Gretzky’s hometown marks the historic manufacturer of hockey sticks

A Cambridge company that has been making ice hockey sticks for elite and amateur athletes for over 100 years is moving to the hometown of Canada’s most famous hockey player.

Heritage Hockey Sticks Inc., which has reached an agreement to be the exclusive supplier of wooden hockey sticks to Canadian Tire Corporation, is opening an expanded and modernized facility in Wayne Gretzky’s hometown of Brantford.

The decision was not an easy one, said company owner W. Graeme Roustan.

“The building we are in now in Cambridge is over 100 years old. It’s an inefficient building, “Roustan said.” At some point to grow, to survive, to keep people employed, and to keep doing what you do best, you have to move forward, so it’s bittersweet.

The new 62,000-square-foot Brantford location is twice the size of the existing factory and is expected to allow for a 300 percent increase in production, Roustan said. It is investing $ 2 million in the new facility.

Heritage’s lease at the Cambridge facility will expire at the end of 2021. The company will move gradually over the course of 2021.

“Moving a factory of this size takes a lot of time and coordination. It’s not done in a week or a month, “Roustan said.” We want to do it in such a way that it doesn’t disrupt production or deliveries. “

Roustan expects his current workers to move to Brantford. “My current employees are highly qualified people, many of whom have spent their entire careers in this facility and for this business,” he said.

He expects his workforce to grow to 100 people thanks to Canadian Tire’s new commitment.

Heritage Hockey Sticks can trace its roots back to the Waterloo region as far back as the 1880s. It is a complex family tree, filled with mergers, name changes and owners as diverse as the Seagram family, Cooper and Nike Bauer. Production at the current Sheffield Street plant in Cambridge dates back to 1905.

When Nike Bauer exited the wooden hockey stick business in 2004, closure loomed. A handful of employees and another investor stepped in and saved the plant, naming it Heritage Wood Specialties Inc.

The name changed again in 2019 when Roustan, owner of several hockey-related businesses, including The Hockey News and a former chairman of Bauer’s board, acquired Heritage.

The company outlived its domestic competitors – it is the only mass producer of wood, ABS, foam core, and hybrid composite sticks in Canada or the United States.

“They are certainly unique, becoming a bit of a unicorn,” said Geoff Sarjeant, assistant vice president of Canadian Tire Corporation, Sports & Pro Hockey Life.

Roustan said Brantford offered a welcoming working environment and a closer connection to the Canadian hockey lineage as it is the birthplace of number 99 Wayne Gretzky and home to his father / game ambassador, Walter Gretzky.

Walter was a frequent visitor to the Cambridge factory and walked away with sticks for his charity projects.

“He is part of our family, and we expect Walter to walk the factories once again, but this time just a little bit closer to home,” Roustan said.

Heritage manufactures a wide range of sticks under different brands, from ball and street hockey sticks to foam core goalie sticks. His wooden ice hockey sticks have long been a flagship product.

NHL teams purchase thousands of Heritage wooden sticks for promotional use and autographs. Game-ready wooden sticks for the consumer market, such as the Sher-Wood 5030, are a popular seller at Canadian Tire. The Canadian retail icon underlines this pedigree with a renewed focus on Made in Canada products.

This drive to source Canadian products predates the closure of the pandemic, Sarjeant said, adding that disruptions in the overseas supply chain and rising shipping costs have reinforced that resolution.

“It certainly helps to have a domestic producer who can control some of that flow a little easier,” said Sarjeant.

By the end of next year, Canadian Tire hopes to purchase all of its wooden hockey sticks from Heritage, a move that will see current annual orders from 20,000 to 25,000 Heritage sticks rise to around 150,000.

Roustan called Canadian Tire’s decision a “patriotic” move. “It’s brave, it’s exciting and, for me, it’s showing the world that supporting your local economy, your local jobs and your country must be a priority in any organization.”

And it’s one that helps ensure Heritage keeps its stick in the game.

“This is the last remaining Canadian hockey stick manufacturer,” Roustan said. “It’s iconic.”