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Phone: 416-489-3396
Michael McLarney, Editor & President
mike@hardlines.ca
Beverly Allen, Publisher
bev@hardlines.ca
Brady Peever, Client Services Manager
brady@hardlines.ca
John Caulfield, Contributing Editor
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| September 14, 2009, Volume xv, #34 | |
| In This Issue: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| “Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist.” — Kenneth Boulding (British born American economist, educator, poet and peace activist, 1910-1993) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Huggins to lead Lowe’s in Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
 TORONTO — Lowe’s Cos. has appointed Alan Huggins as the new president of its Lowe’s Canada division. He succeeds Don Stallings, who is moving to Australia to represent Lowe’s in the company’s new joint venture with that country’s largest retailer, Woolworths Limited (see our Aug. 31/09 issue —your helpful Editor).Huggins, who joined the Canadian team as vice-president of operations, brings with him a strong background with Lowe’s in the U.S. He joined the company in 2001, working in a number of positions including district manager for stores in North Carolina and California. In Canada, he has overseen the opening of Lowe’s first 14 stores.
Huggins has more than 25 years of retail experience, including 10 years with the Hechinger Company, and tenures at Office Depot and Jo-Ann Fabrics. He is one of the few remaining Americans on the Lowe’s Canada team. (Fellow American, vice-president merchandising Ben Mauceri, returned to Lowe’s headquarters in Mooresville, N.C., earlier this year.)
“Lowe’s steady growth and success in Canada have been the result of strong management and an outstanding team,” said Larry D. Stone, Lowe’s president and COO in a release. “We appreciate the leadership Don provided as we opened stores in the Greater Toronto Area. We are pleased to maintain that level of experience and leadership under the direction of Alan Huggins as we continue to grow our business in Canada.”
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| RONA hires new head of dealer development | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — RONA Inc. has announced the appointment of Jean-Luc Meunier as senior vice-president in charge of developing the affiliate dealer-owner network. Meunier also will sit on the senior management committee and report directly to RONA president and CEO Robert Dutton. His position becomes official Sept. 28. Most recently, Meunier was vice-president of Central Canadian operations for Alimentation Couche-Tard, where he worked for more than 10 years, responsible for some 800 points of sale. Prior to working at Couche-tard, Meunier held a number of senior management positions with Shell Canada. Meunier’s team was recently reorganized to handle both the “before and after” of dealer recruitment. They will be responsible for recruiting new dealers, but also for dealer service once the new dealers are on board, roles that had been previously divided between two different teams.
Throughout the past year and a half, the dealer development team reported directly to Dutton, a role that found him traveling across the country for much of the time. The senior status of Meunier’s position reflects RONA’s continuing emphasis on the recruitment function.
“The arrival of Jean-Luc certainly fits that — showing an ongoing commitment,” says Michele Roy, spokesperson for RONA. “And,” she adds, “Robert Dutton is still very much involved.”
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| TIM-BR MART holds Junior Hockey challenge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
CALGARY — TIM-BR MART launched a promotion last week called the World Junior Hockey Video Challenge. The Challenge invites minor hockey teams to video their team spirit and tell why they should be guests of TIM-BR MART for four days at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship in Saskatoon. Videos can be uploaded to timbrtube.ca, where Canadians can vote for their favourite. The team submitting the winning entry will enjoy roundtrip transportation to Saskatoon, plus accommodations, meals and tickets to World Juniors games held Dec. 27–29, 2009.
Team members must be from seven to 17 years of age; the designated team entrant must be age-of-majority in their province or territory of residence. The contest runs until midnight EST on Nov. 21. Full Challenge details are at timbrtube.ca.
Further details of the TIM-BR MART World Junior Hockey Video Challenge are available to customers at participating TIM-BR MART store locations, where a “ World Juniors In-Store Champion” has been appointed to answer questions.
TIM-BR MART, which represents more than 740 dealer locations across Canada, is a major sponsor of the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship, which has been won by Team Canada for the past five years.
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| DID YOU KNOW … that one of the few retail winners in our sector in 2008 was Canadian Tire Retail? Overall retail sales for Canadian Tire stores grew by 3.8%. There are currently 476 Canadian Tire stores, which supports the company’s claim that 86% of Canadians live within a 15-minute drive of one of their stores. (Canadian Tire’ own Reg McLay, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Sourcing Services, will speak at the upcoming Hardlines Conference, Oct. 22-23 in Toronto. Click here for more info. |
| NEWS IN BRIEF |
 MONTREAL — The 20th edition of the RONA MS Bike Tour, organized for the benefit of the Quebec Division of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, gathered some 1,500 cyclists who raised $1.45 million to fund research and services for people with multiple sclerosis and their families. Participants got together to participate in 150-km bike tours in the Victoriaville area on Aug. 22 and 23, and in the Levis region on Aug. 29 and 30. Louis Garneau, president and founder of Louis Garneau Sports, acted as patron of the 20th edition of the event in his role as honorary chair.LONDON — Kingfisher, Europe’s largest home improvement retailer, had to release its second-quarter results more than week earlier than scheduled, due to an information leak. “It has come to our attention that, due to an administrative error, some draft figures were circulated externally on the afternoon of the 7 September. Whilst the numbers have not yet been formally approved, Kingfisher … announces that it expects to report adjusted pre-tax profit in the range of £285 million to £290 million ($503 million-$512 million) for the six months to 1 August 2009.”
