Aikenhead's Hardware was a chain of Canadian
hardware stores located in Greater Toronto, Southern Ontario and northern Ontario. The original store was founded in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
in 1830 as "Ridout's Hardware Store" by Joseph Ridout and was located on the corner of
King Street and
Yonge Street
Yonge Street (; pronounced "young") is a major arterial route in the Canadian province of Ontario connecting the shores of Lake Ontario in Toronto to Lake Simcoe, a gateway to the Upper Great Lakes.
Once the southernmost leg of provincial H ...
.
In 1868, two employees, James Aikenhead and Alexander Crombie, became partners in the company and renamed it "Ridout, Aikenhead, & Crombie". It became Aikenhead's in 1893, when Aikenhead bought out Ridout and Crombie.
In 1971 the Aikenhead family sold their chain to
Molson
The Molson Brewery is a Canadian based brewery company based in Montreal which was established in 1786 by the Molson family. In 2005, Molson merged with the Adolph Coors Company to become Molson Coors.
Molson Coors maintains some of its C ...
, which later started a warehouse in 1991 to head off American chain
The Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement re ...
. Molson sold their 75% stake to Home Depot in 1994, and it became the Canadian unit.
[http://www.trentu.ca/admin/library/archives/89-014.htm] (Molson exited the hardware business with the sale of
Beaver Lumber
Beaver Lumber (Castor Bricoleur in Quebec) was a Canadian building supply chain owned by Molson. It was once Canada's fourth largest building supply chain with 138 stores. In 2000 it was purchased by Home Hardware, a cooperative of over 1000 in ...
in 1999 to Home Hardware, which they had acquired a year after the purchase of Aikenhead's.)
References
The Home Depot
Defunct retail companies of Canada
Hardware stores of Canada
Companies based in Toronto
Retail companies established in 1830
Retail companies disestablished in 1994
1830 establishments in Upper Canada
1994 disestablishments in Ontario
Molson Coors Beverage Company
Canadian companies disestablished in 1994
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