CONGRATULATIONS ON 100 years in business

You are a pillar in our community by creating so many wonderful places to live, work, shop and explore in Alberta. It has been an honour being a part of your journey for over 40 years. Cheers to the next 100 years of building amazing places to live together.

Bedrock Homes is excited to announce that we will be building new homes in the Calgary region fall 2023.

BedrockHomes.ca remains constant.

“Throughout a century, the other constant has been the strong sense of values that have been passed from generation to generation. Integrity, the honour of your word and the belief that relationships are the cornerstone of our business have been consistent through the years,” adds Timothy. “Adhering to the golden rule of treating others as you would like to be treated has been the guiding principle for interactions and decision-making for 100 years. Our strong values and the relentless pursuit of excellence are what define us.”

The evolution can be broken down to the first 50 years where Melcor’s primary business was real estate brokerage and the next 50 years when Melcor added land development and asset management to its portfolio.

Ah, those early days! Today we are accustomed to big digital billboards and flashy, colourful ads that draw us to realtors and their projects. Locally, though, from the 1920s to mid 1940s, when you thought “real estate,” you thought Melton.

“Before buying or selling… see L.T. Melton Real Estate. Organized for service. Specialized for value.”

That was just one of the large billboards that attracted people to the brand. Melton’s big ads were needed because in the 1920s, real estate in Edmonton and Calgary was stagnating.

Population growth wasn’t steady in the province’s big cities. Large swaths of land went undeveloped as utilities, water and sewage were still being figured out for existing communities. In Edmonton, despite the opening of the zoo, library and Edmonton Municipal Airport at Blatchford Field, residential development crawled at a snail’s pace.

Calgary wasn’t doing much better in the 1920s. The southern region of the province was mainly farmland – and those farms were struggling with drought. As a result, industries in Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat diminished and real estate prices fell. The population in Calgary was growing but the rate of unemployment and homelessness grew faster; housing developments were declining, not growing with the influx of people moving in.

Things began to turn around for both cities between 1926 and 1929. Edmonton’s Real Estate Association held its first meeting with the aim of both furthering development and boosting conditions for real estate professionals. The oil economy picked up too and with that, so did jobs, income and stability.

The Depression dealt a blow to the real estate industries in Edmonton and Calgary. From agriculture to energy, mining to retail, no sector was left unscathed. Mines closed, towns went bankrupt, the stock market crashed and many residents lost their homes. Real estate came to a standstill.

That is, for most realtors. Not for Melcor. Despite opening in 1923, at a time when real estate was besieged by factors that overwhelmed other realtors and developers for years, Melcor grew – and flourished.

Timothy credits the people and processes that kept the company viable during such an unstable time.

“We’ve always had the ability to attract and retain good people, which has been important to our stability. I’m proud of the longevity of the company in an industry that doesn’t have many long-term players. I’m also grateful to the many other stakeholders throughout the years who’ve made this possible – our shareholders, suppliers, contractors, joint venture partners, builders, tenants, partners and customers.”

Things started to improve in the late 1930s as the Depression eased off. The provincial government was eager to jumpstart the economy and used a variety of means to do so, including the means that underpin the real estate sector: access to credit.

With that, projects emerged at a rapid pace. Major interests appeared in downtown Edmonton in the forms of Eaton and Hudson’s Bay Company, among other notable department stores. In Calgary, a municipal airport and large oil refinery spurred economic recovery and population growth.

In 1947, Stan succeeded his father.

Stan Melton was a war hero, having saved the life of a comrade during action in Sicily. This earned him a bravery medal, which he received from King George VI. Stan took shrapnel in the leg during the battle on the beaches of Normandy and had plans to return to Alberta as a humble farmer.

Life had other plans.

LT had taken ill and when Stan returned from active duty, he agreed to temporarily step in and run the real estate business.

The temporary arrangement turned into his full-time job.

“The first step to own your own home… call a Melton man and start packing!”

During the “building years” of Melcor, those infamous billboards appealed strongly to working families; and as sales continued to grow, the ads grew bolder too.

“Melton. The biggest name in Realtor service,” chimed one. “Melton. Block’s n’ Block’s of Edmonton’s finest homes,” announced another.

Stan was on a roll. He steadily grew Melton to more than 350 people and opened offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Vancouver and Winnipeg. He served on the Edmonton Real Estate Board and was a past president of the Canadian Real Estate Association. Stan also joined the International Real Estate Federation’s development committee, ensuring the progress made here at home could be replicated to the benefit of families abroad. Outside of work he was a known philanthropist, active in a variety of church, community and local charitable organizations.

His family and community values also had an impact on his team. Stan felt strongly that employees should have the ability to own a piece of the company they worked for; so, Melton became a publicly traded company in 1968. By 1971, Melton was the highest ranking real estate firm in Canada.