James Arsenault enjoys what he does, and it is obvious in the way he greets each customer who comes to him with a problem to solve. Tinkess Photo

MORRISBURG – In a time when Canadians are being encouraged to look within our borders to find solutions to the everyday problems we encounter, is there a more Canadian retail symbol than Home Hardware?

With more than 55 years of experience, the Home Hardware network with nearly 1,100 stores under the Home Hardware, Home Building Centre, Home Hardware Building Centre and Home Furniture banners, are Canada’s largest dealer-owned home improvement retailer. You don’t have to travel very far to find that you have a store right in your own back yard.

Morrisburg is a perfect example, with a Home Hardware store located at 12415 County Road two. James and Catherine Arsenault will soon be celebrating their third anniversary as Home Hardware dealers. (They started June 1, 2022.)

A career in retail can involve a lot of work, particularly when you’re the owner, who, ultimately, is responsible for just about everything that happens, but James Arsenault seems genuinely happy with the role he plays.

“It’s really the variety, the variability. In some ways, you never know what the day is going to have, right? But it has me getting up and excited to come to work every day.

“It’s really just the people, the interactions,” he adds. “I know that I’m helping every single day. Sometimes it’s something small, sometimes it’s something big, but we’re here to solve problems, and I’m pretty good at that.”

So, what’s the worst part about what you do?

“You know, I don’t really know if there is a worst part,” said Arsenault. “We’re really lucky here in Morrisburg that people are very friendly, and because it is a smaller community, we know each other outside of work as well. There’s a lot of positive that comes with that.

“I think, in a bigger center, when it’s a little bit more distant and you don’t necessarily know each other, it can be a little bit rough, because I think people can be not always kind, right?  But there’s a whole lot of kindness here, and so we really benefit a lot from that.”

A third anniversary is something that many businesses wouldn’t spend much time thinking about, but there are a couple reasons why Arsenault thinks otherwise.

“I want to celebrate every year that we’re here,” he says.  “I think that it’s an important milestone for me; I’m always going to remember that because it happens to fall in line with my birthday.

“Also, I taught English overseas for four years, and the culture there when it’s your birthday is you invite everybody else for dinner.  I can’t necessarily just open up the doors and say everything’s free today, but what I can do is try to offer a celebration that is with the customer in mind, and try to give them some value, some extra value, especially these days where things seem to be getting tighter.”

With the situation internationally Canadians are discovering that we can be our own best friend, and as a result there is a renewed emphasis on buying local and buying Canadian. That is something in which Home Hardware is ahead of the curve.

“Not every customer, but a lot of customers are taking the time to read the packaging to see where something is made, and that is a factor in the decision-making process,” said Arsenault.  “We’re very fortunate that, for example, with our paint, we own the factory, so it’s made here in Ontario, over at Burford, and most of what we carry, especially in the Beauty Tone line, comes from that and as well, some of our cleaning chemicals come from there. So, there’s a whole lot that is made domestically. I think that that education piece is a real big key to Home Hardware’s success.

So, what does the future hold for James Arsenault and Home Hardware in Morrisburg?

“So right now, obviously it’s to work as hard as we can to try to pay down some of that debt you incur with owning a business,’ said Arsenault. “I’d love to continue to see this grow and flourish, and I think that Morrisburg and the surrounding areas are positioned very well for growth, and we’re going to try to ride that wave as much as we can when it happens.

 

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