Home Hardware moves into Winnipeg National independent home improvement chain takes up residence in former Peavey Mart on Pembina Highway By: Gabrielle Piché Posted: 6:07 PM CDT Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025

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A prominent Canadian home supply retailer is sliding into Winnipeg — after years of creating rural outposts — during a period of surging “Buy Canadian” sentiment.

A yellow Home Hardware truck was parked outside 2860 Pembina Hwy. on Wednesday. Across the street, Manitobans patronized a job fair for the incoming company.

Mark Colley aims to open by Black Friday — Nov. 25 is ideal. But construction hasn’t let up yet; bathrooms and display cases are priorities this week.

“It’s a little nerve-wracking, as well as exciting,” said Colley, president of EPLS Group of Companies, which owns the new Home Hardware store.

The brand is no stranger to Manitoba. Roughly 25 locations dot smaller communities in the province, such as Lorette and Stonewall. Some larger cities elsewhere in Canada, including Toronto and Montreal, also house Home Hardware stores.

From Colley’s perspective, the Winnipeg site is close enough to the Perimeter Highway to hit rural traffic. It’s around 1.3 kilometres from the southern stretch of road.

The space (which formerly housed a Peavey Mart before that national chain was shuttered earlier this year) can be a “one-stop shop” for both urban and rural dwellers, Colley said. “We will be looking in the future, if things go really well here, to expand in Winnipeg.”

EPLS Group oversees about seven companies, including two Home Hardwares, in Nunavut. Its administrative office has been in Winnipeg for the past three decades.

Leadership’s interest piqued when Peavey Mart closed its Canadian locations, including the south Winnipeg haunt, Colley said.

Opening a Home Hardware in the Manitoba capital — where EPLS already has staff — would allow for better buying power within the company, among other things, Colley said.

Employees will stock more than 30,000 square feet at the new site. Tariffs haven’t been much of an issue, Colley said, because many items are sourced within Canada.

Home Hardware should benefit during this period of unease towards the United States because it’s a Canadian company, said Kiran Pedada, a University of Manitoba marketing professor. “(It’s) timely positioning.”

EPLS Group is run by an Inuit family. Don St. John, the founder, passed the reins to his son Ryan, Colley said.

Home Hardware promotes itself as dealer-owned. The independent chain was founded in Ontario in 1964, and has more than 1,000 stores operating under the Home Hardware, Home Building Centre, Home Hardware Building Centre and Home Furniture banners, according to the company’s website.

Winnipeg already has a “strong presence” of similar companies like Home Depot and Rona, Pedada noted. He believes Home Hardware’s arrival marks a growing home supply market “which can actually accommodate more companies.”

Governments of all levels have called for more home builds. House renovation continues to make customers, and new technology — for example, video surveillance — contribute to the need for such stores, Pedada said.

New home construction in Manitoba accounted for $2.3 billion of investment last year, data from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association show. A further $3.4 billion was directed to home renovation and repairs.

“Although these big-box retail chains are very strong, I believe Home Hardware has its unique differentiation,” Pedada said, referencing the company’s Canadian roots.

Colley expects to hire at least 25 staff for the Winnipeg store. EPLS Group employs some 250 people; its portfolio includes real estate and hotels.

Gagandeep Kaur lined up for the job fair on Wednesday. The 23-year-old has been submitting resumés online; she described “nervousness and also excitement” about heading to the in-person event.

The job fair continues Thursday at the Four Points by Sheraton Winnipeg South from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com