HHIQ_2Q_17_Complete-low

SHOW REPORT
FLE
The latest Western Retail Lumber Association Buying Show held in Calgary
featured 250 vendors across 170,000 square feet of space at the BMO Centre.
A ROUNDUP OF THE
FIRST SHOWS OF THE YEAR
Show season has officially begun and it’s shaping up to be a banner
year with new locations, anniversaries, and shifting formats.
ACE CANADA ELIMINATES
SPRING SHOW, OFFERS
ONLINE ALTERNATIVES
Ace Canada has cancelled its Spring Buying
Show in Winnipeg this year. Instead, the
hardware wholesaler, which is a division
of Lowe’s Canada, will offer dealers the
opportunity to make their bookings online,
including special promotions, pallet offers,
vendor specials, and extended dating for
their fall and winter seasonal needs.
The show was originally scheduled
for April 22 to 24 at the Winnipeg RBC
Convention Centre.
The move is aimed at saving time and
travel costs for Ace’s independent customers.
It also reflects some of the changes moving
through all aspects of Lowe’s Canadian
business since it took over RONA last year.
“Dealers have told us that they would
save money by booking their products
online. Vendors have expressed interest
in attending only one show per year,” said
Bill Morrison, divisional vice president
of Ace Canada. Lowe’s Canada has since
confirmed it will host a buying show in
Montreal for both its Ace and RONA dealers,
September 20 to 22. (For more on the
changes at Ace, go to page 20.)
DEALERS, VENDORS GATHERED IN
CALGARY FOR WRLA BUYING SHOW
Dealers travelled from across Western
Canada to look for deals and to network
at the latest Buying Show of the Western
Retail Lumber Association. The show, held
in Calgary from January 18 to 20, featured
250 vendors across 170,000 square feet of
space at the BMO Centre.
Even though many vendors felt dealer
attendance may have been flat compared to
last year, the majority of the vendors HHIQ
spoke with managed to keep busy engaging
with customers, who included some
of the West’s top dealers. North American
Lumber, McMunn & Yates, Alta-Wide
Builders Supplies, and other large independents
from every major banner and buying
group kept busy on the show floor, amidst an
atmosphere that was fairly positive despite
the slow economies in much of the West.
This show, the first of the year in the
industry, is considered something of a bellwether
of the industry’s mood. While many
parts of Canada had a strong year in 2016,
dealers from Alberta and Saskatchewan in
particular were still feeling the effects of
the slow economies in those regions. That
reality certainly had a sobering effect on
the mood of the show, which was otherwise
fairly positive.
42 SECOND QUARTER / 2017
Hardlines Home Improvement Quarterly
www.hardlines.ca