{{Infobox company , name = Castle Building Centres Group Ltd. , logo = Castlelogotm.png , foundation =

Newmarket, Ontario Newmarket ( 2021 population: 87,942) is a town and regional seat of the Regional Municipality of York in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is part of Greater Toronto in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario. The name stems from ...

, 1963 , type =

Cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

, location = Mississauga,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, key_people = Ken Jenkins, President , homepage
www.castle.ca
Castle Building Centres Group Limited (Castle) is the oldest Canadian-based, cooperatively-owned buying group of

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, w ...

and

building materials Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-m ...

. Castle members do not necessarily fly a 'Castle' branded banner, as the store owners are independent and can choose to fly any non-competitive banner. Many stores do not even have a brand associated directly with the name of their store, opting for something more familiar in their market. Some banners that are in use today include: * Castle *

True Value In statistics, as opposed to its general use in mathematics, a parameter is any measured quantity of a statistical population that summarises or describes an aspect of the population, such as a mean or a standard deviation. If a population e ...

* Do-It Best *

Ace Hardware Ace Hardware Corporation is an American hardware retailers' cooperative based in Oak Brook, Illinois, United States. It is the world's largest hardware retail cooperative, and the largest non-grocery American retail cooperative. Founded in 1 ...

Pro Hardware Hardlines Distribution Alliance (HDA) is a hardware store retailers' cooperative formed on April 1, 2022, with the merge of ''Distribution America'' and PRO Group. History Distribution America Distribution America was a hardware store retailers' c ...

Castle also produces Contractor Advantage, a magazine published bi-monthly and distributed nationally. Articles in the magazine are specifically geared toward products, trends and the business side of

contracting A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

History

The company began in 1963 when a group of dealers in Ontario formed BOLD Lumber (Buying Organization of Lumber Dealers). BOLD's ambition was to negotiate it's pricing with suppliers based on their collective volume. After their first year, they grew from 6 to 20 dealers. By 1969, the business charter was adjusted to expand beyond 50 dealers. Membership grew from across the country, giving BOLD a national presence. In 1969, the Board of Directors rejected the notion of a public share offering and franchising concepts in favour of encouraging independent control by its members. In 1982, the company name was changed to Castle Building Centres Group Limited. The company at this time had grown to 157. The first Castle logo appeared in brown, white and gold. Castle was among the first to introduce the concept of the drive-thru

lumberyard A lumber yard is a location where lumber and wood-related products used in construction and/or home improvement projects are processed or stored. Some lumber yards offer retail sales to consumers, and some of these may also provide services suc ...

concept. As "

big box store A big-box store (also hyperstore, supercenter, superstore, or megastore) is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain of stores. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store. The te ...

s" emerged in Canada, Castle's members continued their growth and remained competitive. The focus on lumber and

set the typical Castle store apart. The buying group also assists stores with optional supplemental programs such as local flyers, television spots,

health & safety Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and quality of life, welfare ...

tools, web site services and insurance. The brand logo was also updated to blue, yellow and white. In 2007, Castle's President and industry notable Provan Wylie retired. Replacing him was Ken Jenkins, formerly of

gypsum Gypsum is a soft sulfate mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula . It is widely mined and is used as a fertilizer and as the main constituent in many forms of plaster, blackboard or sidewalk chalk, and dr ...

manufacturer CGC Inc. As a cooperative, the buying group is entirely owned by the member stores. Governance is provided by a Board of Directors composed exclusively of member stores with representation constitutionally mandated from four regions of Canada.

External links

Castle Web SiteCommercial Building Supplies Web Site
Hardware stores of Canada Retail companies established in 1963 Retailers' cooperatives Cooperatives in Canada Companies based in Mississauga