three mills in Minnesota owned by Potlatch Corp. will make it the number-four producer of OSB in the world. The deal, worth US$475.5 million, is expected to close later in September, and is expected to boost Ainsworth’s production by 65% to 3.3 billion sq.ft. annually. The company already has OSB mills in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario.

TORONTO — Hudson’s Bay Co. reported a drop in second-quarter sales to $1.63 billion, from $1.66 billion in the same period last year. Same-store sales fell 1.8% over last year. Loss before interest and income taxes (EBIT) was $6.2 million for the quarter, compared with earnings of $17.5 million in the same period last year. For the first half of 2004, EBIT was a loss of $26.3 million, down from a loss of $23.7 million.

Home Depot made big news in mid-June when it announced plans of its own to enter China. The move shines the spotlight clearly on the fastest growing economy in the world, as China is being transformed from a nation of producers to one of consumers, as well.

Over the past 10 years, competition has heated up in China. However. A number of domestic retailers are already zeroing in on the DIY market, including Home World, which has 30 hypermarkets and eight home centers throughout China. Orient Home, another Chinese operation that is privately held, owns multiple outlets in Northern China, while Home Mart is owned in part by the Shanghai government. Besides, B&Q, OBI in Germany has been expanding with stores in China, as well.
(For a better perspective on the international retail scene, don’t miss Ira Kalish of Deloitte Research from Las Angeles, who will be our keynote speaker at the Hardlines Conference Series, September 8-9, 2004 in Toronto. For more info, click here)

The co-op patronage dividend to Do it Best members on their warehouse purchases for this year will average 13.47%, in line with the 12% average paid out by the co-op for the past 17 years. Members will receive their rebates at Do-it Best’s fall market in October.

Do-It Best, the second-largest co-op in the United States behind Ace Hardware Corp., has 4,100 dealer-members in the U.S. and 45 other countries.

At Johns Manville Canada, supplies of fiberglass insulation are being managed on a weekly basis. “The runaway market in the U.S. has created even more demand from manufacturers in Canada, over and above the strong demand here,” says Gino Allegro, Canadian regional sales manager for Johns Manville Canada.

Allegro says his company is feeling additional pressure, since it’s the only one that offers a full line of fiberglass insulation that’s completely formaldehyde-free. A recent ruling by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC ) reclassified formaldehyde from Group 2a (probable carcinogen), to Group 1 (known carcinogen). This means the toxic adhesive agent joins asbestos, benzene and other compounds as known health hazards to humans. It’s been linked to asthma, allergies and nausea. (Although levels of formaldehyde are low enough in fiberglass insulation that IARC has re-classified it as Group 3, not classifiable as a known carcinogen, consumer concerns over carcinogens in building materials, which collectively can result in “sick-house syndrome,” are on the rise.)

Between meeting domestic demand, supplying the U.S. market, and responding to the latest environmental initiatives, Johns Manville is going flat out. “Every single batt of insulation coming off the line has got a customer’s name on it,” says Allegro.

Allegations of workplace discrimination are nothing new for Home Depot, nor is its response — that it maintains a corporate policy of “zero tolerance” towards workplace discrimination. While it admitted no wrongdoing in Denver, it stated that it settled this complaint to avoid prolonged litigation.

About 5,000 of Home Depot’s 300,000-plus employees work in Colorado, where it operates 36 stores.

The dealer-owned big box model, an exclusive to Rona, is just one of the ways it is growing its store base. Corporately owned big boxes are slated to open in Regina, Sask., in September; followed by Richmond, B.C., early in 2005, then Barrie, Ont., and Calgary North, also in 2005.

The emphasis on building its presence in Western Canada is also reflected in Rona’s expansion plans for its traditional stores. A former Revelstoke store on Ogden Road in Calgary will re-open as a 10,000-sq.ft. Rona Building Centre before the end of this year. A Rona Home Centre planned for Prince Albert, Sask., puts Rona in a brand new market. It’s scheduled to open on September 16.

