Retailers Cashing in on the Growing DIY Culture

Pat Higgins sees a trend in the retail market. Consumers tackling home and garden improvement projects on their own seek help from do-it-yourself-friendly stores.

“We’ve seen big increases in the garden business. People are decorating and doing their own landscaping,” Higgins said. “That’s the biggest shift in DIY I’ve seen.”

Doing home renovations oneself goes further than saving a buck or two. What used to be a hobby has become a way of living. Retailers have DIYers on their radar. They’re looking to cash in on the movement, supporting its growth by passing knowledge and advice to keep eager customers.

For 35 years Higgins has worked in retail. The last 13 years he’s owned and operated a Canadian Tire store in Uxbridge, Ont. He’s noticed a major shift in the DIY culture since the market crash in 2007.

“When it comes to home repair, there’s no doubt that as times get tough, people want to tackle these projects because it’s more affordable,” he said.

Adding to the DIY motivation, Higgins said tool manufacturers are shifting their production lines. They’re pushing for more ergonomic, user-friendly rakes, shovels and cordless power tools.

“We’re seeing a lot of expanded lines, which apply to DIY. It’s a move towards ergonomic,” Higgins said. “It’s all designed for the person doing it themselves.”

With the right tools in hand, consumers are tossing out the phonebook and heading into building materials suppliers themselves.

For 33 years, Doug Plourde, owner of Danforth Lumber Company has seen more DIYers coming to his lumber yard save a money.

“In 2007 we’d get about 70 per cent contractors and 30 per cent DIYers,” Plourde said. “Now we see it at about 60/40. People are handier and have more time to do things themselves.”

Plourde said the Internet is a massive teaching tool. He knows when people have a question and are curious they’ll consult the web.

President of Sheridan Nurseries Karl Stensson said “keeping things simple” is key to get customers crashing the shop’s doors and pursuing the next DIY project.

Stensson said his store offers DIYers three levels of interaction: free in-store advice, appointments for smaller project designs, or a home visit design for complex jobs. He said Sheridan takes pride delivering the know-how and confidence to the DIYer so they know exactly what to do and what to expect.

“The first and biggest mistake is not following a design,” Stensson said. “Once you make that mistake, you’re perpetuating (problems) all the way down the line.”

A major retailer for 97 years, Stensson said his company’s philosophy focuses putting power in the hands of the consumer. Like Plourde, Stensson believes technology and the Internet are a perfect landscape to teach handy work.

“We’re doing YouTube videos on how to treat your lawn. Our garden guide has now expanded to 160 pages and the first 30 pages are all questions and answers about home gardening,” Stensson said.

Building material and home improvement retailers appear to be adapting to changing consumer trends. Retailers have a vested interest in the success of their customers. Customer feedback will continue to drive the home improvement industry.

“We’re a DIY store that in itself solidifies the transfer to a DIY consumer and the DIY environment,” Higgins said.

The DIY Bug is Gender Inclusive

Steve Smith (Red Green) had a 1999 Chrysler 300. Curiosity led him to see if he could turn his gas-guzzling sedan into a more energy efficient vehicle. Smith chose the DIY route.

“I built a hydrogen generator and put it under the hood,” Smith said. “I used that to augment the fuel supply and put a little device to fool the car computer so it leans out the gas mixture… It now gets almost 50 miles per gallon.”

At 15, Mag Ruffman attended camp on the “protected shores of Georgian Bay” (as the camp sign read) and eventually signed up for the Councellor-in-Training program. She remembers the minute the DIY bug bit her.

“I put up these hooks up (in the showers) with a hand-crank drill and a screwdriver,” Ruffman recalled. “I made a jewel out of it. That afternoon felt so good.”

With celebrity icons such as Red Green and Mag Ruffman offering instructions on TV, radio and books, the DIY bug has inspired both male and female handywork.

Curiosity and independence are factors that attract people to DIY, but how do men and women approach it differently?

Smith does everything for himself. His fans embrace his comedic acts and take his unique inventions and make them their own.

One of his most popular DIY projects consists of turning a modern designed plunger (with a second collar inside) upside down, sticking it into the ground and using the rubber piece as a beer holder.

“It fits perfectly,” Smith said. “I end up autographing plungers and some guys have made nameplates (for their plungers).”

Before Smith was signing plungers, he enrolled at the University of Waterloo for engineering. He found his calling during his first co-op term.

“I went to work at a place where I was doing everything,” Smith said. “Steam-fitting, machine welding, carpentry, electrical and plumbing, the whole deal.”

Nevertheless men and women learn and approach DIY differently. Ruffman said it used to be biological for women to expect the man of the house to take on the handy work at home. But as more women move into homes and condos on their own, the handy work falls to them.

Ruffman believes women are hard-wired to want comfort because they tend play a mothering role. Therefore, DIY culture demands she adapt and learn to be self-sufficient.

“For women it’s anti-status to do your own stuff. You have to be a bit of a maverick,” she said. “All of a sudden tools are becoming a status item. Many women have come up to me and told me ‘I bought my first drill. I have no idea what to do with it, but I have one.’”

Jennifer Hart meets men and women at trade shows and workshops organized by Lee Valley and Canadian Home Workshop. She takes beginner DIYers through baby steps while simultaneously challenging veteran woodworkers. Although her approach teaching men and women is identical, she notices distinct learning patterns.

