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This company was founded in Winnipeg, in 1917, by brothers-in-law Roland McNutt Macleod and Athol Robert James McBean with financial investment from James Armstrong Richardson. It sold harness, plowshares, and other farm supplies by mail order and later diversified to hardware of all kinds.
In September 1930, the company opened a retail store at Melfort, Saskatchewan, the first in a network of over 200 company-owned and franchisee-owned stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario as far east as Fort William (now Thunder Bay).
In February 1945, control of the company passed to Gamble-Skogmo of Minneapolis, Minnesota but it continued to operate under the original name. In 1964, the company was reorganized as Gamble Macleod Limited with four subsidiary companies: Growth Acceptance Limited, Macleod's Store Properties Limited, Clark's-Gamble of Canada Limited, and Macleod Stedman Limited. The latter resulted from the August 1964 merger of Macleods with Stedman Brothers Limited of eastern Canada. A fifth subsidiary, Marshall Wells Limited, was added to Gamble Macleod in 1965 and, by 1969, parent company Gamble Macleod had become Gambles of Canada Limited.
Although Macleod Stedman Limited was technically one company, headquartered in Winnipeg, it comprised two autonomous divisions, one the former Macleods Limited and the other formerly Stedman Brothers Limited.
In April 1980, Gambles of Canada and its subsidiaries returned to Canadian ownership when it was purchased by a consortium consisting of Cavendish Investing Group of Calgary, Canwest Investment Corporation (Toronto subsidiary of Winnipeg-based Canwest Capital Corporation led by Israel Harold “Izzy” Asper), and Richard J. Hobbs of Toronto, the former Senior Vice-President of the Canadian Tire Corporation. At that time, Macleods had 83 company-owned stores and 185 franchise stores.
For the final decade of the company under the Macleod Stedman name, its fortunes declined until it was on the verge of bankruptcy in by mid-1991. In early 1992, some of the assets of Macleod Steadman Limited (excluding some of its unprofitable stores) were sold to the firm Cotter and Company (operater of the True Value hardware chain and V & S Variety Stores in the United States) to become Cotter Canada Hardware and Variety Co-operative Incorporated. The Macleod name was finally gone from the company whose roots went back 75 years.
In June 1999, Cotter Canada Hardware and Variety Co-operative Incorporated renamed itself to TruServe Canada Co-operative Incorporated, to align with a corresponding name change by its American counterpart, from Cotter and Company to TruServe Corporation. This firm was acquired by Rona in 2010 and, five years later, after Rona (later Lowe's Canada) obtained the Canadian license for the Ace Hardware brand name, former Macleods stores became Ace Hardware. The company's distribution centre in Winnipeg closed in 2017.
Period
President
1917-1939
James Armstrong Richardson (1885-1939)
1939-1948
George William Hutchins (1886-1965)
1948-1958
Ralph E. Schwartz (?-1958)
1958-1964
Arnold G. Kirkness (1905-1989)
1964-1969
Bruce F. Rutherford
1969-1973
Philip Clague “Phil” Fikkan (1912-2007)
1973-?
Dennis Russell “Denny” Gibson (c1929-2010)
Period
Managing Director / General Manager
1917-1946
Roland McNutt Macleod (1888-1973)
?-?
William Roy Finley
?-?
Arnold G. Kirkness
Period
Office Location (Winnipeg)
1917-1920
149 Notre Dame Avenue East [Scott-Bathgate Building]
1920-1946
50 MacDonald Avenue [Macleod Building]
1947-1952
120 Higgins Avenue
1952-1966
1301 Ellice Avenue
1966-2017
1530 Gamble Place
Location
Address
Type
Status
Altona
49 - 4th Avenue NE
Franchise
Arborg
260 Main Street
Franchise
Ashern
Main Street West
Franchise
Beausejour
748 Park E
Franchise
Benito
Main
Franchise
Birtle
Main
Franchise
Boissevain
409 S Railway
Franchise
Brandon
127 - 7th Street
Company
125 Main Street
Franchise
70 Main Street
Franchise
Dauphin
13 - 3rd Avenue NE
Company
Deloraine
115 North Railway E
Company
Dominion City
116 Waddell
Franchise
Gilbert Plains
21 Main N
Franchise
Gimli
6th and Centre
Franchise
37 Morris Street North
Franchise
Demolished (February 2024)
Glenboro
101 Broadway
Franchise
Hamiota
47 - 4th Street SE
Franchise
Holland
Broadway N
Franchise
Killarney
528 Broadway N
Franchise
Lac du Bonnet
92 - 2nd Street W
Franchise
Lundar
Lot 6 Main
Franchise
McCreary
2nd Avenue E
Franchise
Melita
100 Main
Franchise
Minnedosa
35 Main S
Franchise
Morden
288 North Railway
Franchise
Morris
119 Main N
Franchise
Neepawa
264 Hamilton
Company
Pilot Mound
Broadway W
Franchise
Portage la Prairie
102 Saskatchewan Avenue E
Company
Roblin
Main
Franchise
Rossburn
Mountain Road
Franchise
Russell
220 Main W
Franchise
St. Claude
Aspen N
Franchise
Sandy Lake
108 Main Street
Franchise
Selkirk
222 Manitoba
Company
Somerset
221 - 3rd Street
Franchise
Souris
82 - 1st Street
Company
Steinbach
316 Main
Franchise
Swan River
121 - 5th Avenue S
Company
Teulon
3rd Avenue SE
Franchise
The Pas
333 Edwards
Company
Virden
479 - 7th Avenue S
Company
Winkler
267 - 5th
Franchise
Winnipeg
120 Higgins Avenue
Company
Winnipegosis
1st Street E
Franchise
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Carleton Warehouse / Macleod Building (50 Macdonald Avenue, Winnipeg)
“Large business merger links 568 retail outlets,” Winnipeg Tribune, 30 June 1964, page 8.
“$15 million debentures are sold,” Winnipeg Free Press, 12 August 1964, page 52.
“Announcement Macleods,” Winnipeg Free Press, 27 January 1973, page 28.
“Retail chain changes hands,” Winnipeg Free Press, 31 May 1980, page 76.
Obituary [Arnold G. Kirkness], Minneapolis Star Tribune, 1 June 1989, page 26.
“Industrial arm sale cuts federal debt,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 September 1991, page 17.
“Cotter deal true value for money,” Winnipeg Free Press, 16 April 1992, page 53.
“Cotter Canada takes TruServ's name,” Winnipeg Free Press, 22 June 1999, page 17.
Obituary [Dennis Russell Gibson], Winnipeg Free Press, 9 March 2010.
Macleods Limited fonds, Archives of Manitoba.
Dr. Philip Clague Fikkan, MD, FamilySearch.
We thank Jordan Makichuk and Kenneth Nawalkowski for providing additional information used here.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 25 September 2024
