Rona snaps up Curtis Lumber

By Dan Hilborn
Published Apr. 26, 2006


One of the most successful independent companies ever started in Burnaby has been sold to one of the largest home improvement chains in the country.

Curtis Lumber, a business that grew out of a $5,000 loan from father to son to have six retail outlets and more than 150 employees across southern B.C., has been sold to Canadian hardware giant Rona Inc.

"It'll be business as usual," said Brian Kask Sr., who was just 15 years old when he bought a half-interest in a North Burnaby lumberyard. By the time Kask turned 21, he was the sole owner of the company.

Curtis Lumber has seen phenomenal growth since it first opened in the 1940s, and last year the company reported close to $80 million in sales. Named several times among the top 100 privately held companies in B.C., Curtis Lumber was also the recipient of the 2004 Burnaby Board of Trade Business Excellence Hall of Fame Award.

Claude Bernier, Rona's executive vice-president of proximity and specialized stores, said the acquisition of Curtis Lumber is part of an overall expansion plan in B.C. While a sale price was not announced, the Vancouver Sun has reported that Rona expects to spend $100 million in the province this year to open six new stores and renovate four existing outlets.

"We are very, very happy about the way this business has been run," Bernier said of Curtis Lumber. "We are very confident that with this base we can continue to expand our commercial contractor business in the Lower Mainland."

"We are buying a very strong company with very good employees," Bernier said.

Curtis Lumber will also be the focal point of Rona's expansion plans in B.C., said Bernier, who pledged to continue the local business's long history of helping in the community.

Curtis Lumber has contributed more than $100,000 to B.C. Children's Hospital Foundation over the past decade and has been at the forefront of almost every charitable event in the city.

Brian Sr. will remain with the company as a consultant while Curtis Lumber is integrated into Rona. His son, Brian Jr., will become a new senior director of sales and purchasing, while daughter Debbie will continue work as an office manager.

The company's 156 employees heard the news at the start of work Tuesday morning and were assured they would all keep their jobs and seniority.

"We wouldn't have sold it if we didn't feel good about it," said Brian Sr. "It was a family decision."

One 37-year employee said he believes the sale will be good for everyone involved. "We'll have a bigger bat to swing, and that's a positive thing," he said.

Rona Inc., based in Quebec, currently holds about 15 per cent of the home improvement market in Canada - about the same as U.S.- based Home Depot - and hopes to expand to about 20 per cent within the decade. The firm has 577 stores across Canada and about $5 billion in annual retail sales and hopes to expand sales by more than $2 billion over the next two years.