Acquisitions continue to play a key role in Rona’s growth. A former Irly dealer in Vernon, B.C., is the latest independent to move over to the Rona fold.

“The Smith & Hawken brand is the gold standard in outdoor living and is an outstanding fit with our strategy to extend our reach into adjacent lawn and garden categories and to own industry-leading brands in every category in which we compete,” said Jim Hagedorn, chairman and CEO of Scotts, in a prepared statement.

This deal represents the first time that Scotts has diversified into retailing. Scotts will continue to operate those stores under the direction of Smith & Hawken’s current CEO Barry Gilbert. Scotts doesn’t just want the Smith & Hawken stores; the brand itself has value and is expected to complement Scotts’ own brand. The company believes it can offer Smith & Hawken-branded merchandise through other dealers, such as Home Depot (where Scott’s is that dealer’s highest dollar-volume supplier) and Lowe’s, without cutting into Smith & Hawken’s own retail business.

As part of this acquisition, Scotts is assuming $14 million of Smith & Hawken’s debt. It is buying the retailer from Wellesley, Mass.-based DDJ Capital Management. In February 1999, DDJ and another creditor, State of Wisconsin’s Investment Board, bought Smith & Hawken for $75 million, including $25 million in assumed debt, in an auction that was part of the liquidation of CML Group, Smith & Hawken’s former owner, which had declared bankruptcy.

TSG is positioning itself as something of a “boutique” buying group, targeting membership with a very clear GSD focus, “that works better with a smaller group of members,” says Skrepnek. In fact, he doesn’t expect to have more than 15 dealers in the group in total.

In the meantime, expansion efforts will continue in Eastern Canada, as all the major Western GSDs are already affiliated — and Skrepnek has stayed away from them — for now. “We’ve decided to take a hands-off approach in Western Canada during the middle of the year,” when it’s difficult for dealers to change key suppliers. However, by January 1, 2005, he intends to announce some new members, and not just in the West. Recruitment will include a key player in Quebec, he says.

“We intend to be the biggest buyer of gypsum in Canada. We’re very close already.”

In Calgary’s Marlborough Mall, which has a Sears store at one end and Wal-Mart at the other, the door at the rear of the Wal-Mart store which leads into the mall was sealed off last year, a decade after the Wal-Mart store moved in, and merchandise put up in front of it. The result has wreaked havoc on mall traffic, which is down 19% since the giant retailer made the un-neighborly gesture back in February. Another eight stores across the West are reportedly following suit.

The situation is considered unique to Canada; Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. are more likely to be stand-alone stores.

Wal-Mart Canada did not return calls on this one.

VANCOUVER — Ainsworth Lumber Co. Ltd. has made a deal to buy three OSB mills in Minnesota from Potlatch. The plants produce about 1.3 billion sq.ft. of OSB annually. The purchase, valued at $457.5 million, will give Ainsworth an annual production capacity of about 3.3 billion sq.ft. The deal is expected to close in September.

ST. JOHN’S, Nfld. — Regatta Day is one of the largest events during the summer in this city, but it’s also the scene for one of the major sales by one of Newfoundland’s largest dealers. Even though stores within the city limits are required by law to close during the festive occasion, Chester Dawe held its annual Regatta Day sale recently at its Topsail Road store, which sits on the edge of town. Against the backdrop of North America’s oldest sporting event, customers were reportedly lined up for miles to take advantage of Chester Dawe’s once-a-year specials.

NEW YORK — Kmart Holding Co. has closed a deal to sell off 18 of its stores to Home Depot for $271 million. The original agreement called for the sale of as many as 24 Kmart stores for up to $365 million, but it turns out they were making more money than expected, so Kmart decided to hold onto them.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Owens Corning will invest in expansion of its insulation plant in Toronto to meet increasing North American demand. The capacity for production of fiberglass light density and loose fill insulation will be increased by 20%. The multi-million dollar expansion, which will be completed in early 2005, is the latest in a series of capacity increases announced by the company to meet the North American shortage in fiberglass insulation. Other upgrades will take place in Kansas City, Fairburn, Ga.; Newark, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; Santa Clara, Calif.

