Home Hardware Stores Limited proudly announced the recipients of the annual Proud of My Home Achievement Awards at the 2025 Homecoming event in Toronto. The highest honour of the evening, the Walter J. Hachborn Store of the Year Award, was presented to Essex Home Hardware Building Centre in Essex, Ontario.

The Store of the Year Award recognizes the Home store that best upholds the values on which Home Hardware was co-founded by Walter J. Hachborn 60 years ago—value, service, and dependability. The Essex team was also recognized as Best Home Hardware Building Centre – Central Region. To accept the award on behalf of the store were Dealer-Owners Brent Seguin, Kimberly Seguin-Gauthier, and their father, Larry Seguin.

“This honour is the highlight of an unforgettable year for our family and our stores as we celebrated 60 years of serving our communities,” said Kimberly Seguin-Gauthier, Dealer-Owner, Essex Home Hardware Building Centre. “No matter how much we’ve grown, our heart is still in that small-town, spirit that connects us to our community.”

The Seguin family’s roots in retail stretch back four generations. Larry’s grandmother first ran a feed store in the region, providing the foundation for his father, Arthur, to partner with Home Hardware’s Walter J. Hachborn in 1965. Larry expanded the business in the 1980s, later welcoming Brent and Kimberly into the fold, who now proudly carry on the family tradition.

“The Seguin family exemplifies what it means to be part of the Home Hardware family,” said John Pierce, Chief Retail Operations Officer, Home Hardware Stores Limited. “Their leadership, dedication to their team, and commitment to their community represent the very best of our brand. We are thrilled to recognize them with this year’s Store of the Year Award.”