TIM-BR MART Group News

Prout’s Building Centre Joins TIM-BR MART Group
TIM-BR MART Group is pleased to welcome its newest member, Prout’s Building Centre of Forest, Ontario.

Prout’s Building Centre has three owner-operators – Frank Rizzo, Mike Warren and Rick Lean – with extensive experience in operating LBM and hardware operations.

Proudly Canadian owned and operated, Prout’s serves Southwestern Ontario.  Founded in 1873, they have evolved from a local sawmill and custom door and window manufacturer into a leading building supply centre.

Prout’s is a building material, project-oriented retailer focused on offering a broad range of services and building material products for home, farm and cottage.  
    
"We are very pleased to welcome Prout’s to the TIM-BR MART family.  Their long history of quality service and total customer satisfaction makes them the perfect addition to our group," said TIM-BR MART Group President Bernie Owens.

Daniel Rioux Appointed Regional Director of Member Services
Effective February 5, 2014, Daniel Rioux has joined the TIM-BR MART Group as Regional Director of Member Services.

In this newly created position, Rioux will act as the Quebec and Eastern Ontario liaison between TIMBER MART dealers, vendors and the TIM-BR MART Group management team, making certain members are getting maximum value from their membership, as well as ensuring they fully leverage the distribution and retail services resources available to them.

Rioux recently worked as General Manager, Quebec for TIM-BR MART Group.   Based in Brossard, Quebec, Rioux will report to Randy Martin, VP Operations.

SharpShooter Contest Winners
The Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association and its community partner, Matthew's House, are the grand prize winners of the TIMBER MART SharpShooter contest. As the grand prize winners, the Abbotsford Minor Hockey Association will receive $10,000, plus $50,000 will go to Matthew's House, a respite care home for children living with complex healthcare needs.

This contest featured a Facebook game and a mobile phone app that required participants to play a challenging skills-based hockey game and contribute their points to their local minor hockey association. At the end of the contest period, those points were turned into ballots and 10 finalist teams were randomly selected. Hockey associations were then asked to submit a proposal outlining how the prize money would help both the hockey association and its youth-focused community organization of choice. A panel of judges from the Timbrkids Foundation Board deliberated over the proposals.
 
Jon Irwin, Vice President of Retail Services for TIM-BR MART Group, said "Our judges felt that Matthew’s House was an excellent program that reinforces the mandate of the Timbrkids Foundation, which is to support the health and well-being of Canadian youth."

In addition to the $60,000 grand prize, four secondary prizes valued at $10,000 were also awarded, making for a total of $100,000 in prizing:

Kamloops Minor Hockey Association - Charity: KidSport
Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association - Charity: KidSport
Pictou Minor Hockey Association - Charity: Pictou County Early Intervention
Bruce Peninsula Minor Hockey Association - Charity: Bluewater District School Board Sports Program Fund


TIM-BR MART holds fourth annual National Buying Show
    
On February 21 and 22, TIM-BR MART held its fourth annual National Buying Show at the Toronto Congress Centre in Toronto, Ontario.  The buying group delivered excellent pricing on products from their key vendors.  In addition to the exceptional offerings, TIM-BR MART's marketing programs and value-added services were highlighted at the show.

TIM-BR MART Group President Bernie Owens said, "There are some incredible specials here and the show is such a great way for our members to foster good relationships with their fellow dealers and with vendors, and to learn about ways to build their businesses."

This year, an array of services were showcased to support the retail operations of its members.  The more than 1,300 attendees were introduced to TIM-BR MART’s "Solutions Centre," which presented marketing, merchandising, distribution, and LBM solutions.

In addition to the buying opportunities, the show also featured breakfast seminars; and sixteen training sessions – eight in English and eight in French – were held throughout the show.  

Chalifour Canada, TIM-BR MART’s distribution arm, had another strong presence at the show.  Its Category Managers were stationed in dedicated Buyers Booths that were strategically placed within their category at the show.   

The event opened with a lively reception featuring brothers Kevin and Andrew Buckles from the Brojects Reality Show, sponsored by TIMBER MART stores, which follows them as they engage in challenging and often quirky D-I-Y cottage building projects.  The brothers competed in the evening’s sporting events, entertaining the crowd.  The gala dinner the following night was emceed by comic James Cunningham and featured a spectacular lumberjack show.

In operation since 1967, TIM-BR MART Group is a large Canadian buying group for Independents.  It is a member-owned organization serving building material and hardware retailers, commercial dealers and manufacturers.   TIM-BR MART Group exists to help Canadian entrepreneurs involved in the sale of building materials and hardware to be more profitable.