VANCOUVER — West Fraser Timber Co. has completed its offering of 5,852,000 subscription receipts, at a price of $47 each, for gross proceeds of $275,044,000. Each subscription receipt represents the right to receive one common share of West Fraser upon closing of the previously announced acquisition of Weldwood. The net proceeds of the offering will be used to help pay for the acquisition.

The gross domestic product in the U.S. grew by 2.8% in the second quarter, slower than expected, says the Commerce Department. Blame shrinking corporate profits and higher imports for the slowed GDP.

WORLD HEADQUARTERS, TORONTO — Industry trends and intelligence will be just one part of the Incredible Hardlines Conference Series, September 8-9. A special workshop on leadership in sales and personal management will kick off the event.

Donald Cooper delivers unique and powerful insights into how to redefine, refocus and reenergize your business to increase market share and profitability in the face of ever-stronger competition…and ever-faster change.

Cooper spent 18 years at Cooper Canada, the family business, which became the world’s leading manufacturer of hockey equipment and the largest sporting goods company in Canada. In 1981, He developed Alive and Well, a retail concept that won him seven Awards of Excellence for marketing and service innovation, including the Retail Council of Canada‘s Innovative Retailer of the Year.

Drawing on his experience as a world-class manufacturer, retailer and tireless researcher, Donald Cooper now devotes his time to helping companies redefine and reinvent their business. We’re very, very excited to have him participate in the Hardlines Conference Series.

(For more information on this incredible session, click here)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Do it Best Corp. ended its 2004 fiscal year by returning a record-setting $107.5 million rebate to its members. With gross sales of $2.82 billion, Do it Best recorded a 16.3% sales increase for the fiscal year, the company’s largest increase in more than 25 years. Bob Taylor, president and CEO of Do it Best, attributed the $377 million sales increase to low interest rates, a strong housing market, and the desire of customers to enhance their primary investments.

TROY, Mich. — Kmart Holding Corp. earned $155 million in the second quarter ended July 28, compared with a loss of $5 million in the same period last year. . .However, quarterly sales fell 15.3% to $4.79 billion. Same-store sales dropped 14.9%.

Joe Scarlett, chief officer of Tractor Supply, will explain the power of the farm and hardware business that has contributed to his company’s explosive growth. Jim Inglis, a former vice-president at Home Depot whose background includes Carpet One and Dekor, will give his insider’s take on the industry. Guillermo Aguero, general manager of Sodimac in Chile, will tell the story of his company’s successful battle against the arrival of Home Depot, a battle that resulted in Home Depot’s withdrawal from that market! And Jos Wintermans, president and CEO of Sodisco-Howden Group, will detail the future of this national hardware distributor.

The latest addition to the line-up of personalities participating in the Hardlines Conference Series is Red Green, star of television’s popular “The Red Green Show.” Green will offer valuable tips on using hardware — and duct tape — at the Hardlines Gala Dinner on September 8, 2004. The Dinner is just one of the events during the two-day Conference Series, being held in Toronto September 8-9, 2004. Home Depot, Rona, BMR, TSC, TruServ Canada, and many more have all booked for this incredible event.

For more info, click here or call Nancy at 416-489-3396.

