Michael McLarney

Loblaw Cos. has made its first foray into the U.S. with the opening of a T&T Supermarkets store in Bellevue, Wash. T&T is the grocery giant’s Asian grocery chain. The 76,000-square-foot location is in a former Walmart in the Washington area. Loblaw has 36 T&T stores in Canada.

Metrie, the Vancouver-based moulding and millwork producer, has acquired eden Inc., a pre-finished millwork producer based in Knox, Penn. Eden’s products include mouldings, pre-hung doors, and specialty items. This is Metrie’s seventh acquisition in five years, enhancing the company’s integrated millwork portfolio and “offering a wider range of pre-finished moulding and door products that can meet the needs of current and future customers,” according to a release.

BMR Group has signed up the Eidt family, owners of three Ace Hardware locations in Mitchell, Exeter, and Arthur, Ont. As of Jan. 1, 2025, Ace Hardware will no longer support dealers in Canada. The collaboration, effective Jan. 22, 2025, is expected to increase sales and logistics for the other dealers in the network in […]

More than half of all Canadians find buying gifts a stressful blow to the pocketbook. According to the 2024 Holiday Survey released by Spring Financial, an online lending company in Canada, spending anxiety runs high among 56 percent of Canadians. Hardest hit are Gen Z (66 percent) and millennials (64 percent). They find the financial strain of buying gifts as the most stressful part of the holiday season.

The Lawrie Group recently added Mary Lake Home Hardware Building Centre to its umbrella of companies. The store is expected to open again in early January. Rob and Joanne Lawrie, owners of The Lawrie Group of Cos., are based in Annapolis Royal, N.S., and own seven other Home Hardware stores, all located across southwestern Nova Scotia.

RONA inc. has announced it will convert 15 of its big box stores in the province of Quebec to the RONA+ banner in May 2025. The company continues to reposition the RONA brand, confirming that RONA+ is “now its sole retail brand in Canada.”

RONA inc. has announced it will convert 15 of its big box stores in the province of Quebec to the RONA+ banner by May. “The company continues to reposition the RONA brand, which is now its sole retail brand in Canada,” RONA stated in a release this morning.

President-elect Donald Trump’s threatened 25 percent tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods entering the U.S. is causing concern throughout Canada’s retail home improvement industry. Economists warn that the measures could trigger a recession and drive up prices on both sides of the border.

Lowe’s growth strategy for 2025 includes investment in its range of services for its contractor customers, which now account for 30 percent of Lowe’s overall sales. In early 2025, the company is relaunching its pro loyalty program as MyLowe’s Pro Rewards, designed specifically for the small-to-medium pro. Lowe’s is also bringing its DIY and pro loyalty programs onto one platform.

At IKEA Canada, taking care of employees begins with their first day on the job. In the latest edition of our Hardlines HR Advisor, we learn that employee care is as important as taking care of customers.