Jeff Kinnaird Exits Home Depot for Peak Group

The former chief merchant and president of Home Depot Canada will soon serve at the helm of Peak Group of Companies.

In his new role as president and CEO, effective Oct. 1, Kinnaird will lead the home renovation and outdoor living products leader that supplies more than 2,000 Home Depot stores across North America. He will also work with Peak founder John Gross, who becomes executive chair, to take on the strategic future of the company.

“As an exclusive supplier to Home Depot, we’ve worked with Jeff for many years,” says Gross. “His proven leadership and track record for success, as well as his extensive retail experience will allow Jeff to drive the growth of Peak, further grow our relationship with Home Depot, and expand to meet the needs of professional and DIY customers.”

For Kinnaird, a winner of the Retail Council of Canada’s Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Award, the appointment marks a return to his retailing roots in British Columbia, and the company he helped launch 25 years ago.

In 1998, Peak was a small Vancouver start-up with just one product — holders for four-by-four posts. After months of sales calls, Gross finally received a call from the store manager of the Home Depot in Nanaimo, B.C., who was looking for a better four-by-four post holder that could handle the province’s west coast weather. The call was from a young Kinnaird, who joined Home Depot in 1996, as a lumber associate. At the time, Home Depot had just a few dozen stores across the country.

Both Kinnaird and Peak have come a long way since that original $50 order. Kinnaird went on to assume progressively senior positions with Home Depot, including district manager, regional vice-president of operations and vice-president of merchandising. As president of Home Depot Canada from 2016-2020, Kinnaird oversaw the sales and operations of 182 stores and 30,000 associates across the country. In 2020, he moved to the company’s head office in Atlanta, where he was named executive vice-president of merchandising, a position he held until 2023.

“After 27 incredible years at Home Depot, it was time to hang up my orange apron and return to Canada,” says Kinnaird. “I’m excited to work with John and the talented team at Peak, a group I’ve respected for many years. Peak’s commitment to innovation and the strategic investments it has made to strengthen its manufacturing and supply chain mean its most significant years of growth are still to come. I look forward to contributing to that success in the busy and exciting years ahead.”