LNF Leons Furniture Ltd

The Brick, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Leon’s Furniture Limited (“LFL” or “Leon’s”) (TSX:LNF), officially turns 50 this year! Since its inception, The Brick has been committed to providing its valued customers across Canada with quality furniture at affordable prices.

What is now the country’s largest retailer of furniture, appliances, mattresses and electronics, originated in Edmonton in 1971 as a single store, then called The Brick Warehouse. In 1976 it opened its first distribution centre, with additional stores in Red Deer, Calgary and Fort MacMurray. In 1984, The Brick went east and opened three locations in Ontario – the store-openings were so popular that it caused major traffic jams on Dundas Street in Mississauga and Kennedy Road in Scarborough. By 1989, the retailer had 17 stores in Ontario alone.

While larger Canadian markets may have attracted the initial wave of stores, The Brick has remained committed to serving customers everywhere, even smaller markets. The retailer opened its first franchise store in Hinton, AB in 1999 and has continued to open new franchise stores from British Columbia to Atlantic Canada, with 67 franchise locations across the country.

By the mid-2000s, The Brick had expanded again, opening five stores, a distribution centre and a clearance centre in Quebec. In 2013, The Brick was acquired by LFL, becoming Canada’s largest home furnishing retailer. By 2020, it had established a presence in every Canadian province, solidifying The Brick as truly coast-to-coast.

Today, The Brick has 211 locations and seven distribution centres. The retailer has become a leader in home furnishings, selling its first sofa in 1971 to selling over 500,000 sofas each year, 50 years later. No matter how much it has grown, The Brick still maintains the same core values as it did when it was a single store in downtown Edmonton, proudly providing Canadians everything they need to make their house a home, from furniture and appliances to mattresses and electronics.

To complement its retail offerings, The Brick also provides services and plans to give customers peace of mind. Approximately 50 per cent of Canadian households have financed their home furnishings with The Brick’s long-term, no interest financing options. In fact, over 1 million household items are financed with The Brick every year – all with no interest. The Brick also boasts the largest private, not-for-hire home-delivery operation, doing almost 1 million deliveries per year. Its service division is notable as well, having installed, assembled or repaired over 15 million products since 1971, and visited over 85 per cent of Canadian neighbourhoods to address customer needs and service requirements.

These milestones would not be possible without The Brick’s supportive customers and a great team working hard to accomplish these feats. The Brick is proud to employ over 5,000 hard-working Canadians from coast-to-coast – without the contributions of all its team members, The Brick would not be in the strong position it is today.

“We are extremely proud to be celebrating our 50th Anniversary with our loyal customers from coast-to-coast,” said Dave Freeman, president, The Brick. “This milestone would simply not be possible without Canadians trusting us with their home furnishing purchases for a half century. From all 5,000 plus team members at The Brick, we want to thank our customers for the privilege of serving them for the last 50 years.”

The Brick is also proud to celebrate its ongoing charitable work across the country.

“Since The Brick was founded, we have maintained the charitable and customer-first attitude that was established when we opened our first location in downtown Edmonton,” said Freeman. “We take great pride in giving back to the communities in which we live and work, and we are fortunate to have partnered with so many terrific organizations throughout the years.”

The Brick is on track to hit the $10 million mark for total funds raised for Children’s Miracle Network later this year – a huge milestone for the retailer, which has been a proud partner of the organization since 2014. The Brick is also a supporter of Canadian Armed Forces Veterans through its partnership with Wounded Warriors Canada. In addition, 2021 saw The Brick establish a new partnership with Homes For Heroes Foundation to support Veterans experiencing homelessness.

The Brick is also an ardent supporter of youth hockey. Since 1990, it has hosted The Brick Invitational Hockey Tournament at the Ice Palace at the West Edmonton Mall for North America’s best 9- and 10-year-old players, creating memorable experiences for players and their families.

As The Brick looks back on half-century of serving Canadians, it is also looking forward to the opportunities ahead. Namely, continuing to grow the business to provide more Canadians with a great shopping experience for home furnishings, creating meaningful employment opportunities, and continuing to give back to communities across the country.

In celebration of their milestone anniversary, The Brick has been hosting 50th Anniversary sales throughout the year. To learn more about The Brick and the exciting promotions in celebration of its 50th Anniversary, please visit www.thebrick.com.

About The BrickFocused on Saving You More, as part of the LFL Group (Leon’s Furniture Limited - TSX: LNF), The Brick is Canada’s largest retailer of furniture, appliances, mattresses and electronics. Serving Canadians since 1971, with 211 locations and more than 5,000 employees across Canada, The Brick is proud to be part of your community. The Brick is online at TheBrick.com. Keep up-to-date, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

About Leon's Furniture LimitedLeon's Furniture Limited is the largest retailer of furniture, appliances and electronics in Canada. Our retail banners include: Leon's; The Brick; Brick Outlet; and The Brick Mattress Store. Finally, with The Brick's Midnorthern Appliance banner alongside with Leon's Appliance Canada banner, this makes the Company the country's largest commercial retailer of appliances to builders, developers, hotels and property management companies. The Company has 304 retail stores from coast to coast in Canada under various banners. The Company operates three websites: leons.ca, thebrick.com and furniture.ca.For media inquiries, please contact:Shauna MacDonaldBrookline Public Relations403-585-4570smacdonald@brooklinepr.com

SOURCE: Leon's Furniture Limited