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Rona inc. posted second-quarter net earnings of $53.7 million, an increase of 99.1% over the same period a year, and the best quarter in Rona’s history. The company’s consolidated sales topped $1 billion for the first time, a 53% increase over the same quarter a year earlier. Same-store sales were up 9.2%…

TORONTO — Target is reportedly vying for Hudson’s Bay Corp., the Canadian mass merchant and department store retailer. Target is possibly in talks with U.S. industrialist Jerry Zucker, HBC’s largest shareholder, to buy his 18.1% stake in the company. About half of 300-plus Zellers stores would be converted to Target outlets, while some Bay locations could potentially be changed over, as well.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart Stores reported record sales and earnings for the second quarter ended July 31. Net sales were $69.7 billion, an increase of 11.3%, compared with the same period last year. Income from continuing operations for the quarter was $2.7 billion, an increase of 16.1% from $2.3 billion. Net sales for the six months ended July 31, 2004, were $134.5 billion, an increase of 12.7%.

TROY, Mich. — Kmart has announced it will not sell quite as many stores to Home Depot as previously stated. The original deal called for Home Depot to pick up as many as 24 Kmart outlets, but now that number is down to 19. In addition, Kmart will slash 200 jobs at head office. The revised agreement has Kmart selling at least 13 stores — for $173 million in cash — and up to 19 stores for $288.5 million. Kmart said originally that it would sell up to 24 stores for a maximum of $365 million.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Wal-Mart Canada has managed to thwart the union again, following a vote by workers in a store in Thompson, Man., to reject being unionized by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The vote result was 67-44 against unionization.

VANCOUVER — West Fraser Timber Co. is nearing the end of its due diligence review of Weldwood of Canada. It intends to proceed with the acquisition from International Paper, although the deal remains subject to regulatory approvals and conditions. Total distribution of the receipts will be 5,852,000, at a price of $47 each, representing the right to receive one common share of West Fraser upon closing of the Weldwood acquisition, for gross proceeds of $275,044,000.

The new housing market remained red hot in June as housing prices rose at their fastest pace in more than 14 years. New housing prices were up 6.2% year-over-year, compared with June 2003, reports Stats Canada. This was the biggest 12-month gain since February 1990 when prices advanced 7.1%. On a month-over-month basis, housing prices were up 0.7% from May.

Home Depot said in a prepared statement that the vote rejecting unionization “not only represents a vote of confidence from our associates, but also confirms The Home Depot’s reputation as an employer of choice.” One of the main points of contention that led to the vote was the fact that workers said they were paying too much for their health insurance.

The same union has had better luck in Canada, as it attempts to organize the world’s largest retailer. The Quebec Labour Relations Board has accredited the UFCW to represent workers at a Wal-Mart store in Saguenay, Que. Wal-Mart says it’s not sure if it will appeal the ruling. The store, in this city about 150 miles north of Quebec City, has some 180 employees. Workers at another Wal-Mart store, in Brossard, Que., have also asked the Labour Relations Board for permission to join the union.

Add to that the effects of a drop in business from TIM-BR Mart Ontario, a major buying group customer for Sodisco-Howden.

TIM-BR Mart Ontario is a partner in Quincaillerie Matreco Hardware, along with Groupe BMR in Quebec and the AWARD buying group in Atlantic Canada. However, despite the drop in Ontario, where trucks began delivering early this year, shipments to Atlantic customers are reported to be holding their own.

Sodisco-Howden has historically restricted its LBM supply to Quebec. But Groupe BMR’s foray into hardlines distribution has prompted Sodisco-Howden to counter by offering building materials distribution to customers in the Maritimes.

The move, says Shannon, is paying off.

Lumber and building materials are shipped to Atlantic customers from Sodisco-Howden’s Rivière-du-loupe LBM distribution center. The service was introduced at the end of March 2004, and has proven especially popular with contractor-oriented dealers.

The corporation’s BMC West division operates 60 lumberyards whose six-month sales increased 39.9% to $636.3 million. Their operating income grew 91% to $40.6 million.

The Park Royal, Calgary North Hills, and Gerrard Square store in Toronto will all be “urban neighborhood” stores, slightly smaller than a typical Home Depot store, with assortments tailored to a more transient, upscale, apartment dwelling customer.

