Kelowna, B.C. -- Harry Bohna, Canada's king of recycled building materials, opened a new Happy Harry's Used Building Materials outlet -- his fifth -- in Kelowna in early June as he continues to expand his network of stores across the country. Currently he has two outlets in Winnipeg -- his home base -- for retail and commercial customers, two in Calgary which he opened two years ago, and a sales office in Toronto. He plans to open an outlet in Toronto either in the fall or next spring, and a seventh in Vancouver this spring.

"These are co-operative arrangements more than franchises," he explains. "We are building a national network using the same name and trading in the same goods. It makes it more cost efficient to advertise and it is easier this way to source goods across the country. What is in demand in one area may not be in another."

Bohna is also in the process of computerizing his network of stores. "It will be like auto parts inventories," he says. "All stores will be online eventually. I hope to have us all tied in by video as well."