March 6, 2017 Volume xxiii, #10

Words empty as the wind are better left unsaid.” —Homer (Poet of Ancient Greece, circa 8th century BCE)


IN THIS ISSUE:

  • Meet the Buyers Breakfast: Featuring the Senior Lowe’s Team

  • TIMBER MART’s Bernie Owens: independents will weather changes ahead

  • Feds give Fort McMurray a boost with gypsum tariff ruling

  • Ace banner keeps growing under the direction of Lowe’s Canada

  • PLUS: Lowe’s fourth quarter, Canac and Anacolor, Home Hardware hires commercial specialist, Boulanger awarded, Lowe’s in Sherwood Park, Sears strikes branding deal, Acceo and BDO IT, CanSave will host 26th Expo, Saint-Gobain, Henkel, and more!

Meet the Buyers Breakfast: Featuring the Senior Lowe’s Team

WORLD HEADQUARTERS, Toronto — Here at the Hardlines World Headquarters, we are proud to be able to bring this industry together in a number of ways, online, in print, and in person. We are particularly proud to be able to co-ordinate our next Meet the Buyers Breakfast event, which will host the senior buying executives from Lowe’s Canada.

The Meet the Buyers Breakfast will be on April 26, 7:30 to 10 a.m., at a Toronto-area hotel location close to Pearson International Airport. (We’ll confirm the location very soon!)

These top buying influences for Lowe’s, RONA, and Réno-Dépôt stores will be presenting:

  • Alan Blundell, Divisional Vice President, Merchandising, Lowe’s;
  • Marc Gingras, Divisional Vice President, RONA Proximity Stores;
  • Christian Dauphinais, Divisional Vice President, Merchandising for Réno-Dépôt;
  • Igor Halencak, Vice President National Procurement, Central Merchandising, and Global Sourcing, Lowe’s Canada.

Lowe’s is the fastest growing home improvement retailer in Canada. If you are a vendor, find out how you can be part of that growth. At this seminar:

  • you’ll learn what it takes to sell to Lowe’s Canada;
  • if you’re already selling to Lowe’s and/or RONA, you’ll discover new ways to enhance your existing relationships;
  • you’ll find out what changes are occurring at head office as the Lowe’s and RONA businesses are combined and how your company can grow your business there;
  • and you’ll have the chance to network with these individuals directly.

This is a must-attend for any new vendor hoping to connect with Lowe’s Canada—and for existing vendors who wish to understand the changes occurring with one of the Canadian marketplace’s largest home improvement retailers.

(Cost for this once-in-a-lifetime vendor-only event is just $129. Click here to reserve your spot now!)

 

TIMBER MART’s Bernie Owens: independents will weather changes ahead

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — The 50th anniversary of TIMBER MART finds President Bernie Owens enthusiastic, but also reflective. For him, the milestone offers a chance to look back at the evolution of this industry and question what lies ahead. “Talking about the next 50 years, the pace of change and consolidation in the industry, especially in recent years, I look at it and say, ‘How are we going to differentiate ourselves going forward?’ ”

In conversation with HARDLINES at the group’s recent trade show in Toronto, he touched on a lot of themes, but with a big-picture perspective. For example, the recent overtures by competitors to increase off-the-top rebates on invoices had him worried about the entire eco-system of the Canadian supply chain. For him, all sides have to succeed, for the sake of a strong Canadian-based industry—including vendors. His group works from that principle: “We have that intimacy with the vendor community, but we have to make sure we’re buying right for our members,” he adds.

Owens talks about the independents competing alongside the big chains and offers some sobering thoughts about the next wave of consolidation that this country could face. Besides Lowe’s and Home Depot, there are numerous smaller, regional chains in the U.S. that are still huge by Canadian terms. He points out the acquisition last summer of the Construction Products division of Superior Plus (which includes Allroc and Winroc), which was bought by Foundation Building Materials in California.

“That company didn’t exist two years ago,” he says. “It’s all private-equity money.” Could this become a larger trend that could impact more Canadian companies? “We have to be eyes-open that it’s an evolving industry.”

Nevertheless, Owens sees the independent model as both sustainable and healthy, one that the buying groups are an important part of. The volume purchases that TIMBER MART can achieve for members, both big and small, he notes, provide plateaus that give them all a competitive advantage against the large chains.

 

Feds give Fort McMurray a boost with gypsum tariff ruling

FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced last week that the federal government will cut duties on U.S. drywall imports to Western Canada by 32%. At the same time it is pouring $12 million from duties collected to date into a rebuilding grant for the wildfire-stricken community.

The duties were imposed to combat the dumping of U.S. drywall into the Canadian market, but Canada’s International Trade Tribunal agreed with complaints from Western homeowners and contractors that the tariffs were hurting their economy.

In its December decision and the full report published in January, the tribunal found that the dumping of U.S. gypsum into the Canadian market was injurious to Canada’s economy, but that tariffs at the rates originally imposed were more harm than help. U.S. drywall has been a boon to the restoration efforts around Fort McMurray, Alta., where thousands of residents were evacuated last May during a two-month wildfire outbreak. (The fire was declared under control in early July but continues to smoulder below the surface in remote areas.)

The tribunal found that the duties would lead to “house buyers paying thousands of dollars more for a typical home … in a market where builders and ultimately house buyers have already seen other major increases in costs.”

 

Ace banner keeps growing under the direction of Lowe’s Canada

WINNIPEG ― The recently announced move of Ace Canada into the Lowe’s offices in Toronto (as reported in our February 20, 2017 edition —your helpful Editor) may seem like an unlikely investment by the world’s second-largest home improvement retailer, but the growth of the Ace banner in this country reinforces the wisdom of the move.