This will bring the total of Home Depot stores in Canada to 115.

MLS sales will increase to 457,000 units in 2004, up 5.1% from last year’s pace. Moderate increases in mortgage rates in 2005, along with higher house prices, will cause existing home sales to edge lower to reach 433,100 units, while growth in the average price of existing homes will slow to 4.6% in 2005, compared with 9.2% this year.

Spending on renovations is expected to rise 9.1% in 2004 to reach $36.3 billion. this pace will continue in 2005, reaching $38.5 billion, 6.0% higher than 2004.

Included in the sale are the Boise Cascade Corp. headquarters building here, and substantially all of the assets of Boise Building Solutions, which produces plywood, lumber, particleboard, and engineered wood products for independent wholesalers and dealers, and through its own wholesale building materials distribution outlets. Boise manufactures wood products at 22 facilities in the United States, Canada, and Brazil. Boise’s 27 building materials distribution facilities in the U.S. sell a wide range of building materials to retail lumber dealers, home centers specializing in the do-it-yourself market, and industrial customers. Boise Building Solutions’ first half 2004 sales totaled $1.9 billion.

The new company will own Boise Paper Solutions, a manufacturer of office papers, value-added and recycled papers. This division operates five pulp and paper mills, two paper converting facilities, six paper distribution centers, and five corrugated container plants in the United States. Boise also owns or controls about 2.3 million acres of timberland in the United States, 35,000 acres of eucalyptus plantation land in Brazil, and a 16,000-acre cottonwood fiber farm near Wallula, Wash.

After this deal is consummated, Boise Office Solutions — what’s left of Boise Cascade — will become known as OfficeMax Corp., the office products company that Boise acquired for $1.15 billion last year.

ST-ANTONIN, Que. — Matériaux à Bas Prix ltée (Bargain Building Materials) has signed on a new authorized dealer, L’Entrepôt du Bricoleur, an independent in Val-d-Or, Que. The grand opening is this Wednesday, August 11.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — A new packaging company has been created as a division of Mumby and Associates. DPP Manufacturing Inc. grew out of Mumby’s own product packaging facilities as a stand-alone packaging company. DPP is headed up by its president, Steve Bedford, formerly with Rona Ontario. The company specializes in co-packaging, bonus packs and quarter-pallet displays, all of which can be shipped directly to the retail client. (To contact Steve, call: 905-542-2722)

FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Following up on its previously announced support of Habitat for Humanity International as its cause of choice, Do it Best Corp. announced last week its first corporate-driven “home build,” near its headquarters here in Fort Wayne. The dealer-owned distributor has contributed nearly $200,000 so far, in the form of donated product from displays at the company’s buying markets.

BOCA RATON, Fla. — U.S. Plastic Lumber, a manufacturer of composite lumber and decking products, has filed for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. The company also sought debtor-in-possession financing so that it could continue operating while it reorganizes its business. The company has retained a New York-based turnaround firm, Triax Capital Advisers, to direct its reorganization. By contrast, one of U.S. Plastic’s primary competitors, Trex Co., has reported that its revenue for the six months ended June 30 rose 24.1% to $159.7 million. In June, Trex began selling its decking products in Home Depot stores in selected markets.

ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale Corp. had July net sales of $3.72 billion, an increase of 12% from $3.32 billion in July 2003. For the first 48 weeks of its 2004 fiscal year ended August 1, Costco reported net sales of $43.51 billion, up 14% from $38.27 billion from the same period in the prior fiscal year.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Sales at Wal-Mart were up 10.9% in July, to $20.61 billion, from $18.59 billion a year earlier. Year-to-date sales were $135.07 billion, an increase of 12.1% over $120.52 billion in the prior year. Same-store sales were up 3.2%.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — At Sears, Roebuck and Co., total store revenues were $1.84 billion for July, down 4.0% from the same month in 2003. same-store sales decreased 2.6% in July. The only segments to report any sales growth were consumer electronics, lawn, garden and fitness equipment; home fashions and household goods.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Wal-Mart is leaving pharmacies open round the clock in five of its stores in Arkansas and Texas, in an effort to increase its share of the drug dispensing market. The company has more than 3,000 retail pharmacies in the U.S.

