July 16, 2018 Volume xxiv, #28

"Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men”
? Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (German poet, playwright, scientist and statesman, 1749-1832)

IN THIS ISSUE:

• B.C. industry celebrates 80 years with gala dinner and Orion awards presentation

• Hosted by its one West Coast member, TORBSA dealers gather in B.C. for AGM

• Kent opens a new flagship big box store in the Halifax market

• With 100 RONA dealers now online, affiliates are catching up to corporate stores

  PLUS: Castle adds new member, TIMBER MART hires procurement manager, TORBSA signs dealer, RONA store expands distribution capability in Toronto, Richelieu posts Q2, CertainTeed to purchase Hunter Douglas ceiling business, Bob Fellows joins Castle,
  Isolofoam adds to team, housing starts bounce back, Nguyen promoted at Liteline and more!

  
  

B.C. industry celebrates 80 years with gala dinner and Orion awards presentation

HARRISON HOT SPRINGS, B.C. – Dealers and suppliers from the home improvement industry in British Columbia gathered last week for a gala bash to celebrate their association’s 80th anniversary. The Building Supply Industry Association of B.C. (BSIA) hosted a roomful of members to visit table-top displays, network and celebrate award-winning companies and individuals.

Thomas Foreman, president of the BSIA, talked about the early years of the association as dealers banded together to manage pricing for lumber and building materials. He then took time to mention the latest initiatives his association is pursuing in partnership with other associations in the country. Four of the country’s regional building supply associations have joined to address concerns common to the entire industry across the country. Under the umbrella of the Building Material Council of Canada (BMCC), the groups are tackling the need for advocacy in Ottawa to get in front of politicians on issues such as tariffs and duties.

Another key initiative is to attract talented workers to the building materials industry, on the part of both the retailers and their suppliers. To that end, Foreman said, BMCC has launched a job board to help dealers find employees. “We have an employment crisis. It’s so serious we didn’t know what to do. So we started a career website nationally.”

Business leader and entrepreneur Peter Legge, chairman and CEO the magazine publishing company Canada Wide Media, was the keynote speaker, sharing his thoughts and inspiration for being a great leader.

The evening was capped by the presentation of the association’s Orion Awards, which acknowledge excellence among dealers and suppliers during the past year. This year’s winners were:

• urban hardware or rural lumber yard―Black Creek Farm & Feed Supply in Black Creek;
• contractor yard―Northcoast Building Products in Surrey;
• building supply centre (mini big box)―Mack Foster Building Materials RONA in Richmond;
• finishing and specialty products―Landscape Centre in Coquitlam;
• supplier―Taiga Building Products in Langley;
• salesperson―Ace Challes of Westform Metals;

Hosted by its one West Coast member, TORBSA dealers gather in B.C. for AGM

WHITE ROCK, B.C. ― Members of TORBSA arrived last week in the town of White Rock, south of Vancouver, for the buying group’s annual general meeting, rounded out by a series of social events and golf. While the majority of TORBSA’s members are located in Ontario, it has one member, Crown Building Supplies, in nearby Surrey―reason enough, said Bob Holmes, general manager of TORBSA, for moving to the West Coast venue this year.

Gary Sangha, owner of Crown Building Supplies, and his wife Jas, acted as hosts for the group, which included about 80 dealers, vendors and their partners. During a welcome lunch, Holmes (shown centre), thanked Gary Sangha and Jas Sangha for their hospitality and their dedication to the business.

Crown is a ceiling and wallboard supplier that joined the group four years ago. Sangha said he really enjoys being part of the group. He was initially attracted by the “low overhead and the full transparency” with which it operates, especially after being a member of other groups in the past. “Yes,” he says, “we’re glad to be part of it; we’re very fortunate to be part of it.”

The TORBSA getaway continued to the end of last week with a golf tournament, a wine tour and a harbour dinner cruise.

Kent opens a new flagship big box store in the Halifax market

DARTMOUTH, N.S. ― Kent Building Supplies has opened a new big box in the Halifax Regional Municipality at Dartmouth Crossing, according to the Halifax Herald. In addition, the company is reportedly going to invest in a major expansion of its location in Lower Sackville.

The new Dartmouth store opened its doors July 9, with a grand opening celebration this past weekend. Located next to the Halifax-area IKEA, the Kent outlet features 124,000 square feet of retail space and employs 120 people, a spokesperson for parent company J.D. Irving told the Herald. The opening reflects Kent’s return in recent years to the big box format. In July 2014, the company opened a 100,000-square-foot big box in Charlottetown, its first large-format store in Prince Edward Island and its first big box in almost two decades.

