March 28, 2016 Volume xxii, #13

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.”
—Saint Augustine (early Christian philosopher and patron saint of brewers and printers, 354-430)

IN THIS ISSUE:

• Lowe’s gives preview of spring and summer assortments

• Provincial association plays role in achieving Quebec reno tax credit

• Orgill pushes integration of Canadian DC

• Vendors will meet top e-retailers at first-ever eRetailer Summit

• PLUS: Sherwin Williams’ acquisition of Valspar, Lowe’s goes space age, Payzant adds Halifax store, Sika now in B.C., LBM sales up—and more!

Lowe’s gives preview of spring and summer assortments

TORONTO — Reflecting more emphasis on the female customer, Lowe’s Canada offered a seasonal preview recently of what’s in store for spring. That included pushing the range of products beyond the traditional lawn and garden furniture and outdoor power equipment. Case in point: a sideboard to accompany the barbecue and provide a full-line kitchen outdoors.

There was lots of emphasis on accessorizing with outdoor décor items, including pillows and throws. In fact, everything on display at this event would be available at a Lowe’s store this spring, except the dishes—and even those are coming next year.

The move overall is upscale: “As time goes by, we want to be stepping it up a notch,” said Cindy Jardim, director of styles and trends at Lowe’s Canada. “Overall, we’re offering a higher price point” on a number of items, with no opening price point at all. That includes flexibility of installation, such as a patio fire pit that can use either wood or accommodate a gas insert.

Provincial association plays role in achieving Quebec reno tax credit

MONTREAL — AQMAT, the hardware and building materials industry association in Quebec, has welcomed the Quebec government’s announcement of a tax credit to stimulate the renovation market. The leadership of the organization, which was heavily involved in lobbying the provincial government on this issue, described itself as “happy, but not sated” with the RénoVert program.

The program offers a 20% reimbursable tax credit up to $10,000 on expenditures exceeding $2,500 related to home repairs and renovations. The credit is applicable to professional contracts settled before April 1 of next year. “We were really happy with the tax credit and with the Quebec budget generally, as it offered a number of ways to help retailers, including money set aside to help them catch up on their e-commerce expertise,” said AQMAT President and CEO Richard Darveau.

He added that his association worked with the builders’ associations and the green movement in Quebec to push the renovation tax credit through.

Orgill pushes integration of Canadian DC

MEMPHIS — U.S. hardware wholesaler Orgill, Inc. has been converting systems and operations at its facility in London, Ont. The distribution centre was the home of Chalifour Canada before its takeover by Orgill earlier this year. Now, it’s in the process of being converted to a full-line DC for Orgill—its first in Canada.

“What we’ve had to do is get the systems together so they could talk to each other,” explains Ron Beal, president of Orgill. “So the next step is to get the assortments combined, so that over the next few weeks everything we ship in Canada will be through the London DC.” 

Beal notes that many Canadian vendors are already suppliers to Orgill and will ship directly into London, as will a number of U.S. suppliers that previously shipped product to Orgill’s Inwood, West Virginia, facility. Meanwhile, the company is working to ensure that retail customers don’t miss out on products that were formerly available from Chalifour. “Our goal is to transfer everything to London.”

The London DC’s transition to the Orgill platform is “ahead of schedule,” says Beal, which means it can communicate now with Orgill’s U.S. operations. The next step will be to integrate London with dealers’ own POS systems.

Vendors will meet top e-retailers at first-ever eRetailer Summit

TRUMBULL, Conn. — Top retailers in hardlines, housewares, and building materials are lining up to be part of the first-ever Home Improvement eRetailer Summit, October 26 to 28, 2016 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The eRetailer Summit is a top-level conference for industry-leading companies doing business online. The range of North American retail leaders that have committed to the Summit is impressive: the iconic Sears.com; storage and organization retailers The Organizing Store and Organize-It.com; HSN, which was ranked number 25 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide; BuildDirect.com, which ranked number 195; and SupplyHog.com, a fast-growing seller of building and renovation products.

The eRetailer Summit will provide a forum for these eRetail leaders to share their vision and objectives with a select group of vendors, who will get face time and the chance to share strategies. The intimate environment of the eRetailer Summit will help all sides work better together to optimize the internet as a distribution channel.