Tim Valters has been appointed president of Selkirk Canada Corp. He will be responsible for commercial and industrial products in the Canadian market. He was formerly vice-president and general manager of Selkirk Canada … Bob Emmell has been appointed director of sales at Selkirk. He was most recently national sales manager … John Vukanovich has been promoted to the role of director of marketing at Selkirk Canada. He previously held the position of national marketing manager. (888-735-5475)

DUNCAN, B.C. — Doman Industries and Western Forest Products Inc. have announced that the restructuring of Doman is now complete, with assets reorganized under the new company, Western Forest. Doman struggled under bankruptcy protection for the past 20 months, but its stock has been delisted as of July 27, with Western Forest becoming the successor business to Doman.

BURNABY, B.C. — Taiga Forest Products Ltd. had sales for the three months ended June 30, 2004 of $384.4 million, up from $258.4 million in 2003. Earnings for the three months were $5.8 million, compared with $0.6 million in the same period last year.

RICHARDSON, Tex. — Selkirk Canada, a division of Selkirk Americas LP, has bought up Energy Vent Ltd., a manufacturer of chimney and venting products. The company will be renamed Energy Vent Corp. and operate as a separate legal entity owned and operated by Selkirk Canada. John Rollo, majority shareholder of Energy Vent, will stay on, while Dawn Bruce, sales manager of Energy Vent, will also remain, now reporting to Selkirk Canada’s director of sales, Bob Emmell.

BOISE, Idaho — Boise Cascade Corp. has sold off all its forestry assets, the backbone of a giant paper and timber business, to focus on office products distribution. The purchaser is a private investment group led by Thomas Stephens, a former president of MacMillan Bloedel. The selling price is US$3.2 billion and includes 22 wood products plants in Canada, the United States and Brazil, 27 wholesale distribution centers in the U.S. and stakes in more than 900,000 hectares of timber. The deal is expected to close by November. Last year, Boise Cascade bought the 70-store OfficeMax chain for US$1.2 billion.

Now in its ninth year, the Hardlines Conference Series is an executive-level gathering of North America’s top retailers and vendors. Besides case studies from retail’s front lines, the event features speakers who provide insights into the latest trends shaping the industry today. In fact, we’ve just signed Ira Kalish, global director with Deloitte Research‘s Los Angeles office. He’ll give his amazing overview of the emerging markets, the next wave of consolidation, the changing consumer, and the international threats to national brands.

For more info, click here or call Nancy at 416-489-3396.

Home Depot’s attempts to bring this concept to another city have been stalled, however, by community opposition. The retailer paid US$17 million to buy that plot in Vancouver’s Kitsilano neighborhood, where it initially intended to a build 93,000-sq.ft., two-story home center, 190 units of residential housing, 5,000 sq.ft. in ancillary retail space, and a day-care center, all on a 101,000-sq.ft. parcel of land. But even after scaling back those plans to accommodate a smaller store, the city’s council rejected Home Depot’s proposal in early July. In fact, council went even further, by limiting construction in the neighborhood — and on that land — to 10,000 sq.ft., except for supermarkets and drug stores, which can be 30,000 sq.ft.

A second urban neighborhood store slated to open in West Vancouver in September is still on schedule, says company spokesman Nick Cowling.

The move is seen as a way to head off the insurgence of specialty distributors, especially in tools, plumbing and electrical, he adds. Sodisco-Howden currently offers about 55,000 SKUs through its warehouses in Victoriaville, Que., London, Ont., and Langley, B.C. However, it faces competition. On some specialty lines and industrial products, a number of smaller distributors, such as Task Tools, Globe Electric and King Tool, cater to more specialized needs. From a regional standpoint, many distributors, such as Western Hardware in British Columbia or Union Hardware in the Greater Toronto Area, offer fill-in lines for geographically specific markets.

