By Nick Bernard
Cordell Carpet spent 40 years under the creation and ownership of Brad Sales, before he handed the keys over to home improvement gurus Tim and Wendy Pringle. In that time, Cordell has maintained its image as Haliburton’s one-stop-shop to help with completing home interiors.

Now, the torch is passed again, this time to Dan Moulton and his team. Currently, they also run the Home Hardware stores in Minden and Haliburton.
Glen Rickerby is Cordell Carpet’s new district general manager. He says building upon Cordell’s heritage is a huge part of their vision for the future.
“We’re usually very, very involved in … keeping things the way they are, business as usual,” he said. Cordell is also part of Home Hardware’s umbrella of companies. With that, Cordell is able to continue its support of the community through donations to the local food bank, the hospital, and more.
“We do tons of donations in the community,” he said. “That’s just part of who we are, and we like to be local in that sense.”

Rickerby also said that a charity golf tournament is in the works, barring any delays from the ongoing pandemic.
The acquisition of Cordell is simply the beginning for the plans the Home Hardware group has for Haliburton. Rickerby says such expansion brings with it an opportunity to boost employment in the area.
“We’re looking at doing maybe a job fair with the Haliburton Homebuilders Association,” he said. “So we’re trying to work with them in setting up … a job fair.”
He also says expanding during the pandemic has been a challenge, given supply chain delays. However, with the resources available throughout the Home Hardware network across the province, getting supplies from elsewhere is easier.
“Everything you need to expand is either on a six week delay or whatever,” Rickerby said, in describing the kinds of delays he’s witnessed. “It’s been a challenge, but luckily … we have stores all across Ontario that we own specifically, so … anything we’re kind of short on, we can get from another store.”
He says this means customers can still get specific products, even if they’re not available at that particular location.

Rickerby says that another aspect he hopes to continue with Cordell Carpet is its position as a local, family-oriented business.
“You know, a lot of our staff … we treat them like family,” he said. “We like to keep it fun, and vibrant. There’s lots of fun programs to participate in.”
He described a scholarship for students who work seasonally, offered to the Home Hardware group through government grants..
“So obviously a lot of our staff in the summertime is students,” he said. “So we do support a lot of the initiatives that the government has to get students working.”
Rickerby also described working with SIRCH Community Services to help find full-time employment for people within the community.
“Any time you can provide jobs … is a benefit to any community,” he said. “So we’re always looking to expand and create new roles and give [people] … quality jobs, too.”