There are now 163 stores in Canada carrying the Ace banner. Seventy-one of them are fully branded as Ace, while another 92 are home improvement stores currently co-branded with the TRU banner. Those stores are all expected to switch to Ace over time and include seven which are converting by the end of March.

Supporting the Ace brand will include the relocation of Ace’s management and buying teams from Winnipeg. That facility will be closed in August. Another smaller DC, in Kitchener, Ont., will shut down later in the fall.

However, Ace’s commitment in the field will be unchanged: its team of district managers will stay in place, helping dealers as they make the switch to the Ace name.

 

DID YOU KNOW…?

...that Sylvain Prud’homme of Lowe’s Canada and Jim Thompson, former senior executive at Wal-Mart Canada, have just joined our roster of presenters at the 22nd annual Hardlines Conference? And did you know that our Early Bird Pricing will save you money? Act now to ensure you have a seat at this incredible networking and learning event, November 14 to 15 in Niagara Falls, Ont. For more info and to register, click here now!

RETAILER NEWS

MOORESVILLE, N.C. ― Lowe’s has reported fourth-quarter net earnings of $663 million, up from $11 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Sales for the fourth quarter increased 19.2% to $15.8 billion from $13.2 billion, and comp sales increased 5.1%. For the fiscal year ended February 3, net earnings were $3.1 billion, up from $2.5 billion. Sales for the entire year were $65.0 billion, an increase of 10.1%, while comp sales increased 4.2%. Comp sales for the U.S. business increased 5.1% for the fourth quarter and 4.1% for the fiscal year. The company expects total sales to increase around 5% for 2017, while comp sales are expected to increase about 3.55%.


SHERWOOD PARK, Alta. ― Lowe’s Canada opened its latest store on March 2 in Sherwood Park, Alta., a community just east of Edmonton. It’s located at 501 Emerald Drive. Strathcona County city councillors joined Jim Caldwell, EVP for Lowe’s Canada Big Box Retail, at the grand opening. The store features about 86,000 square feet of retail space and an adjacent 20,000-square-foot garden centre.

CHICAGO — Sears Holdings has reached a deal with Permasteel which will allow the California-based manufacturer to produce Sears’s Kenmore grills for sale across the U.S. The arrangement means that Kenmore grills will now be available from retailers other than Sears and Kmart. In a release, Chief Marketing Officer Peter Boutros called the agreement the “first example of our expansion strategy to unleash the power of the Kenmore and DieHard brands globally.”

 

SUPPLIER NEWS
MONTREAL — Payment systems manufacturer Acceo Solutions and business software firm BDO IT Solutions have partnered to offer North American retailers a payment solution fully compatible with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and the LS NAV point-of-sale system. By providing LS Retail POS retailers a choice of EMV payment processing, Acceo and BDO IT hope to give retailers the flexibility to select their preferred device and processor.

WARWICK, Que. — Roland Boulanger & Cie ltee was awarded the prestigious Prix Patrimoine from the Quebec Hardware and Building Materials Association (AQMAT) at its annual Gala Reconnaissance, held in Quebec City on February 18. The award honours family tradition in the hardware and building materials industry, celebrating businesses where two or more generations work together. Boulanger, which produces mouldings, exterior wood siding, ceilings, and recycled plastic deck boards, is now in the hands of the third generation of the Boulanger family. The award served to kick off the company’s 75th year in business.

BARRIE, Ont. ― Specialty building materials wholesaler and door and cabinet maker CanSave will host its 26th annual buying Expo in its own distribution centre and promises some new additions to the event. This year’s event has been moved up to May 11 to give more of a buying season for customers and their clientele. “We welcome our customers to come and explore the latest profit-generating solutions for their business,” says CanSave President Dan McArthur. Along with new products and programs, multiple demos and seminars have been scheduled. (Click here for more information.)

LANCASTER, Pa. — Flooring and ceiling maker Armstrong World Industries has posted Q4 net income of $27.1 million, or $0.49 per share. The results followed on a loss during the same period last year. For the year, the company reported net income of $104.7 million, or $1.87 per share, on revenues of $1.23 billion.

SAINT-GEORGES, Que. ― Garaga, a family-owned Quebec manufacturer of insulated garage doors, has launched a contest aimed at homeowners who would like to have a smart garage door system. The garage door system is valued at $2,500 and includes an all-new Garaga garage door system, remote controls, and a Google Nest indoor security camera, all controllable from a smart phone. 

PARIS — Saint-Gobain reported that net income for the fiscal year 2016 amounted to just over €1.3 billion, compared to €1.29 billion in 2015. The French building materials conglomerate also saw EBITDA increase to almost €4 billion, from just over €3.8 billion the previous year. Sales however declined by 1.3% to €39.09 billion, compared to €39.6 billion.

BERLIN — Henkel reported Q4 earnings of $807 million last week, a stronger showing than expected thanks in part to growth in its Latin American market. The maker of Persil laundry detergent and Loctite adhesives generates 42% of its sales in emerging markets.

 

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Dan Higgins has joined Home Hardware Stores Limited as cleaning supplies and commercial sales and marketing product manager. Formerly a commercial maintenance specialist and a retail sales manager, his expertise is expected to help Home dealers to improve their sales of commercial supplies and services.

 

NOTED
Finance Minister Bill Morneau is in Washington this week to meet with his counterpart in the U.S. cabinet, treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was non-committal last week when asked about heightening security on the Canada-U.S. border, laughing off suggestions of a border wall. The questions came on the heels of the first meeting between the Prime Minister and U.S. President Donald Trump, which touched on the ongoing softwood lumber conflict between the two countries, but addressed border security in vague terms. 


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