April 2, 2018 Volume xxiv, #13

“When beginning a journey, never take advice from someone who has never left home.”
—Rumi (Persian poet and mystic, 1207-1283)

IN THIS ISSUE:

• ABSDA Building Supply Expo gets lift from move to new venue

• BMR pursues opportunities for growth beyond Quebec

• Tony Steier, head of FCL’s hardware and building materials business, to retire

• Atlantic Canada’s KM Agency celebrates 50th anniversary

  PLUS: New website for BMR’s Agrizone, Lowe’s Canada announces date for buying show, Home Depot and Pinterest, Walmart offers installation, RONA one of Quebec’s most admired, CHHMA’s Maureen Hizaka to retire, U.S. home sales, and more!
  
  

ABSDA Building Supply Expo gets lift from move to new venue

HALIFAX — The Atlantic Building Supply Dealers Association (ABSDA) held its 2018 Building Supply Expo March 21 and 22, hosted for the first time at the Halifax Convention Centre.

There was an optimistic feeling at the show due to the new location. The ease of getting back and forth between hotels and the conference centre, with all show-related events right in one location, was important to dealers and vendors alike. And a strong presence from Newfoundland boosted the expo’s overall success.

“The new location was amazing. It was state of the art,” says Denis Melanson, president of the ABSDA. “Just being downtown was great.”

The show benefitted from the addition of private meeting rooms around the show floor’s perimeter. Major exhibitors, who might have typically had multiple booths on the floor in the past, could use these private rooms instead to showcase their products and hold meetings with customers.

“People loved the experience of having one-on-one meetings with vendors and their clients,” Melanson says. “That was a big plus.”

BMR pursues opportunities for growth beyond Quebec

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Groupe BMR, Quebec’s largest privately owned hardware chain, is spreading its wings beyond la belle province, with new dealers in the Maritimes and wholesale distribution activity in Ontario.

The banner’s latest target for growth is New Brunswick, where it is welcoming three dealers. Two—in Kedgwick and Saint-Quentin—have been wooed from other banners, while the third, in Caraquet, began as a tool retailing start-up and is now set to expand.

Overseeing this push is Pierre Nolet, BMR’s senior director of business development. Nolet knows that growth at BMR “comes from independent dealers across Canada”—not least because he was one, having run four stores in Central Quebec. “That’s where I can show my strength, because I’m a dealer myself,” he says.

As the only greenfields dealer in this latest round of recruitments, Caraquet owner Michel Chiasson’s operation will be a BMR Express hardware store, with a grand opening scheduled for May. Located at 447 Saint Pierre Blvd. West, the store will include 5,000 square feet devoted to the BMR hardware business, as well as the offices of his existing tool business, Location d’Outils JED, which is relocating to this address.

BMR Express is one of the differentiated banners developed by BMR last year to identify its various store formats, which include home centres, building centres, and contractor yards. Express is used to represent smaller hardware stores that offer the most popular products with a focus on personalized customer service.

In addition to the three new retailers, BMR’s presence in the Maritimes has been bolstered by its relationship with the Country Store, a chain of 19 stores that have turned to BMR as their wholesaler. The banner is a member of Atlantic Farm Services, which was created by BMR parent La Coop fédérée as a wholly owned subsidiary grouping the assets La Coop acquired from Co-op Atlantic when it acquired Co-op Atlantic’s agricultural assets in 2015.

The Maritime courtship is part of a broader push by BMR to build on its Quebec base and raise its national profile. The company has already gotten into the wholesale distribution game in Ontario, where it serves independent retailers that operate under a variety of banners. BMR has also named James Hall, formerly at Goodfellow, as its point person to liaise with the English-speaking market.

BMR’s handful of existing stores outside Quebec are fully supportive of the company’s growth plans, Nolet says. “We are so ready! We have the dream team that will make the difference.”

Tony Steier, head of FCL’s hardware and building materials business, to retire

SASKATOON — Tony Steier, director of home and building solutions with Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), is retiring effective April 27, after 40 years of service with the organization. An outgoing and committed advocate and brand ambassador for Co-op, including being the first person from FCL to speak at a Hardlines Conference, he became well known and respected throughout the industry.

Steier was pretty much born into the Co-op life. His father operated the Co-op Service Centre at Maple Creek, Sask., and from the age of five, the younger Steier helped his dad with inventory and odd jobs at the service station. During those early years, he learned first-hand how the Co-op model connects with local communities and member owners in Western Canada.

Steier’s career began in Westlock, Alta., where he worked as the hardware manager for Barrhead Co-op. There he learned the day-to-day operations of the hardware business. A combination of business savvy and humour soon led him to larger responsibilities with a promotion to regional sales co-ordinator, responsible for store operations and merchandising in the Edmonton region.

In 1989, Steier joined the FCL home office team in Saskatoon as a buyer. During his years in that role, he would be responsible for several different product categories. An eagerness to take on new challenges helped him develop a reputation with the vendor community as a skilled negotiator—and someone who was not afraid to challenge the status quo.

In 2003, he was promoted to the procurement manager role. In this position he led the buying team and played an important role in FCL’s support of the Spancan buying group.

Steier accepted the role as director of the home and building solutions department at FCL in 2014. As leader of the hardware and LBM business, he worked to implement long-term planning and strategic growth development, with a shift towards a customer experience focus. He currently sits on the boards for both Spancan and Independent Lumber Dealers Co-operative (ILDC).

According to his colleagues at FCL, Steier has demonstrated throughout his career a strong work ethic and drive for continuous improvement, often challenging his team—and others within the industry—to work harder and try new directions.

