December 21, 2015 Volume xxxiv, #47

“Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought, doesn't come from a store.”
—Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss, American children’s author and illustrator, 1904-1991)

HOLIDAY PUBLISHING SCHEDULE:The World Headquarters is closed until January 4. There will be no weekly edition of HARDLINES on December 28. Our regular weekly schedule will resume January 4. Until then, the entire team at Hardlines wishes you the safe and happy holiday and a very merry Christmas. See you all in the New Year!

IN THIS ISSUE:

• RONA switches in-store service provider

• TIM-BR MART adds commercial dealers in Quebec, Ontario

• Castle makes changes to business development team

• Construction and reno trade show draws crowds

• PLUS: Canadian Tire accuses Wal-Mart of plagiarizing, Home Hardware tops Facebook, Newell Rubbermaid buys Jarden, Super Remover has new site, Regal Ideas partners with Paul Lafrance, Goodfellow completes acquisition of Groupe Lebel, Caplan resumes day-to-day management of Task Tools, housing sales up —and more!

RONA switches from original service provider

LAVAL, Que. — RONA has ended its contract for its in-store merchandising services, called the “IMAGINE” program. Developed by RDTS, a Laval, Que.-based merchandising services company, IMAGINE is a unique program whereby all vendors involved received a range of services in-store through RDTS.

RDTS serviced all of RONA’s big box stores under the IMAGINE program, and for the past two years the service was provided to all its other stores across Canada, as well. IMAGINE represented some 450 vendors across the country.

RONA will continue to maintain its stores through a new program, RONA Merchandising Services (RMS), using a North American company, Match Marketing Group. With Canadian offices in Mississauga, Ont., Match MG has a strength in the grocery channel. Its contract commences March 1, 2016. RDTS will continue to support RONA stores until then.

RDTS is currently expanding the IMAGINE program with home improvement retailers in Europe, while its core merchandising services here in Canada, which also include audits, store performance analysis, and surveys, will continue to be offered to Canadian retailers and vendors.

A spokesperson for RONA told HARDLINES that the merchandising services for its stores was put out to tender, “and after a rigorous review of the service offers of several firms, RONA’s selection committee awarded the contract to Match Marketing Group.”

TIM-BR MART adds commercial dealers in Quebec, Ontario

VAUGHAN, Ont. — Just a week after adding a dealer in Quebec, TIM-BR MART Group has bolstered its ranks of commercial dealers even further with the addition of Master Building Materials in Woodbridge, Ont. Master Building Materials (formerly Future Building Materials) has been serving contractors, residential, and commercial builders out of a 30,000 square-foot location in the greater Toronto area since 2005.

Employing a team of more than 40, the company offers gypsum wallboard, insulation, metal framing, doors, plywood, ceiling tiles, stone veneer, taping tools, and a range of accessories. Master Building Materials joins TIM-BR MART to benefit from the group’s national buying power and grow their business.

“As a TIM-BR MART member, we will have ample opportunity for growth with the group’s competitive buying programs in each of our key categories,” says Loreto Iacobelli, general manager for Master Building Materials. “We appreciate the new direction TIM-BR MART is going in and look forward to our future with the group.”

Castle makes changes to business development team

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Castle Building Centres Group is enhancing its business development management structure as the New Year begins. The changes come both from movement within the ranks of the team and from dealer growth within the buying group itself.

The company has appointed Bruce Holman (left) to head up dealer recruitment efforts in a newly created position as director of business development. This role was created to help strengthen communication within the Castle membership and assist in co-ordinating growth objectives in all regions. Holman was most recently business development manager for the group’s Central Canada region. In his new role, he will oversee the activities of the regional business development managers across the country.

Castle will assess additional member support needs for the Central Canada region in early 2016.

In addition, Alan Schoemperlen (centre), the team’s business development manager for Manitoba and Saskatchewan, will assume a reduced role in 2016, as part of a transition from his current duties into full retirement. In a new role as business development manager–mentor, he will work with the Castle team sharing best practices, industry insight, and knowledge.