TORONTO — Sears Canada has won the “ENERGY STAR Retailer of the Year” award from Natural Resources Canada for 2009. This is the second year in a row the company has received this award for excellence in promoting energy-efficient products and the third time overall, having won the award in its inaugural year in 2003.
SAINT-GEORGES, Que. — Mirage, the hardwood floor maker, has launched its “Celebrate Quality with Mirage” event featuring an extensive promotional campaign. The campaign, which runs throughout North America until March 1, 2010, includes a contest that will award up to $100,000 in Mirage flooring products and a rebate from the manufacturer. For full details and rules on the Celebrate Mirage Quality event, click here www.miragefloors.com.
LONDON — British DIY retailer B&Q has revealed it will buy only tropical hardwood plywood that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. The company, which claims to have achieved a “global first,” will strike a chord with both DIYers and commercial customers seeking to meet ever-more stringent sustainable practices. B&Q’s tropical hardwood plywood is manufactured in Acre, in western Brazil.
OAK BROOK, Ill. — Ace Hardware tapped into the online publishing service Associated Content to help execute a Web-based marketing campaign and drive search engine optimization and online visibility for Labor Day weekend. Targeting adult consumers aged 25 to 54 who were considering home repair and maintenance projects over the holiday, the campaign included original articles about gardening, home maintenance and decorating written by Associated’s roster of contributors.
MOORESVILLE , N.C. — Building has begun on a new Lowe’s store in Rossville, N.Y., after several years of delays. The new store is expected to open later next year and will create about 175 jobs, a spokeswoman for Lowe’s told the Staten Island Advance. Like other companies, Lowe’s has scaled back expansion plans nationwide. The store expects to open about half the number of new locations in 2010 (35-45 stores) that it did in 2009. About 66 new stores are expected to open by year’s end. Last month, Lowe’s reported that its profits fell for the fourth straight quarter, a 19% drop. |
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PEOPLE ON THE MOVE |
TORONTO — JELD-WEN Windows and Doors has realigned its sales force serving Canadian builders, dealers and architects. Brad West, who was formerly Canadian marketing manager, becomes director of sales for Eastern Canada. In this new role, he will be responsible for all sales in both the dealer and builder direct sales channels. Duties have shifted for the entire sales team … John Cooke will take on the role of provincial sales manager – Ontario. In addition to his current responsibilities for dealer sales in Ontario, he will assume leadership for all builder-direct sales in the province of Ontario … Linda Sans Cartier assumes the position of provincial sales manager, in addition to her current responsibilities for dealer sales in Quebec. She will be responsible for the Montreal Sales Centre and all builder direct sales in Quebec … Neil Ash will become the director of sales for Western Canada, responsible for both dealer sales and builder direct sales channels. He was formerly director of sales with national responsibility for the dealer sales channel … Brett Sigurdson adds the role of provincial sales manager – British Columbia to his current responsibilities for dealer sales in that province … Larry Willard has been named provincial sales manager – Alberta, adding builder direct sales to his current responsibilities for dealer sales … Greg Campbell becomes Prairie sales manager, in addition to his current responsibilities for dealer sales in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.Annette Verschuren, president of Home Depot Canada and Home Depot Asia, will be inducted into Marketing magazine’s Hall of Legends in January (but she’ll be speaking at our Conference well before that, of course! —Michael). She has been recognized in the “Builder” category (which refers to her personal achievements, not the kinds of customers Home Depot caters to). |
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ECONOMIC INDICATORS |
| Housing starts increased to 150,400 units in August from 134,200 units in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, reports CMHC. Both single and multiple segments enjoyed increases, with urban multiple starts up 23.8% to 77,600 units, and urban single starts up 2.5% to 54,200 units. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of all urban starts increased by 14.0% to 131,800 units in August. Urban starts increased by 56.0% in British Columbia, by 16.1% in the Prairies, by 13.8% in Ontario, by 9.6% in Atlantic Canada, and by 2.5% in Quebec. (CMHC)The recession has weakened the outlook for Canada’s non-residential construction industry in 2009 (profits are expected to decline by 33% from last year’s highs), but the industry is benefiting from increased government spending on infrastructure. Strong spending on institutional buildings, notably social housing, schools and hospitals, is reportedly supporting the industry’s outlook this year. The industry posted record profits of $1.9 billion in 2008, but profits are expected to dip to $1.3 billion in 2009. (Conference Board ) |
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NOTED… |
| The Toronto Association of Business Improvement Areas, which represents 71 BIAs across the city, is launching an awareness campaign to encourage residents to shop in their neighborhoods and support their local businesses. “Think Big — Buy Local” ads will soon appear in bus shelters, on subway posters and in community newspapers to deliver the message. The ads will feature actual BIA business proprietors in their shops or offices. |
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