Atlantic Canada’s KM Agency celebrates 50th anniversary

BEDFORD, N.B. — KM Agency Ltd., a long-time manufacturers’ agency based in Atlantic Canada, is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2018.

KM Agency was created in 1968 by Ray Keating and Earle McCutcheon. The company has evolved into a second-generation business, currently managed by Peter Merrill, son-in-law of Earle McCutcheon, and Tim Smith, son of retired partner and past president Sid Smith. In addition, the KM sales team consists of Jamie Waldron in Nova Scotia, Jamie Jones in New Brunswick, and Steve Kennedy in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The agency now counts among its clients some of the biggest names in hardware and home improvement retailing, including Home Hardware Stores, Ace, Kent, TIMBER MART, and Castle.

Over the years, the company has evolved beyond the role of a traditional agency with the creation of a division that provides in-store servicing for the stores served by KM. Repeat Merchandising Services Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of KM Agency, and has 15 part-time representatives strategically located throughout the Atlantic region. That business turned 20 in 2017.

The occasion of KM’s anniversary was promoted during the recent ABSDA Atlantic Buying Show, where the agency had a presence as an exhibitor.

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RETAILER NEWS

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — The new website for BMR’s Agrizone business went live last week, allowing users to search product availability by store. It will support electronic transactions by year’s end. The new site complements the nine brick-and-mortar stores the rural-focused banner currently maintains in Quebec. Its launch reflects BMR’s renewed push for information technology, also evidenced in the appointment of Jean Lagacé as VP of IT, as we reported last week.

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — The 2019 RONA Ace Canada buying show will take place on September 13 and 14, presented by Lowe’s Canada at Montreal’s Palais des congrès.
Nearly 350 suppliers from across North America and some 350 RONA and Ace Canada dealers are expected to attend.

ATLANTA — The Home Depot and Pinterest are working together to help shoppers find, and purchase, more than 100,000 new products via Pinterest’s Shop the Look feature. Now, Home Depot will insert more than 100,000 of its own items, including faucets, lights, textiles, and interior decorations, into the Shop the Look feature, giving Pinterest’s users a direct link to Home Depot’s inventory.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has begun offering installation and assembly services at some of its stores in the U.S. The retailer is partnering with a New York-based service company, Handy, which has a network of 80,000 workers nationwide. The services include furniture assembly and installation of home electronics. After a test of 25 stores in the Atlanta market, the service is being rolled out in 45 states to 2,000 of its 5,000 stores.

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — Market researcher Léger’s 2018 study on Quebec’s most admired companies finds RONA in the top spot for home improvement, and 10th overall. Among the aspects of reputation assessed, product/service quality and honesty/transparency drove RONA’s position the most. Results of the Corporate Reputation Study are based on an online survey conducted with 13,655 adults over about six weeks, covering 304 different companies.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Maureen Hizaka, operations director at the Canadian Hardware and Housewares Manufacturers Association, will retire at the end of May. With 30 years on the CHHMA staff, Hizaka is its longest-serving employee. Former President Vaughn Crofford praised her in a statement as simply the best employee he has ever had the pleasure of working with. In making the announcement, Sam Moncada, incoming president of the CHHMA, stated that the association staff, members, and retail customers will miss the cheerful manner in which Maureen treated everyone and for her leadership, dedication, and professionalism. Her service will be acknowledged at the CHHMA Spring Conference on April 3. Well-wishers will have further opportunities to see her off at Maple Leaf Night in Las Vegas on May 8 and the CHHMA Toronto Golf Tournament on May 16.

Robert Niblock plans to retire as chairman, president, and CEO of Lowe’s Cos. after a 25-year career with the company. The board of directors has initiated a search for his successor, and in the meantime Niblock will remain in his current roles.

IN MEMORIAM
Peter Bowes, well known for over 25 years in this industry, having worked for Lowe’s Canada, Fiskars, Freud, and Black & Decker, died from brain cancer on March 25. He is remembered as a loving husband to Jacqueline and father and stepfather to Mercer, Ridley, Justine, Brandon, and Karissa.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Sales of existing U.S. homes rose by more than expected in February, marking the first increase in three months. Resales rose by 3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.54 million units, compared to a forecasted gain of just 0.9%. The results, which were strongest in the Southern and Western regions, suggest that tax cuts and job creation are making an impact. Supply remains tight however, and not all areas benefited from the gain, with resales in the Northeast falling by more than 12%. (National Association of Realtors)

NOTED
Canadian retail reached a 20-year high last year, but growth has slowed over the past few months, according to retail analyst Ed Strapagiel. Sales for the quarter ending in January rose 5.3% year-over-year, a fair showing but still short of the 6.7% hike a year ago. The underlying year-long trend, Strapagiel reports, has flattened and is likely to get even weaker. The store merchandise category seems to be returning to normal after last year’s lofty highs, but building material and garden supply retailers stood apart with a 9.4% gain, as did electronics and appliances, up 18%.

OVERHEARD…
“People on the show floor on day one were already talking about 2019. We expect to be back next year.”
—Denis Melanson, president of the Atlantic Building Supply Dealers Association, on the success of this year’s ABSDA Buying Expo, which was held for the first time at the Halifax Convention Centre, right in downtown Halifax.

OUT AND ABOUT
Watch for David Chestnut, Beverly Allen, and Michael McLarney at this week’s CHHMA Spring Conference and AGM, being held tomorrow in Mississauga, Ont.

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