Schoemperlen’s first mandate will be to work closely with Chris Graves (right), who is taking over business development duties in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Based in Winnipeg, Graves comes to Castle from Certainteed Corp., where he served as senior territory manager.

Construction and reno trade show draws crowds

TORONTO — A walk through the recent Construct Canada trade show at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre revealed a raft of new products available to builders and contractors. There was also an impressive lineup of services and technologies available to property managers and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) professionals.

But many of these products won’t end up in a building centre or hardware store. While the MRO and pro markets are increasingly important on the retail side, much of the business goes direct—typically to large-scale builders and contractors. Most of the new-product vendors at the show whom HARDLINES talked with were looking to meet the architects and planners who would include their products in specs and design plans for projects.

While the show has been well-represented in the past on the retail side (at former shows we’ve encountered Lowe’s, RONA, and Home Depot Supply exhibiting), the focus this year was more on direct sales, with vendors looking to groom a relationship with this important end-user customer base.

However, one retailer that was trying out the show for the first time was Lee Valley Tools. Sales reps for this tool and workshop retailer were in the booth from both the Ottawa store and the downtown Toronto outlet. They said their company’s presence there was spurred by the amount of contractors already coming in to their stores. Those customers are looking mainly for convenience products, typically striking tools and hand tools, but they represent a brisk business for the stores.

FROM THE ARCHIVES: This week in 1995

Twenty years ago plus a day, we ended the year with a Hardlines Fax Extra announcing that “Bebis Quits Home Depot.” Stephen Bebis, the colourful president of Home Depot Canada had been responsible for transitioning Home Depot’s acquisition of Aikenhead’s from the Molson Cos. two years earlier. Buz Smith, VP operations, and Murray Bozniak, head merchant, stepped in to fill Bebis’s role until a replacement was found. Annette Verschuren was hired early the following year. Bebis went on to found Golf Town, taking Bozniak with him. Click here to read these blasts from the past!

DID YOU KNOW…?

RETAILER NEWS

TORONTO ― Canadian Tire has accused Wal-Mart of plagiarizing the design of its Canadian-made clip-on Christmas lights. In a Federal Court claim the Canadian retailer argued that Wal-Mart collaborated with two Taiwan-based companies to mimic the design and packaging of Noma Quick-Clip lights, and demanded a cease and desist. In addition, the claim calls for $500,000 in punitive damages.

TORONTO ― Technology and data company Engagement Labs has released the 2015 rankings of Canada’s Best Brands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Home Hardware topped the Facebook category, while Tim Hortons dominated on Twitter and Roots Canada had the most strength on Instagram. Canadian Tire ranked number two for Twitter engagement.

ATLANTA ― As MasterCard tries to reach a settlement for its card issuers with Home Depot over the retailer’s 2014 database hack, lawyers for the banks have intervened. Firms representing large financial institutions in a class action against Home Depot called on their clients to turn down the settlement. “Home Depot has sought to convince financial institutions that issued MasterCard-branded payment cards to accept a ‘settlement’ that by all available indications offers inadequate reimbursement for the losses caused by its data breach,” the lawyers said in a statement. They argue that the banks should hold out for potentially higher wins, especially in light of their recent success with Target, which reached a US$39 million class-action settlement with the banks.

SUPPLIER NEWS
ATLANTA — Newell Rubbermaid will pay US$15.4 billion in a cash and stock deal for consumer brands company Jarden. Newell expects to drive about $500 million in costs out of the system through the combined company, which will be called Newell Brands. Newell’s brands include Irwin, Paper Mate, Graco baby strollers, Parker and Waterman pens, and Calphalon pots and pans, as well as the Rubbermaid brand of plastic storage products. Jarden’s own brands include Sunbeam, Crock-Pot, and Jostens. Jarden founder and executive chairman Martin Franklin is expected to earn at least $130 million in the deal.

