Victoriaville (ice hockey)

Victoriaville is a Canadian brand of ice hockey equipment owned by the Canadian Tire Corporation via its subsidiary INA International. The brand was created in Victoriaville, Quebec in 1945 by Henri Mailhot, who formed the company Mailhot & Frères, Inc. In 1952, Mailhot handed down the business to his sons, who ran it for the next two decades. During the 1960s, Victoriaville was the preeminent hockey stick in the National Hockey League and had approximately a 65 per cent share of the hockey stick market. In 1971, the Mailhot brothers sold the business to the Kendall Company of Massachusetts, which a year later was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive. The Victoriaville company became independent once again in 1981 when it was bought by Victor Farr. After a fire at the factory in 1987, Farr sold the business. The Victoriaville name went through multiple ownership changes, until it was acquired by the Forzani Group through its subsidiary INA in 2003. Forzani was taken over by Canadian Tire in 2011, who has owned the brand since. Canadian Tire manufactures Victoriaville equipment alongside its other brands, Sher-Wood and Hespeler.

History

Mailhot family era, 1945–1971

The Victoriaville brand of hockey stick was created in 1945 by Henri Mailhot (1900–1976), who formed the company Mailhot & Frères, Inc. In 1952, Henri's business was taken over by four of his sons, Gérard (1924–2010), Bertrand (1927–1994), Léo-Paul (1929–2014), and Raymond (1931–2010).

Ownership changes, 1971–2003

In January 1971, Victoriaville Hockey Sticks was acquired by the Kendall Company. Asked why the brothers chose to sell the company, president Gérard responded, "c'est un hasard qui nous a mis en présence de cette compagnie-là" ["it was a coincidence that put us into contact with this company"], and stated that no one else had tried to buy Victoriaville.[3] Kendall had been founded in Walpole, Massachusetts in 1903 by Henry P. Kendall as a textile company, but had grown to become a major medical supplies company. Upon acquiring the hockey company, Kendall created a new sports division that comprised Victoriaville, Bike, and Nelson Knitting.[4] In 1972, Kendall was acquired by Colgate-Palmolive and became a wholly owned subsidiary.[5] In 1976, Colgate-Palmolive amalgamated Victoriaville Hockey Sticks Limited, Kendall Company (Canada) Limited, Sterno of Canada Limited, Helena Rubinstein Limited, Lakeside Laboratories (Canada) Limited, Colgate-Palmolive Limited, John A. Huston Company Limited, and Caledonia Customs Brokers Limited into a single company called CKR Inc. At this time, Victoriaville Hockey Sticks became a division of CKR.[6]

In 1981, Victor Alfred Farr (1940–2022) purchased the Victoriaville hockey division from CKR and incorporated its operations as Victoriaville Hockey Sticks (Canada) Inc. During his ownership, Farr introduced the "Vic" brand to go with the existing "Victoriaville" name. In January 1987, a fire engulfed the Victoriaville plant, causing around $3 million of damage.[7] After the fire, the Victoriaville hockey operations were taken over by Les Equipment Sportifs Davtec Inc., which operated a factory in Daveluyville.

At an unknown date, Davtec was acquired by the USA Skate Company, Inc. of Long Island, New York. In January 1996, USA Skate was acquired by California Pro Sports of Greenville, South Carolina. The company had been founded in January 1993 to acquire the California Pro line of inline skates, and in August 1994 it added the Kemper line of snowboards.

In September 1997, California Pro Sports sold its USA Skate Company operations to Rawlings for $16.8 million, which included $14.5 million in cash and $2.3 million in liabilities. The sale gave Rawlings the rights to the Victoriaville, Vic, and McMartin brand names.[8] In May 2001, Rawlings sold its hockey operations to VP Sports, Inc. a portfolio company of Equitex, Inc. of Englewood, Colorado. Victoriaville was the third Quebec sporting goods company VP Sports acquired; in August 1999 it purchased the Victoria Precision bicycle company, and in March 2000 it acquired the Torpedo toboggan company. To acquire the Victoriaville hockey assets and trademarks from Rawlings, VP Sports created a new Quebec corporation, the Vic Hockey Company, Inc.