Even as it seeks to beef up core assortments, Sodisco-Howden’s strategy does not run contrary to an existing mandate to reduce the overall number of vendors. “There wil be fewer of them,” says Wintermans. “But opportunity remains for existing suppliers.”

The Canadian division is reportedly one of the top performing units of the company. Rationalization north of the border must contend with a number of facilities, consisting of a B&D facility in Brockville, Ont., its head offices in Richmond Hill, Ont., and the Pentair offices and warehouse in Guelph, Ont., which have more available space than B&D’s current digs north of Toronto.

In 2003, Pentair’s Tool Group generated $82 million in operating income on $1.08 billion in sales. B&D’s chairman Nolan Archibald said in a prepared statement that the acquisition will “expand our product lines where we have relatively low market share, including woodworking equipment, compressors, pressure washers and nailers. In addition, it will give us a stronger presence throughout our distribution network, particularly in the industrial/construction channel.”

Archibald emphasized as well how the addition of Porter Cable and Delta would bolster B&D’s DeWalt professional tool assortment. Analysts estimate that this deal could double B&D’s sales to professional customers.

Last fall, B&D paid $275 million to buy Masco‘s Baldwin Hardware and Weiser Lock businesses. The tool giant is also in the final stages of a major restructuring effort that is moving around 75% of its production to three countries, Mexico, Czech Republic and China. Barbara Lucas, B&D’s senior vp-public affairs, told Hardlines that Pentair manufactures its tools in the U.S., Germany and China, and that B&D would determine where its products would be produced after its acquisition is completed sometime this fall.

It has been rumored for most of this year that Pentair was looking to sell its tool division, as it diversifies into other businesses. In February, Pentair purchased Wisconsin Energy Corp., and became a global force in water treatment and transportation. Pentair got into the tool business in 1981 when it acquired Porter-Cable’s assets of struggling Rockwell International. It bought Delta Machinery three years later, DeVilbiss in 1999 and Oldham in 2002.

Now the Home Centre format is being updated with a “next generation” concept that features a larger footprint — the Prince Albert store is 52,000 sq.ft. — and even more big box elements. Those elements are drawn mainly from Rona’s Regional stores, which are typically 65,000-90,000 sq.ft. in size. However, the store will feature additional boutiques, including flooring and a new moulding ideas center that will be up toward the front of the store, along with other décor departments, rather than at the back with building materials.

“Now it will be really an easy way to shop and finalize decoration projects,” says Rona’s communications director, Sylvain Morissette.

He notes that this larger Home Centre format will be integral to Rona’s expansion plans, suitable for other centers like Prince Albert, which is the third-largest city in Saskatchewan and a destination for a number of communities in the northern part of the province. “That size of store enables us to fulfill at least 100 cities in Canada,” Morissette says. Fort McMurray, Alta., will be the next location for the next generation Home Centre, with one or two more likely to be announced before year’s end.

Big Horn was formerly a Sexton member, but made the switch to Irly when new owners came on board.

With distribution in place, and an entire division selling hardlines outside the group under the Western Hardware division, Garry Anderson, the new general manager of the group, along with Brad Dixon, who is in charge of dealer development, wants Irly members to get more involved in existing programs, while recruiting new members. The group is well positioned as a regional supplier, says Anderson, thanks to its own distribution center right in Surrey, which carries an extensive line of hardware and building supplies.

OAK BROOK, Ill. — Ace Hardware Corp., which has had its own private-label paint manufacturing since 1984, has produced 150 million gallons of paint over the past 20 years. With two manufacturing plants in the Chicago area, the Ace Paint division is the 12th largest paint manufacturer in the United States, with an annual production capacity of 20 million gallons.

