Saint John, NB:  Kent Building Supplies, a division of J.D. Irving Limited, has agreed to purchase the retail operations of Central Supplies of Antigonish, Nova Scotia effective December 31, 2016.  Central, owned and operated by Mr. Steve Smith for 40 years, has 7 retail locations and one Truss Plant.  The stores are in Sydney, Inverness, Port Hawkesbury, Stellarton, Antigonish, and Windsor, Nova Scotia.  The Truss operation is also located in Antigonish.  Approximately 400 associates will be joining 3,000 Kent associates once the transaction closes.  The transaction does not include the Atlantic Windows operation located in Port Elgin, New Brunswick and Amherst, Nova Scotia.

"I am pleased to have chosen Kent Building Supplies as the organization to take this business to a whole new level,” said Steve Smith, owner of Central.  "Kent has a strong record of growth and investment in Atlantic Canada.  I have come to know many of their people and their leaders. They will be committed to each of our employees, as I have, to ensure the operations continue to grow and prosper. They are passionate about the customer, their employees, and the home improvement industry."

"I believe this is a wonderful opportunity for us to grow our business here in Atlantic Canada," said Stew Valcour, Vice President of Retail for J.D. Irving, Limited.  "With the purchase of Central we have now entered the only region of Atlantic Canada where we did not have stores.   We will operate the business under the Central banner for a period of time.  Please join me in welcoming the folks from Central to our Kent team."

Kent Building Supplies operates 43 home improvement stores, 5 truss plants, and a gypsum supply depot throughout Atlantic Canada.

kent.ca

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Media Contact:
Mary Keith
Vice President, Communications
J.D. Irving, Limited
(506) 632-5122 office
(506) 650-8209 cell
keith.mary@jdirving.com