This week I attended the Fall Home Hardware market, located at their headquarters in St. Jacobs Ontario. During the market I received much appreciated help in the booth from Handy the Hound Dog. The independent dealers purchased products for spring delivery & now I will prepare our spring production schedule for the next 4 months. I was proud to attend my 29th Home Hardware Market since we started supplying the stores in 1997. This is the time a year when I’m re-motivated from the new growth opportunities I learn from the dealers who share product & marketing suggestions. I work the market myself to listen to as many dealers as possible … this year I received some much appreciated assistance from Handy the Hound Dog. The dealers were purchasing Mark’s Choice Telescopic &

This week, I traveled to Ontario, visiting dealers & setting up for the Home Hardware Fall Market, located in St. Jacobs. I faced heavy rain fall, while I traveled from store to store in Ottawa. With each sprint from jeep to store I became a little wetter and less motivated. Luckily, I visited Trail Head on the corner of Scott & McRae. An outdoor retailer located in a unique post and beam building that looks like it would be as comfortable on the shore of the Nahanni River, in Canada’s Northwest Territories. This same profile could be said of the person who assisted me with choosing an Arc’teryx Beta SL Rain Jacket with Storm Hood™. Super lightweight, packable, waterproof jacket designed for take-along

This week, I was pleased when I received a purchase order from our newest retailer, Carl’s Store located in Tusket, Nova Scotia. Carl’s Store will be offering their customers, Trail Blazer’s Telescopic Ratchet Anvil & Bypass Loppers, Telescopic Geared Hedge Shears, Xtreme Ergo & Mini Hatchets plus our Telescopic Geared & 5-Pulley Tree Pruners. I received a positive reply to one of my many e-mails I send to potential dealers & distributors. It came from Leigh Carter, the general manager with Q-Outdoor, a potential new distributor located in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. Leigh said … she is certainly interested in working with us but they are a little swamped from their post-OR Summer market follow-ups and getting ready to launch their model

This Week started with a wonderful, yet short, two day family vacation in Moncton, New Brunswick where we spent our time visiting the Magnetic Hill Zoo, Hopewell Rocks Park & Champlain Place Mall. We also had a chance to enjoy dinner at two restaurants we don’t have in Nova Scotia … Barnyard BBQ, I love barbecue!!! & my son’s favorite St-Hubert. The Hopewell Rocks Park is family-oriented & best of all, they welcome pets!!! They provided water and drinking bowls in various locations throughout the park so our whole family, including Rollie, could enjoy the network of walking trails connecting to various lookout decks, each with a different view of the rocks. From the parking lot, it took us only 20 minutes to

This Week, I connected with Trail Blazer’s valued dealers & distributors in Norway, Nova Scotia, Quebec & the United States. Including my friend Per Inge Sagmoen with S-Ski & Sport in Tynset Norway. Per Inge reviewed our new product catalogue and said its really nice, informative and he’ll be coming back ASAP with an new order of Trail Blazer Saws. S-Ski & Sport share the interest of outdoor life with many people through out Norway. Whether it’s sweating up a mountain, fishing along the lake side, hiking in the woods, biking up a trail or skiing down a mountain. They are not always happy with the products that are available in the Norwegian market, so they designed and constructed their own line of pants & jackets (Spræk) which match their customer’s