One business in the Pontiac has taken tragedy and found triumph – rebuilding their hardware and renovation store beyond much more than its original capacity, and earning an award for their efforts, too.
From heated floors to electronic price labels, a drive-thru warehouse and, one of the owners’ personal favourites, a sizable, attractive parking lot, the hardware store is much different than what it once was. However, it wasn’t until a fire ripped through the building that the opportunity for substantial change came along.
Now leading the region with it’s sleek, modern design, while still embracing their industry, BMR – JLS Mansfield were the proud recipients of a Business Beautification Award from the Pontiac Chamber of Commerce in February. Even if they were just a bit too busy to make it out to actual awards gala.
“We weren’t there, which is highly irregular for us because we really believe in community activism,” said Connie Gutoskie-LaSalle, who owns both the Mansfield and Bryson locations with her husband, Jean-Guy LaSalle. “But we were away at a buying show with a new supplier. We couldn’t miss that particular opportunity.”

It was the evening of Nov. 28, 2015 when the fire occurred at the Mansfield store, claiming the original building and the inventory inside. After some time of reflection and deliberation, the couple decided to rebuild the site with an entirely new vision, looking to become the new benchmark for retail buildings.
“We believe strongly that it’s not because we’re in a rural area that we should be behind the marks,” said Gutoskie-LaSalle. “We figure you should be in front of the mark. That’s important no matter where a person is, and to that end we were on the forefront of electronic ticketing in the stores.”
Just one of their recent investments, something that had been implemented before the fire, is their electronic labelling. Price tags on their items will appear on electronic screens, with a SKU and name attached to identify the product, adjusting and highlighting products on special.
“Instead of having all the ticketing done traditionally, which is in print, it’s all done electronically,” said Gutoskie-LaSalle, explaining the futuristic technology. “The prices can change, and the electronic label will denote when there’s a sale. It’ll flash and give the client information as to how long the sales on and how much they’ll save in that time.”
With the tags running off batteries, a signal is transferred from stations that hang from the ceiling, each servicing a section of the store. When the computer system receives an update to the price, the signal is transferred through the station, automatically reflecting the new price on the tag.
“It allows for a much more exactitude in pricing, because it’s done immediately, and it’s done in the minute that the information is entered into the system,” continued Gutoskie-LaSalle. “In the old fashion, you’d have to give it to a clerk who has to turn around and physically remove it and put a new ticket on. In the meantime, they’ve gotten crossed five times and asked five different things from many people and a lot of times, the tickets stay there, or here, or everywhere.”
In the time that employees worked out of the makeshift location, during the reconstruction of the building, they quickly realized how efficient the new system had been. She explained that their employees were quite anxious for the opening, as it is a load off of their shoulders to not be responsible for out-of-date or mislabelled pricing.
Even the customers, it turns out, grew quickly attached to the new way of doing things.
“The customer, I find, is feeling much more assured than with the printed label,” said Gutoskie-LaSalle. “I think that there’s a tendency in the market today [that customers have] bought into new media with cellphones and Facebook, and because it’s computerized, it’s given them that assurance.”
She further explained that for many clients, their use of cellphones and technology for business has lead them to trust the computerized way of doing things, and seeing the system updated on the fly allows them to be sure of the price before heading to the checkout.
While that was one aspect carried over from the previous building, the new site has seen many innovations over its predecessor.
“There was a new vision and part of that was to enlarge due to the fact that we have the next generation here,” explained Gutoskie-LaSalle. “Our son Patrick, who’s a civil engineer, has been working with us now for five years and he fully intends to take over the business.”
With Patrick on board, the couple felt confident in investing in the new structure. With an investment of $3.5 million, the new facilities have changed drastically.
“It was just under 25,000 square feet of space that we lost at that point,” said Gutoskie-LaSalle, of the original building. “As we rebuilt, we chose to build two buildings, 15,500 square feet each and we chose to make sure that they were as modern as possible.”
