237 Manitoba Ave
North American Lumber and Supply Company established a yard in Selkirk at the end of Manitoba Avenue in 1926. In 1956, it opened the first Chieftain Hardware store there to serve local homeowners. Although the company thrived for decades, the site was redeveloped in the 1980s, and by 2018–2019 many locations were sold or closed as the business declined.
The Beginning of a Business
In 1906, two North Dakota businessmen joined forces to create the North American Lumber and Supply Company. Edward A. Konantz was president and Charles J. Lee the general manager.
Its original focus was to supply hardware and lumber to the villages, towns, and farms that would pop up along the Grand Trunk Pacific’s new transcontinental rail line through Western Canada. Their first lumber yard opened in 1907 in Rivers, Manitoba and they had 18 more in place by the autumn of 1909.
The company bought out the lumber interests of Captain William Robinson in 1926. This included a lumber and coal yard at Winnipeg Beach and at Selkirk at the foot of Manitoba Avenue along the Red River. Right away they began marketing their home and cottage lumber kits to the region.
Expansion
Upon acquiring the Selkirk yard, North American Lumber purchased a number of lots further east on Manitoba Avenue (next to the telephone exchange building) and off Superior Avenue on which to relocate their office and yard. The new premises opened in November 1926.
By the 1940s, the Selkirk yard was the largest rural branch of the company. Given its proximity to the head office in Winnipeg this was where potential management material for other branches were sent to be trained. One trainee who arrived in town fresh from his service in World War II was Frank “Bish” Bishop. He got his management training and decided to stay in Selkirk and managed the location for over a decade.
Post War Boom
The post-war residential construction caused some large lumber merchants to branch out from selling lumber and building materials in bulk to selling tools, home repair and yard care products directly to homeowners. This had been the domain of “mom and pop” general stores and hardware shops. In 1956, North American Lumber created a retail hardware division called “Chieftain Hardware Stores”, the name was a nod to its stylized “Indian head” logo.
Selkirk was home to the first Chieftain Hardware. It took over the original store after a new showroom and offices for North American Lumber was constructed next door. Both shared the 237 Manitoba Avenue address. The new building allowed displays of the company’s plan books for its kit buildings and display areas for samples of various building materials, from floor tiles and paneling to doors and roofing products.
Frank Bishop continued to manage North American Lumber while Howard Metz managed Chieftain.
The late 50s and early 60s appear to have been the peak years for North American Lumber with 75 locations on the prairies and Northwestern Ontario.
Building Bigger
In February 1986, North American Lumber announced that the old buildings at 237 Main Street would be torn down and replaced with a new, 18,000 square foot building. The company, however, would not relocate to that new building. Instead, it would be an office block with most of the space being leased to the federal government for its Manpower (Employment Department) offices.
For a time, the company kept land on Superior Avenue for a yard and the North American Lumber locations in Stonewall and Gimli continued to serve the district.
In 1990, the federal government required additional office space. Rather than risk losing them as a tenant, North American Lumber agreed to build a 3,000 square foot addition to the rear of the main floor with additional parking along the north side of Superior Avenue.
On the Downsize
North American Lumber began downsizing in the 2000s. It was down to 21 locations in 2012 and just 11 by 2017. That year, a deal to sell the remaining locations to a Toronto firm fell through and in 2018 – 2019 individual locations were sold off or closed. At the time, the fourth generation of the Kovnatz family was running the company.
North American Lumber Collection
Click on images to enlarge
Offices Moved, 1926, Selkirk Weekly Record
Sources
“Our History”, North American Lumber Website
Christian Cassidy Photography
Selkirk Weekly Record, 1926
Selkirk Journal, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991
Selkirk Enterprise, 1956, 1959, 1986
Winnipeg Tribune, 1935