MONTREAL — Workers are attempting to organize at two Wal-Mart stores in Quebec. The United Food and Commercial Workers union submitted applications to the province’s Labour Board for union accreditation at the store in Brossard, near Longueuil. Saguenay, north of Quebec City, was the first. Another store has made a similar application in Moose Jaw, Sask.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Door maker Masonite International Corp. had a second-quarter sales increase of 23.5%, to US$564.6 million from US$457 million. Net earnings increased 32% on a boost in sales, the company reports. It earned US$36.2 million in the three-month period ended June 30, up from earnings of $27.3 million a year earlier.

ATLANTA — An overhaul of Home Depot‘s website last fall has helped boost online sales by double digits. According to com.Score Networks, Home Depot had 6.5 million visitors to its web site in May, a 58.5% increase over the same month a year ago. Last year, Home Depot hired Shelley Nandkeolyaras as its vp-interactive marketing and e-business, and completely revamped its site, including decreasing the number of items offered to 12,000 (from 50,000 when it launched its site in 2000 and 20,000 when it was made available nationally) and, more recently, adding a garden club and wedding and gift registry.

VANCOUVER — West Fraser Timber Co. reported earnings of $67 million on sales of $607 million in the second quarter of 2004. That compares with a loss of $5 million on sales of $484 million in 2Q 2003. For the first half of 2004, earnings were $93 million on sales of $1.15 billion, up from $6 million on sales of $970 million for the same period a year earlier.

MONTREAL — First-quarter net sales for bath products maker Maax reached US$136.1 million, up 7.6% from US$126.5 million in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year. This growth of 7.6% is due to an 11.2% increase in net sales of bathroom products, although it was partially offset by a 8.5% decrease in net sales of spas, after Maax decided to pull these products from home improvement centers in the United States.

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. — Sears, Roebuck and Co. had weaker quarterly profit due to poor spring clothing sales. It earned $53 million in the second quarter, compared with $309 million during the same period a year earlier.

TORONTO — Sears Canada Inc. had 2Q revenues of $1.49 billion, up 1.3% from $1.47 billion for the same period last year. Net earnings for the quarter, excluding non-comparable items were $11.8 million, compared with $19.1 million. Net earnings, including non-comparable items, were $6.7 million, versus $13.0 million. Same-store sales increased 1.4%. Sales were particularly weak in air conditioners, patio furniture, outdoor grills and seasonal apparel, but stronger in major appliances, furniture and mattresses, electronics, and bed and bath. Total revenues for the 26-week period were $2.82 billion, up 2.5% from $2.75 billion. Same-store sales year-to-date increased 4.3%.

TOWSON, Md. — Black & Decker Corp. made big gains in its second quarter, with earnings rising by 61% and sales increasing 19%. Net income rose to $121.6 million from $75.7 million. Sales rose to $1.3 billion.

VANCOUVER — Canfor Corp. reported net income of $143.6 million for the second quarter of 2004, up from $32.0 million in the first quarter and a net loss of $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2003. Net income was $175.6 million year-to-date, compared with $39.1 million in the same period in 2003.

DUNCAN, B.C. — Doman Industries managed to narrow its losses in its second quarter, to a net loss of $23.5 million, compared with $39.2 million in the preceding quarter. However, it still marks a swing from net earnings of $19.5 million in the second quarter of 2003. The net loss for the first half of 2004 was $62.7 million, from a profit of $75.1 million in 2003. Contributing to the net loss for the first half of 2004 was an unrealized foreign exchange loss of $25.1 million on U.S. dollar debt. Financial restructuring costs for the six-month period totalled $8.3 million.

MONTREAL — Tembec Inc. posted a third-quarter loss, thanks to a weak Canadian dollar, more than offsetting higher profits from lumber and wood pulp. It lost $12.5 million, compared with a profit of $70.5 million in the year earlier period. Revenues rose to $1.03 billion from $808.9 million.