“The response to the invitations extended to retailers has been extremely positive,” said Sonya Ruff Jarvis, Manager, Jarvis Consultants, who is mounting the event in partnership with Hardlines Inc. “This Summit was developed directly from customer feedback and the response shows that this event clearly fills a void in the marketplace. We’re proud to offer an environment for these retail leaders to share their goals for increasing online sales with select supplier partners.”

Home Improvement vendors specifically interested in expanding their online presence and learning more about how to optimize the internet as a distribution channel can contact Sonya Ruff Jarvis; or contact Beverly right here at the World Headquarters.

DID YOU KNOW…?

RETAILER NEWS

MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Lowe’s and Microsoft are teaming up to enable customers to visualize their kitchen projects using the tech giant’s HoloLens system. Debuting at select pilot stores in the Seattle area this month, the platform offers customers the opportunity to plan their kitchen renovations using holograms overlaid on showroom kitchens. Users can manipulate such features as cabinets, counters, appliances, and backsplashes. The results can then be shared with family and friends by way of Microsoft tablet. The development edition of the HoloLens will begin shipping at the end of the month.

HALIFAX — The new Payzant Home Hardware in Enfield, N.S., had its soft opening the last weekend of February, according to the Enfield Weekly Press. Payzant Building Products acquired the bankrupt Enfield Home Hardware business last summer to reopen as its fourth store in the Halifax region. CEO Andrew Payzant called the response to the store’s opening “overwhelming.” Enfield Home Hardware shut its doors last year during receivership proceedings for Scotian Homes. “It was very unfortunate that they had to close, but we’re pleased to pick up the banner and run with it,” he said.

SUPPLIER NEWS
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Paint giant Sherwin-Williams has reached a deal to purchase Minneapolis-based rival Valspar for $9.3 billion. If finalized, the transaction, which was approved unanimously by both boards, would see Sherwin-Williams assuming Valspar’s debt while gaining an edge in markets outside the U.S. and Canada. Although the companies expect anti-trust regulators to approve the sale without requiring any major divestitures, the agreement includes contingencies in the event of the unexpected. If authorities require the companies to sell off assets with revenues totalling more than $650 million, the purchase price will be adjusted to $105 per share, while Sherwin-Williams maintains an absolute opt-out if divestitures of more than $1.5 billion are required.

POINTE-CLAIRE, Que. — Sika Canada has opened a new mortars and concrete admixtures plant in Surrey, B.C., near Vancouver, its fourth in Canada. The new facility is about 30,000 square feet in size and was developed to serve Sika’s customer base in the Pacific Northwest. The plant features a modular mortar plant and liquid concrete admixture blending equipment, plus two laboratories for quality control purposes, an integrated warehouse, and an office space. By producing in British Columbia, Sika intends to reduce significantly shipments from its Edmonton and Montreal plants.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Canadian retail sales rose 3.6% in January from the previous year, and the three-month growth trend edged ahead of the 12-month trend for the first time in more than a year. Building materials and garden supplies were strong, however, up 7.3% in January and up 6.7% year over year. (StatCan)

Sales of existing U.S. homes dropped dramatically in February, with a decrease of 7.1% to an annual rate of 5.08 million units. The U.S. economy has so far stood apart from generally sluggish global patterns, but the newly released data may show cracks in its resilience. Compared to the same time last year, however, sales rose by 2.2%. (National Association of Realtors)

NOTED
Our friends at Presidents Council are hosting two Buying Days in the coming weeks: the first is in Toronto with Home Depot Canada buyers on April 13; the second is at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas from May 3 to 5 (with buyers from Ace, Pro, Lancaster, etc.). To find out more about these exclusive meetings with buyers, click here!

OVERHEARD…
“At BuildDirect, our mission is to simplify the home improvement industry for suppliers and homeowners. We look forward to connecting and collaborating at the eRetailer Summit. We are thrilled to be a part of this unique event.” —Joseph Thompson, vice president of marketing and growth at BuildDirect, an online marketplace for heavyweight home improvement products, which will be part of the first-ever eRetailer Summit.

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