THE ELMWOOD GROUP, WHICH OWNS THE ELMWOOD ROAD HOME HARDWARE ACQUIRED TWO NEW HOME HARDWARE LOCATIONS IN SOUTHEAST NEW BRUNSWICK. IMAGE: SAM MACDONALD
The owner of four Home Hardware locations in Greater Moncton has added two new stores in southeastern New Brunswick to its roster.
The Elmwood Group has acquired the Tediche Home Hardware in Cap-Pelé and the Grande-Digue Home Hardware store and added them to its southeast New Brunswick cooperative.
“We saw an opportunity here with these two new locations,” said Jonathon Stephenson, director of marketing and design operations with the Elmwood Group.
“A lot of their core values align with ours. We are a third-generation, family-owned business. Basically, all of the Home Hardware stores are independently owned, so it’s not a franchise, it’s a cooperative.”
By acquiring the Grande-Digue and Cap-Pelé stores, the Elmwood Group bolstered its staff – which is just short of 200 people, depending on the season – to almost 250.
Although he couldn’t provide a figure on the costs of acquiring the new stores, Stephenson said neither were at a financial disadvantage when the Elmwood Group purchased them.
“They had healthy revenue, but I think they were at a point where they were fine coasting at that level – and this was an opportunity to cash out for their efforts and give it to someone who wants to continue that story and help them grow,” said Stephenson.
Stephenson said the move to acquire the new stores is an effort to grow the reach of Elmwood Group and offer its new stores the centralized support network it has in the Moncton area.
After acquiring the new stores, the Elmwood group incorporated them into its system. Stephenson noted they had outdated inventory, customer management and data management software and systems, so they were switched over to the Elmwood Group’s more up-to-date system.
“We want to help improve those other locations. A lot of standalone locations are built on a very one-store mentality, so their operations aren’t as much developed as those with a group like ours that has a centralized support team of almost 15 individuals working in various departments, like marketing and advertising, inventory, finance and admin,” said Stephenson.
“For the most part, they’re front-facing retail stores trying to serve customers daily, but there’s a back end that’s very important. We’d love to improve them with our support system here.”
The Elmwood Group, based in Moncton, owns the Elmwood Drive Home Hardware, the Magnetic Hill Home Hardware, the Downey Home Hardware in Riverview and the Dieppe Home Hardware.
The Elmwood Group was founded by Alfred and Marie Leger in 1974. Their son, Alvin Leger, currently sits as a member of the national board of directors for Home Hardware. His son, Luke Leger, is the Elmwood Group’s chief operating officer.
The Elmwood Group has several divisions that include its Home Hardware stores, a design division that includes the Elmwood Design Centre near Costco and the furniture and lighting showroom near the Magnetic Hill Home Hardware and its lumber and building materials (LBM) division, which operates primarily out of the Riverview store, serving contractors across the Atlantic Provinces.
The Elmwood Company also has a manufacturing division that specializes in interior doors.
Sam Macdonald is a Reporter with Huddle Today, a content sharing partner of Acadia Broadcasting.
