Stellarton woman eager to turn fortunes around for P.E.I. business
The company that owns Hector Building Supplies in Stellarton and Pictou has expanded with the purchase of a similar store in P.E.I.
Sherwood BMR which had gone bankrupt is now Sherwood Timber Mart.
Jillian Sexton is optimistic she can make the store flourish under her new watch.
“I think that there’s a huge potential here,’’ she says. “I’m a big believer in small business… I think small businesses have a lot of strengths that big box stores don’t have.”
While she is only 30, Sexton has spent half her life in the building supply business.
She started working in her father’s store in Stellarton, at age 15 sweeping floors and cleaning racks.
For the past seven years, Sexton has been the chief operating officer of two Nova Scotia stores: Hector Building Supplies in Stellarton and Pictou.
Now she will be focusing on breathing new life into what
was Sherwood BMR for about the past eight years.
“I’m thrilled,’’ she says. “I wanted a third store for a long time and I think this is a great fit.”
Sexton has a staff of 18 – all employees that worked for Sherwood BMR – but she hopes to hire more if the store does well.
“I think the biggest challenge is bringing people back in the
door,” she said.
George Young has worked in the location on Mount Edward Road under a string of businesses: Pre-Built Homes; Sherwood Do It Centre; Sherwood Tim-BR Mart; and Sherwood BMR.
“Everybody is happy – happy to have a job and happy to be working with a company we have a future with,” says Young. “We’re looking forward to our
old customers and some new customers to buy our products.”
Sexton is determined to make Sherwood Timber Mart succeed.
She has rented a house in Charlottetown and plans to stay there for at least the summer to get the business turned around.
“It’s my utmost focus right now,” she said. “I think it’s going to be an exciting few months.”