Lacombe’s Nowco Home Hardware has been honoured with the Paul Straus Public Relations Award at the recent ‘Proud of My Home Achievement Awards and Celebration’.
The awards were handed out at Home Hardware’s 2022 Homecoming event on Sept. 23 in Toronto.
“We are honoured to be acknowledged with the Paul Straus Public Relations Award,” said Tyler Nowochin, who along with his wife Deanna are the dealers-owners of Nowco Home Hardware.
“Nowco Home Hardware strives to create an atmosphere for our customers and employees that sets us apart in a positive way, making us Lacombe’s most trusted home improvement retailer and employer,” he said.
“We give back to our community whenever we can, because their support means the world to us.”
The Paul Straus Public Relations Award celebrates a store’s outstanding commitment to public relations and community service.
Making it all the more exceptional is that Nowco Home Hardware Building Centre was selected for this award out of close to 1,100 Home Hardware stores across Canada.
It was also one of 18 stores recognized with a Proud of My Home Achievement Award.
Deanna noted that this particular award is especially meaningful to the couple.
“Home Hardware has a really cool awards program called the ‘Proud of My Home’ Awards, and there are a few different categories that they have. But for us, this was always the ‘holy grail’ - because this one is really to do with how involved you are with your community,” she explained.
“And our community is number one to us! So the fact that this is the one we received this year was pretty special,” she said. “This is the one that we were reaching towards because it’s the one that is the most important to us for sure.
“We are still speechless!”
The Nowochins received their award on the evening of Sept. 23 during a special celebration dinner event.
“It was pretty cool to be in a room with probably about 1,000 of our peers. They also played a little slide show about the store, too,” she said.
Deanna also wanted to point out that the couple’s staff are very much key to the store’s success as well.
“Our staff are so wonderful. They know our customers by name, they greet them when they come in the store, they will ask them how their kids are doing or how their last project went,” she explained.
”They are really familiar with what their needs are. It’s also our goal as employers to make sure that they want to be here for eight hours a day! And I think they do a really good job of showing our community that they truly do love being here eight hours a day.
“We’ve always also been pretty community-minded, but I think Tyler and I joining together as a couple in life and in business has made it that much easier to accomplish those goals and to be a part of the community,” she said.
Nowco Home Hardware is certainly an active member of the local community, taking part in programs through the Chamber of Commerce while also participating in various charity events, too.
From raising funds for local charities to baking cookies for the community, they go above and beyond for the Lacombe community, noted a release.
Nowco Home Hardware was purchased in 1986 by Tyler’s grandparents, Ed and Muriel Nowochin.
The store remains family-owned and operated in its third generation by Tyler and Deanna.
“The Proud of My Home Achievement Award recognizes Nowco Home Hardware’s commitment and dedication to putting their customers first,” said Kevin Macnab, president and CEO, Home Hardware Stores Limited.
“On behalf of Home Hardware Stores Limited and the dealer-owners representing close to 1,100 Home Hardware stores in communities across Canada, I would like to congratulate them on this achievement.”
Founded in 1964 in rural St. Jacobs, Ontario, Home Hardware remains 100 percent Canadian-owned and operated.