GRANBY, Que. — Super Remover, the paint stripper manufacturing division of Distributions J. Des Serres, has unveiled a new website, with an updated interface and search engine. Customers can look up articles and videos to get tips on stripping paint, varnish, and glue onto surfaces such as wood, metal, or concrete.

DELTA, B.C. ― Paul Lafrance, professional builder and host of such shows as Decked Out, Disaster Decks, Deck Wars, and Custom Built, has teamed up with Regal ideas Inc., a brand of aluminum railings, outdoor building products, and Telesteps engineered climbing products to launch a series of products in 2016. The partnership also includes a series of installation videos, event appearances, social media and website collaborations, national promotions and the launch of the Regal ideas University and Contractor Certification Programs.

DELSON, Que. — Goodfellow Inc. has completed its acquisition of Groupe Lebel Inc., and the creation Traitement Lebel Goodfellow Inc., a treated wood production company. Groupe Lebel’s four plants located in Bancroft and Caledon, Ont.; Dégelis and St-Joseph, Que.; have been combined with Goodfellow’s three plants in Delson, Que.; Elmsdale, N.S.; and Deer Lake, Nfld. With these seven wood treatment plants, Traitement Lebel Goodfellow claims to be the largest treated wood producer in Eastern Canada.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Housing sales were up 1.8% from October to November, reaching their highest level in six years. Actual (not seasonally adjusted) sales rose 10.9% on a year-over-year basis compared to November 2014. The national average sale price of a home rose 10.2% on a year-over-year basis in November; excluding Greater Vancouver and Greater Toronto, it increased by 3.4%. While sales were up sharply in the Vancouver and Toronto markets, they were down in the Calgary market. (Canadian Real Estate Association)

Housing starts reached 211,916 units seasonally adjusted in November, up from 197,712 units in October. Urban starts increased by 7.7% to 195,121 units. Multi-unit urban starts increased by 13.2% and the single-detached urban starts segment decreased by 3.6%. Urban starts increased in the Prairies, Ontario, and Atlantic Canada, but decreased in British Columbia and Quebec. (CMHC)

Municipalities issued $7.7 billion worth of building permits in October, up 9.1% from a month earlier. This was the first increase in three months. Higher construction intentions for multi-family dwellings and institutional buildings in Alberta were responsible for much of the gain, as builders filed permits in advance of the changes in the Building Code. The value of residential building permits rose 15.5% from September to $4.8 billion in October. Increases were posted in five provinces, led by Alberta, followed by Ontario and British Columbia. The largest declines were reported in Manitoba and Quebec. (StatCan)

U.S. housing starts in November were up 10.5% seasonally adjusted from October and up 16.5% year over year. Building permits during the same period were up 11% from the previous month, and up 19.5% from November 2014. (U.S. Commerce Dept.)

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
At Delta, B.C.-based Task Tools, President & CEO Kevin Irvine has stepped down from his position, effective December 15. Craig Caplan, chairman of Task, has returned to the management of day-to-day operations and “to help write the next chapter in our family’s business.” He added, “The time away enables me to bring fresh perspective and renewed passion back to the organization.”

Klaudio Leshnjani, executive VP and chief operating officer of Sears Canada, will be leaving the company at the end of the fiscal year. A statement issued by Sears explained that Leshnjani had “taken this decision to spend more time with his family. He has been in this post since November 2013. He rose through the ranks since joining Sears Canada in 2002 as legal counsellor, being named VP and general counsel in 2008.

OVERHEARD…
“The positive changes that we’ve made over the last two years have resulted in a leaner business model today that is being recognized by independents across Canada. We will continue to grow our group and offer our members the competitive advantages they need to develop profitable and sustainable businesses.”
—Bernie Owens, president of TIM-BR MART Group, on the recruitment of its latest commercial dealer-member, Master Building Materials in Woodbridge, Ont.

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