Canadian Retailer - Winter 2013 - 36

MEMBER PROFILE

THE BRICK GROUP (consisting of

The Brick, United Furniture Warehouse, The Brick Mattress Store, and
Urban Brick) is one of the largest
volume retailers of household furniture, appliances, mattresses and
electronics in Canada. In addition,
through its corporate sales division,
the Brick Group services the condominium, high-rise, hospitality and
subdivision builder market. Among
Canada’s largest retailers, it does annual sales of $1.3 billion.
It’s at the forefront of Canada’s retail landscape in other ways as well.
The Brick leads the nation in creating a culture of environmental
awareness in its organization. As a
corporation, it has developed exceptional earth-friendly initiatives that
reduce the company’s environmental footprint, provides environmental
leadership to the rest of the industry and other industries around the
world, and contributes to savings on
profit and loss.
At the forefront of The Brick’s
green-initiatives is the company’s
Mississauga distribution centre.
“We implemented our environmental initiatives because it’s the
right thing to do as corporate citizens. It's our obligation to be part of
the solution to reduce waste and create a better world,” explains Dominic
Sousa, director of The Brick’s Mississauga Distribution Centre. “Of
course, the changes we have made
have also resulted in considerable
savings, which makes it rewarding
as a corporate citizen to be environmentally conscious.”
The Brick has taken two innovative roads towards reducing its environmental footprint: investing
heavily in energy efficient lighting,
and embracing recycling on a truly
comprehensive scale.
Energy Efficient Lighting

In the last few years, the desire for
enhanced energy efficiency has led
to the use of new technology in lighting fixtures. While traditional Metal
Halide fixtures have been the choice

36 |

THE BRICK:
LEADERS IN RETAIL
AND SUSTAINABILITY
BY ANDREW HIND

for high bay lighting, today people
are turning to more energy efficient
options like the T5 fluorescent lights.
T5 lights are now used for different
applications in industrial facilities,
warehouses and sports facilities. The
Brick is one of a growing number of
companies to embrace T5 lighting.
“In 2011 we retrofitted all lighting
within our distribution centres. We
previously used T8 bulbs, which were
the best energy bulbs at the time, but
we decided to change to the much
more efficient T5 in all our warehouses
and they’ll soon be in the offices as
well,” explains Sousa, noting T5 offer
many benefits over existing fixtures.
By using the T5 fluorescent lights,
a company can save up to 75 per
cent of their energy bill. The lights

canadian retailer | winter 2013 | www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

also last up to ten times longer than
regular bulbs. With the high cost of
energy, this is good news for consumers who are able to save by reducing their power consumption.
The fixtures consume less energy
and yet they produce much better
light quality. Even with the relatively
higher cost of purchasing the lamps,
the cost efficiency makes the lamps a
very good option over the long haul.
There are other benefits:
• Better Quality Lighting: T5 lamps
have a high level and quality of illumination, and because they are
relatively thinner than the T8 and
T12 lamps, this helps to reduce the
chance of shadows formed due to
poor reflection. The quality remains

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Canadian Retailer - Winter 2013

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