COBOURG HARDWARE BUILDING

obourg’s store owner Brad O’Neill loves what he does—it’s in his blood.

Brad grew up in a family-owned retail business environment. It was always his dream to own a Home Hardware Building Centre with the most innovative and complete shopping experience imaginable.

In 2004, he took his first step towards making that dream come true. Along with his wife, Alana, and partner Joel Curtis, he purchased a Home Building Centre in town. And two years later, they opened Cobourg Home Hardware Building Centre.

The O’Neills are most proud of their large team, who are passionate, skilled and driven. Brad has created a motivating and stimulating atmosphere that encourages their success.

Training is a top priority at Cobourg HHBC—Brad describes himself as “thirsty for knowledge” and he shares that passion with his employees. The store even has a new, innovative boardroom—complete with an HD overhead projector to train multiple groups simultaneously—and a dedicated training area with computer terminals for online training or webinars.

Brad believes that to be an outstanding retailer, you have to have a genuine passion and drive to go above and beyond customers’ expectations. Customer service comes easily to his team because they always keep the store in tip-top shape. “We’re never chasing empty shelves or looking for products we may not have; we’re always focused on customers’ needs first,” says Brad.

Despite the presence of at least 12 competitors in a five-kilometre radius, Cobourg HHBC continues to be successful, seeing significant sales increases year after year. A lot of that is down to the work Brad invested in the store’s design. When he was renovating the store, he travelled the country, visiting other Home Hardwares and HHBCs and picking up their best practices to create the most effective floor plan possible. And since the renovation, he’s opened his own doors to fellow Home dealers.

The look of the store has even attracted attention from Home Hardware head office. Brad proudly works with Home’s marketing team to film commercials and TV spots in the store.

Cobourg is known as Ontario’s “feelgood” town. Right on Lake Ontario, and just over an hour away from Toronto, it serves a market of about 20,000, which Cobourg HHBC strives to engage as much as possible. When it comes to their community involvement, Brad says every charitable activity has to meet two purposes: to impact as many lives as possible and to focus on helping children and the less fortunate.

In 2015, he decided he wanted to make a real, significant impact on his community, so the store teamed up with the local hospital fundraising committee on an annual event. The event that then emerged, Bike Up Northumberland, has now raised more than $130,000 for essential equipment for Northumberland hospital patients.