Kent originally opened seven big boxes in the mid-’90s to head off potential expansion by then-newcomer Home Depot, which was busy expanding in Central Ontario.

Kent is also making changes at other locations in the Halifax area. A former Kent store in Dartmouth, at Mic Mac Mall, is being converted into 110,000 square feet of office space, while the 30-year-old Lower Sackville location will be expanded by almost 14,600 square feet. Considered one of Kent’s smallest stores, it is currently 39,360 square feet in size. The expansion will include enlarging the parking lot and adding another entrance from the main road.

According to the Herald, Kent’s Russell Lake store in the Woodside area of Dartmouth will be left unchanged during all the expansion.

With 100 RONA dealers now online, affiliates are catching up to corporate stores

BOUCHERVILLE, Que. — RONA announced that its e-commerce channel now includes 100 participating dealer stores, as it rolls out its Click and Collect service for customers who want to shop online through RONA.

Lowe’s Canada’s own big box Lowe’s stores have been operating in the digital space successfully for years, and RONA’s corporate stores, including its Reno-Depot chain, have been getting on board with the Click and Collect program. But the acceptance by RONA’s affiliate dealers represents a big step by independents toward adapting to the realities of online retail.

RONA reached 100 stores participating online with the addition of the three RONA Bois Turcotte stores, located in Val-d’Or, Amos and Malartic, Que. “In 2018, e-commerce is indispensable, especially in regional markets, where our stores serve larger areas,” says Sylvie Turcotte, co-owner of the RONA Bois Turcotte stores. “In addition to being able to offer our current customers a wide range of products, we can now reach customers farther away.’’

RONA dealers are incorporating e-commerce in their everyday store operations, including RONA North Vancouver, where owner Bruce Allen has implemented a drive-through service for pickup of online orders. According to Allen, the support RONA has offered its affiliate dealers has been instrumental in helping independents like him keep up with digital sales―and not losing out on sales opportunities.

The program has had a direct impact on both sales and on the store’s culture. “You can’t help but be excited,” Allen says, “when you open the doors in the morning and see 10 to 12 internet orders that have come in overnight.” It’s important to respond quickly to these orders, he notes, as the online world brings a new kind of immediacy to his business. “You need to respond urgently, causing you to prioritize the selection of items and the ordering and delivery of items.”

And, like Sylvie Turcotte in Quebec, Allen now finds that his store is serving a customer base beyond its regular trading area.

Keeping the affiliate dealers up to speed with its online strategy means those stores fit better into the overall marketing that Lowe’s Canada is doing to support RONA’s online efforts. All RONA corporate stores are already on board, offering online purchases to their customers.

For example, the RONA corporate store in Surrey, B.C., in the community of Fleetwood, has a team of four that is devoted entirely to online order fulfilment. That team includes Sheralynn Joynt and Dinusha Mudunkotuwa (shown here). For orders up to a certain weight, they are shipped through Canada Post; and over that they go by Purolator. According to Adam Creelman, the interim manager of the store, the volume of ship-to-home sales is now exceeding that of the store’s regular deliveries.

Allen at the RONA North Vancouver store understands that the move to online is a big step for some dealers, but he believes it’s an important one. “You are either prepared to change and grow or you are relegated to just keep doing what you’ve always done,” he says.

DID YOU KNOW...?

...that this year’s Hardlines Conference has limited space? That’s right, we’re holding it at the Queen’s Landing in historic Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont., and tickets are going to sell out fast. With speakers from Sexton Group, Home Hardware, Lowe’s Canada, TIMBER MART, Orgill, RONA, eBay Canada and more, you won’t want to miss this year’s Conference! Click here to learn more and secure your seat today!

RETAILER NEWS

BOLTON, Ont. — TORBSA Ltd. has announced the addition of Toronto’s Kreitmaker Inc. as a shareholder member. Kreitmaker has built up its distribution business over the past 14 years and is looking to further growth as a member of the buying group. “TORBSA will enable us to grow our business and develop key relationships with both shareholder and supplier partners,” said Kreitmaker President Peter Ntakos.

