The Mckinnon Metals Story
In 1988, Ian McKinnon and his wife Denyse opened their first franchised small metals distribution business on Millway Avenue in Concord.
At the time, the concept of selling metal in small quantities was still new and most metal industry traditionalists weren’t convinced the idea would work. So it was a constant challenge in those early years for Ian and his team to convince clients that ordering metal cut to size and delivered to your door was the way to go.
However, today, thanks to groundbreakers like Ian, the idea of selling metal with no minimums, cut to size and delivered to your door eventually gained wide industry acceptance. As a direct result Ian McKinnon’s original 6000 sq. ft. metal store on Millway Avenue in Concord expanded to its present size of over 14,000 sq. ft.
The success of the store in Concord led to the opening of two additional locations – Rexdale in 1995 and Markham in 1998.
As other competitors entered the small metals market, the McKinnon family operated stores maintained their leading edge position by continuing to provide unparalleled product knowledge, service and extraordinary inventory levels.
In 2007, after almost 20 year as a successful franchisee, Ian decided to become an independent and founded McKinnon Metals with locations in Concord, Markham and Rexdale.
From the beginning McKinnon Metals stayed a strong family owned and operated business. Started by Ian and Denyse, daughters Cindy and Debbie, son Craig and son in law, David, are now all prominent members of the team.
In 2008, McKinnon Metals, now guided by Ian’s daughter, Cindy Lawson, as President, embarked on its current marketing innovation of metal Super Centres.
The Concord and Markham stores merged to become the McKinnon Metals Super Centre EAST and the Rexdale store moved to Clareville Drive, more than doubling its size, to become McKinnon Metals Super Centre WEST.
The Super Centres combine the high level of personal service associated with a family run business with the large inventory levels associated with ‘big box’ retailers. It’s a winning formula that continues to keep McKinnon Metals well ahead of the competition and has helped McKinnon Metals maintain its pre-eminent position as Ontario’s Number 1 small metals distributor.