With the main building dedicated to traditional hardware, covering all the needs for every renovation or job inside and out, the warehouse next door holds bulkier lumber and material.
“In the warehouse – and that of course is where Patrick and Jean-Guy’s expertise comes in – we have a drive-thru,” said Gutoskie-LaSalle. “We have all the newest shelving that’s all done with rollers, so that the lumber rolls in.”
She explained that this new warehouse is much safer for employees and much more expedient for customers. With the use of a forklift and new machinery, materials can be safely loaded on and off shelves, with the assistance of the rollers lining them.
The warehouse is ideal for customers because it has two key features – accessibility and convenience. Their products are stored neat and orderly under the protection of a roof, and all clients have to do is roll into the warehouse, put it in park, get loaded up and drive on out the other side.
As for the main building, the couple, with guidance from Patrick and more helping hands in the family, set out for a new approach. Aiming for an overall pleasant, open ambiance, the lighting, flow and heating were all considered carefully for the final result.
“As for the hardware building, the newest of lighting has been brought in,” said Gutoskie-LaSalle. “It’s hugely efficient, that again, comes to the ability of an engineer to be able to understand and look at all of that properly and not just have somebody say to you, ‘Oh yes, this is going to be economical.’ He understood what he was looking at.”
Accompanying the lighting is larger, front-facing windows, allowing for more natural light to spread across the store, embracing the inside set-up. Considering carefully the overall flow, they worked with consultants from BMR’s head office, as well as their own ideas, to achieve a natural transfer from section to section.
“The lighting in the store is exceptional. People come in and they’re comfort level is there immediately. They don’t feel like they’re in a maze, everything is open, spacious and easy to see,” she continued. “Here, what we’ve noticed is the customers are comfortable to spend longer periods of time in the store.”
With the customers well tended to, the owners were sure to care for their employees, too. They did this by installing heated floors at the check-outs and receiving area, which simultaneously proves economical on their heating bills.
But, it’s not just the inside that the family was focused on improving, as the outside of the building embraces the modern feel they were going for, too.
“I think what we’ve achieved is something much more industrial-looking, modern. It speaks to what we do – there’s wood siding on the building, there’s steel, the lighting is good,” explained Gutoskie-LaSalle. “I think the new look is a very attractive look for our industry.”
This played into the design of another crucial portion of the facility, an area that Gutoskie-LaSalle highlighted as a major improvement over the old site.
“The parking lot – a pretty parking lot, because we didn’t have that when we were first here, so it was high on the list,” she said. “It may sound silly, but the access is important and it’s what invites people in. What we had before was just like a little road and people would park incorrectly for what little bit we had.”
While redesigning for the space to be more accommodating and attractive, they also considered what would be needed further on down the line.
“We didn’t necessarily build for today – we built hoping that we’re building with the thought of what could be down the road,” she explained.
Of course, all their hard work, and the recognition received for it, would have meant much less for them if they had not given back to the community as best they could. That’s why Gutoskie-LaSalle is quick to highlight the work done by local businesses on their new structure, from the cement and steel companies used to the hiring of local subcontractors for various jobs.
“I think our first concern was, to the best of our abilities, we wanted to use as much local sourcing as we could, and we did,” she said. “For us, all of that was only common sense. If we expect and hope for people to do business here at home, then we at the very onset, should be able to do the same. Sometimes we have to put up our head and pay attention to what’s available right here and we don’t always recognize that.”
While coming up on their 25th anniversary in Bryson and 20th in Mansfield, the couple have a lot to be proud of, and the acknowledgement from their peers in Pontiac business is yet another sign that they’re continuing to serve their clients to the fullest of their ability.
“I think the thing we’re the most proud of is our community involvement. We don’t take that lightly,” said Gutoskie-LaSalle. “The community supported us through what was a difficult time, but it was difficult for the community as well. We felt a very natural pull after all those years in business and tried to build something to not leave the community hanging. For us to see them appreciate and enjoy these new buildings is the maximum of what we could want out of this.”