Our Insights Podcast this week features a conversation with Rannie MacDonald, the VP of JD Irving's Retail Division and Patrick O'Neil, the General Manager of Kent Building Supplies that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Since its founding in Bouctouche (Kent County), Kent has become the market leader in the region in building supplies. Most Atlantic Canadians have shopped at a Kent's at one time or the other. The company has 48 retail outlets ranging in size from its large big box stores of up to 125,000 square feet to its smaller 24,000 square foot sized traditional stores located in smaller communities. Kent has become one of the region's largest private sector employers, with 3,700 full-time employees generating more than $200 million in wages that are mostly spent in the region. It supports nearly 1,400 vendors in the region, spending $300 million a year on local goods and services. It has a major 560,000 square foot distribution centre in Moncton with over 25,000 product skus and sources the vast majority of its products from Canadian manufacturers. Indeed, only 10 percent of their products come from US suppliers. It has spun off Atlas Structural Systems that now has 11 locations and an incremental 600 employees, as well as Industrial Commercial Supplies with another 100 employees. It is proudly an Atlantic Canadian success story and one that you will enjoy learning more about.