“Women will ask way more questions. They don’t have a problem admitting their fear of the project,” Hart said. “Women will take the time to gather as much information as they can because it’s unfamiliar.”

Working with men, however, Hart said they just jump right into the project. If they hit a snag, they deal with it and move on.

“The end result may be the same; it’s just two different methods of getting there,” she said.

Smith recalled a time when a fan shared a story about turning his pull-start lawnmower into a riding mower. He hit a snag, but ended up with a Frankenstein machine.

It all started with the handle on his lawnmower, it kept breaking off. The man bought a riding-mower at a garage sale, but found out that the blade wouldn’t turn, rendering it useless.

“He fashioned a chain out of duct-tape and connected the handle on his push-mower to the back of his riding-mower. Now he tows the push-mower to cut his lawn,” Smith said.

Mag Ruffman helping a fellow lady DIYer at a Home Depot in Vancouver

This example illustrates the fearless men have in their DIY endeavors. It is this fearlessness that gives men somewhat of an advantage over female DIYers.

Ruffman said fear often deters women from DIY projects. She said she enjoys playing the role of a den-mother for a whole generation of women looking to master the home they just bought.

“It’s a frontier available to everybody. It’s a fabulous form of self-expression,” Ruffman said.

For Smith, turning to DIY is more than an expression of gender. It’s his method of avoiding the most horrible feeling a human can feel, helplessness.

“When you feel helpless and you’re in somebody else’s hands and you can’t move forward and that’s very frustrating,” Smith said.

Steve Smith and Mag Ruffman at the Hamilton Marina where they worked on Smith's autobiography together.

Highlights from Red Green Interview

Dedicated fan, doing it the way Red would


So Red, have you done all these projects you talk about?


How much of Red Green is in Steve Smith?


What Red Green does with a Cadillac!!

Steve Smith has his limits


Red's Worst Emotion!

Spreading the Disease...Recyling Lessons in DIY

Between taking apart his toy trains as a child, and renovating his family’s cottage as an adult, Thomas Sands has been a part of do-it-yourself (DIY) projects all his life. His DIY life drew him to Bike Pirates where volunteering and learning go hand in hand.

“Half of it here is people taking things apart, screwing it up and learning from it then fixing it,” Sands said.

Located in what Sands calls a “bohemian” part of the city, Bike Pirates at 1292 Bloor St. W. is a volunteer bike shop where cyclists come to work on their bikes or purchase parts and accessories in return for a donation.

Thomas Sands in the pirate dungeon amongst an enormous collection of recycled bike parts

Geoffrey Bercarich volunteers for Bike Pirates and over his four years, he’s seen how the community helped keep the shop afloat.

“It’s co-operative, people have a vested interest,” Bercarich said while sorting through a pile of handle-bars. “Somebody can have this for a money donation and it goes right to the operational costs.”

Depending on how much is used, borrowed and blue, Bike Pirates help people who walk in empty handed, walk out with a functional bicycle.

Customers have three options; fix their bikes, buy a refurbished bike for a donation, or build a bike from scratch.

After working with various professional repair shops, Sands started volunteering with the pirates over two years ago. He believes the DIY space gives cyclists an opportunity to learn about their bikes and an opportunity to be less dependent on repair shops.

“(Customers) are learning about their own bike and in the future they’ll be more empowered because they know how it works and they can fix it on their own,” he said.

Derek Laventure walked into Bike Pirates with a new bike frame. He gathered various parts around the city and Bike Pirates offered him guidance, space and the tools necessary to turn a frame into a bike.

Derek Laventure DIYing at Bike Pirates

“I knew I could do basic maintenance,” Laventure said. “But the project of building something from scratch was appealing.”

Laventure said his curiosity motivated him to learn more about his simple machine. He believes without a collective like this, his project would be more challenging.

“We call it do-it-yourself, but we’re actually working together,” he said.

Tony Reilreino walked into Bike Pirates with the vision of piecing together a “beater” for winter. Rummaging through the shop’s enormous parts collection, he’s using Bike Pirates to build a bike the green way.

“It all falls into the whole (environmental issue), buying these parts which are picked by hand here and aren’t bikes assembled in China,” he said. “It’s nice knowing you’re not driving around in a car and adding to the smog and pollution.”

Bike Pirates also promotes its money-saving qualities. Volunteers agree economy is the most attractive aspect of the shop. Others come in to feed their curiosity.

“Some aren’t here to save money because some people donate way more money than we would ask for,” Sands said. “Some come here because they like the concept and life-learning and they appreciate the space.”

Giles Alder from the Urbane Cyclist started repairing old bikes as a hobby. Then turned it into a business. He’s realized how expensive repairs can be so riders turn to his bike shop for a quick fix and a warranty.

“I find that people have time and no money, or they don’t have time and have money,” Alder said. “A lot of our clientele don’t care and can afford to have someone else fix their bike.”

Alder also lends a hand at these DIY bike shops by donating parts. He believes the more people he helps get on bikes, the more customers he’ll have in the future.

“If they get more into bikes, when they can afford to upgrade, they’re going to go to a shop to get better parts and a warranty.”

Whether it’s a commercial or DIY bike shop, mechanics and volunteers agree getting people out of their cars and onto bicycles is a move towards sustainable living.

“People volunteer (at Bike Pirates) because they like contributing to the community… and they support the project and they like helping people because it’s a productive hobby,” Sands said.