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Castle Building Centres has a new member, Bucksaw Timber in Carman, Man. Owners Anthony and Glynis Lemky started their business in 2000 and relocated it twice as it grew, settling in Carman in 2010. In addition to a full line of lumber, building materials and hardware, the converted store will also offer a variety of household and pet products.

ETOBICOKE, Ont. — Lowe’s Canada’s corporate RONA store in Toronto’s West End has expanded its operations. As the former head office and distribution centre for the Lansing Buildall chain of stores in the Greater Toronto Area, the site is now drawing on the store’s historical functionality to serve as a central delivery hub for the 26 RONA stores in the GTA. It is also a warehouse for large quantities of products in high demand by contractors, such as roofing, drywall and insulation. The 130,000-square-foot facility and a five-acre paved lumber yard serve as a base for 30 delivery vehicles.

SUPPLIER NEWS

MONTREAL — Richelieu Hardware posted Q2 sales of $263.4 million, up 8.3% compared to $243.3 million a year ago. Net earnings rose 3.3% to $0.31 per share. In Canada, the company recorded sales of $180.2 million, an increase of $16.4 million or 10.1% from the previous second quarter. During the quarter, Richelieu consolidated two distribution centres in Western Canada, for a total of 36 across the country.

MALVERN, Pa. ― CertainTeed Corporation has entered into an agreement to purchase the North American ceiling products business of Hunter Douglas. A leading producer of window coverings and architectural products, Hunter Douglas’s North American ceiling business manufactures architectural ceilings and soffit systems with operations in Norcross, Ga., and Denver, Co. The business has 100 employees.

FRANKFURT — Henkel is standing by its 2018 forecasts and pursuing mergers and acquisitions, Reuters reports. CEO Hans Van Bylen told the Rheinische Post that the company had emerged from distribution problems in the U.S. with its customer relationships in good shape. “We are sticking to our revenue and profit projections,” he said. The company is projecting organic sales growth of 2% to 4%. Henkel has invested €6.3 billion in acquisitions over the past two years and is on the lookout for more opportunities.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Housing starts bounced back in June, with an increase of 28% to 248,138 units seasonally adjusted, from 193,902 units in May. Urban starts increased by 29.9% to 228,844 units. Of that, multiple urban starts were up by 46.4% to 172,845 units, while single-detached urban starts decreased by 3.5% to 55,999 units. (CMHC)

The value of permits issued by Canadian municipalities rose 4.7% to $8.2 billion in May. The increase followed a 4.7% drop in April, the only month this year where municipalities reported a total value below the $8 billion mark. In the residential sector, municipalities issued $5.5 billion worth of permits in May, up 7.7% from April. (StatCan)

OVERHEARD...

“For us, it’s important to deliver a positive shopping experience that will raise the customer’s perception of our store in their shopping choices and give them a reason to come to the store and explore what we have to offer.”
―Bruce Allen, owner of RONA North Vancouver, whose store has added a drive-through pickup service for online orders.

TIMBER MART has added a new procurement manager for Ontario. Aaron Gilmoure will be responsible for negotiating regional building material buying programs, assisting in the development and organization of TIMBER MART’s flyer program and national buying show, and supporting the buying group’s national network of hardware and building supply dealers. Gilmoure brings more than 20 years of experience in the building materials industry, having held sales and management positions on both the retail and vendor sides. Based out of TIMBER MART’s office in Vaughan, Ont., he reports directly to Randy Martin, vice-president of procurement for TIMBER MART.

Bob Fellows has joined Castle Building Centres Group as business development manager for the group’s Commercial Builders Supplies (CBS) division. Fellows was most recently at Crossroads C&I as regional director for Central and Eastern Canada. He replaces Ron Craighead, who had served as national business development manager for CBS for a decade.

Isolofoam Group has announced the addition of Robert Cardinal as part of its marketing and innovation team. Cardinal has been appointed technical expertise leader, bringing to the role more than 30 years’ experience in the construction products industry. An active participant in thermal insulation standards related activities since the mid-1980s, and a member of the Standing Committee on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, he has worked for different manufacturers of thermal insulation plastic foams. Prior to joining Isolofoam, he was construction and standards regulations specialist at BASF Canada. (rcardinal@isolofoam.com; 514-378-5014)

At Liteline Corporation, Salyna Nguyen has been promoted to director of marketing. She joined the company in 2017 as channel marketing manager – C&I North America. Prior to joining Liteline, Nguyen spent close to a decade as marketing manager for Allied Technical Solutions.

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