NEWS RELEASE: Castle Alliance with Orgill

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A long-distance courtship between Castle Building Centres Group in Canada and Memphis-based hardware wholesaler Orgill has finally been consummated.

"After a lengthy process working with Orgill, we are excited to form a partnership that will see Orgill enter the Canadian marketplace in a significant and serious way," says Ken Jenkins, president of Castle. "We're proud to partner with them."

Orgill, a full-line distributor that has, in recent years, become a national presence in the U.S., has in fact been eyeing the Canadian market for the last 15 years, says Orgill president Ron Beal. In fact, the company has been active here, on a limited basis, for the past three years, shipping to independents in various parts of the country.

Orgill distinguishes itself from other wholesalers, such as Ace and Home Hardware, by not tying its customers into any banner or brand programs. However, it does offer a full range of assortments and merchandising programs.

"This is not an experiment," says Beal. "We are integrating Canada into our operations and making Canada part of a complete North American focus." He points out that the logistics are in place for this. A distribution centre in Utah is ramping up to serve Western Canada, while Central and Eastern Canada will be shipped out of a DC in West Virginia.

Already, some 30,000 of the 75,000 SKUs in that latter facility are Canadian compliant (packaging, language, CSA, etc.) and include builders' hardware and hand and power tools. By March 2011, that will be up to 60,000 and include paint, sundries, farm, plumbing and electrical. "Our goal is to be 100% compliant by the end of 2011," says Beal.

Part of Castle's job now is to introduce Orgill's programs to its members. To that end, Castle is in the midst of hiring four "hardlines specialist representatives" to manage Central Prairies, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada. "They will be Orgill experts," says Beal.

Besides selling Orgill to its own members, Castle is now in the position to make a more complete offering to potential new members. "Now we have a front-end solution," says Jenkins. This is a strong step and a strong commitment to the Orgill model."

"This is a total, total commitment from our standpoint," says Beal. "From our standpoint, Canada is now part of our core business."