The Home of the Handyman is closed in Pine Hill.
The Home Hardware Building Centre on Route 327 in the small community in the northern part of Brownsburg-Chatham is closed.
The Association québecoise de la quincaillerie et des matériaux de construction (AQMAT), which is the organization representing the hardware and building materials industry across Québec has announced that Enterprises Hughes Nepveu, owner of the store, has been placed under receivership by the Banque Nationale.
In addition to the Pine Hill location, Home Hardware stores in Saint-Augustin, Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Laval, and L’Épiphanie are also closed. The outlet in Pine Hill served many rural residents and seasonal property owners in the area.
Bank receivership is a legal process that protects creditors, but does not release the company from unsecured debts.
According to AQMAT, Nepveu acquired the Pine Hill Home Hardware in November 2020 when former owners Ghislaine and Serge Séguin retired.
St. Jacobs Ontario-based Home Hardware Stores Inc. is a dealer-owned company. Each store owner obtains a share in the chain.
“We can confirm that five Home stores in the Montréal area have closed. Each of our Home stores in Canada is independently owned and operated, which means that store closures and personnel operations are managed at the store level,” is the official statement from Home Hardware head office in a press release issued by AQMAT. The Review contacted Home Hardware for further information but has not received a response.
In 2012, Nepveu, who had been operating a hardware store under the RONA brand in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac for six years, was forced into personal bankruptcy.
AQMAT also explained that in 2022, Nepveu also acquired a prefabricated wall manufacturer in Ontario.
As for the future of the hardware store in Pine Hill, AQMAT explained Home Hardware is currently doing everything it can to keep the stores in its fold while negotiating with the trustee to recover everything it can.
