CEO of St. Jacobs based Home Hardware: “We’re not for sale”

After news hardware giant Lowe’s is set to buy Canadian owned Rona, Home Hardware is letting everyone know they’re staying pat.

CEO Terry Davis was on Bloomberg TV Canada yesterday. He said they won’t be falling in line with the growing number of Canadian companies being scooped up by American companies.

“Rona wanted to buy us,” says Davis. “They have a different culture than we do. They used to have the very same culture we did, before they went public. It’s just a whole different business model, different culture, culture change, and no, we’re not for sale.”

With the low Canadian dollar, it’s been tough for all Canadian retailers, and Home Hardware, based out of St. Jacobs, is no different.

“At the same time, the US dollar and the exchange has hurt us, a lack of demand from China has helped us,” says Davis because of the lack of demand trying to find buyers. “About 20 per cent of our inventory comes in from Asia, and there again, it’s hurting us absolutely, but misery loves company, and we’re all in the same boat as retailers.”

“You’re seeing more of the purchasing move back to domestic manufactures.”

At their board meeting last week, Home Hardware dealers from Atlantic Canada were saying they’re starting to see manufacturing come back, because the demand is there for Canadian companies to buy Canadian goods.

With only 20 per cent of their products coming from Asia, Davis says Home Hardware constantly has to adapt to the growing retail landscape in our country.

“We’ve got great competitors in Canada that keep us on our toes,” says Davis. “Last year we launched our E-commerce platform. Right now, we’re working at the next iteration of that, which is to ship directly to the consumer.”

Home Hardware was started 51 years ago in St. Jacobs, where it still has its main office and distribution centre.

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