OUR HISTORY
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.........
Now over 40 years old, our company has grown from modest beginnings as a drywall supply house in Regina into a dynamic group of companies doing business from coast to coast in Canada, in the United States and Asia. Our customers have come to rely on the company for its innovation, product expertise and customer service. Here’s how our company has grown:
1967
Ken Sexton, a former building supply manager, opens Kenroc to supply the emerging gypsum drywall trade. He invests $3,500 in a small, leased lot by the railroad tracks in Regina and buys a rickety Bullmoose forklift and an old truck with bad brakes. Lacking indoor storage, materials are stored outdoors under plastic sheets until a makeshift shed can be built.
1976
By now Kenroc is in a better location, but it remains a Regina-only operation until Sexton opens Kenroc Saskatoon in 1976 with two employees on the truck and another in the office. Kenroc has grown along with Saskatoon for more than 30 years.
1981
Addressing the need to make brick walls more builder-friendly like drywall, Sexton buys a brick-panel technology from DuPont Canada and begins manufacturing Pan-Brick in Regina. This operation ceased in 1986. In 1994, Pan-Brick entered into a management contract with Japanese interests to set up and manage a Pan-Brick manufacturing facility for Okamoto Canada Limited.
1985-86
Kenroc embarks on a rapid period of growth in the mid-1980s. Kenroc Winnipeg opens in 1985. The next year, it buys the Gemini Drywall Supply operations in Calgary and Edmonton.
The Sexton Group was created in 1985 as a buying group to pool the purchasing power of Kenroc and independent building supply yards and their customers to secure volume discounts for drywall and other building products.
Builders Choice Products Ltd. was created a year later in 1986 to buy specialized drywall tools for Kenroc stores and other customers at case - lot and volume discounts.
Also in 1986, Kenroc enters a partnership in the long-haul trucking business that begins with three trucks. It is now is a profitable trucking division with 10 trucks.
The 1990's
Kenroc entered more new territory with a short-lived partnership in Minneapolis in 1992. Expansion to the Vancouver area was next in 1994 with the purchase of two drywall building supply yards — one in Burnaby, the other on Mitchell Island, which is moved to Langley and later merged into Burnaby. Another Kenroc follows in Prince George in 1996. A second Minneapolis venture opens in 1999 and closes in 2007.
2000 to Present
In line with the company Vision Statement to “Strive to Be the Best” at what we do and to support the efforts of our employees in helping our company grow, Kenroc has made major investments over the past ten years.
In 2005, a Kenroc branch was opened in Fort McMurray. New premises were acquired in Edmonton and Calgary, including the establishment of a satellite operation in Calgary in 2008. A new warehouse was been added to Kenroc Saskatoon and the Kenroc Winnipeg store and warehouse have been renovated and rebuilt.
In 2007, Kenroc entered into the roofing supply business and began distributing roofing products to roofing contractors and other roofing customers in the market areas that Kenroc services. In late 2007, the Company purchased an existing business resulting in a Kenroc branch being opened in Chilliwack.
Early in 2008, a new 55,000 sq. ft. building in Regina was completed resulting in Kenroc, Builder’s Choice, Sexton Trucking and Okamoto Canada Limited all sharing one location. In 2008, the company successfully completed the implementation of a new corporate-wide customer point of sale information system, positioning us to better meet the information requirements of our customers and our business in the future.
In the Spring 2009, the operations in Burnaby relocated to a larger facility in Coquitlam and the operations in the BC Lower Mainland were reorganized with Kenroc Coquitlam and Kenroc Chilliwack branches becoming the responsibility of one Regional GM. Also, in 2009 a new Kenroc branch was opened in Red Deer.
New equipment, technology and larger facilities have been part of our ongoing expansion designed to meet current and future needs of Kenroc and its customers.