Steve Matyas is quickly garnering a reputation as Canada’s retail kingpin.

On Feb. 26, the president of Staples Business Depot will be in Edmonton to pick up the 2002 CIRAS Henry Singer Award for retailing and service excellence in Canada.

Previously, the Retail Council of Canada named Staples Business Depot as Canada’s Innovative Retailer of the Year for 2002 – in the large retailer category.

Steve Matyas

But this kingpin is a humble one.

“I feel like New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel when he said that managing a baseball team is like getting paid for home runs that other people hit. That’s pretty much how I feel,” said Matyas.

“This (Canadian Institute of Retailing and Services) award, from my perspective, is not just an individual honour, but a reflection of the quality of people that we’ve been able to attract and retain.”

While Matyas points to a motivated staff that gives their all and treats the company as if it is their own, company founder Jack Bingleman submits that Matyas’s character also plays a strong role. “His honesty and integrity were part of the foundation on which we built the company, reflecting our associates, our culture and our work ethic,” said Bingleman.

As a matter of fact, Matyas was the first employee Bingleman hired to work at Business Depot.

Dubbed “people-friendly, not just user-friendly” by the Retail Council, Business Depot Ltd. was founded in Toronto in 1991. In a period of 10 years, it has become one of the top 10 non-food retailers in Canada.

The chain, which targets small business and the home office user’s office-supply needs, operates 200-plus stores across Canada under the Staples Business Depot and Bureau en Gros banners. It employs 11,000 people.

Matyas becomes the 11th recipient of the CIRAS Henry Singer Award, following in the footsteps of other prominent retailers such as John Forzani of the Forzani Group Ltd., David Bloom of Shoppers Drug Mart and Bill Comrie of The Brick.

The event, held annually, has grown in popularity from a small 80-person gathering at the University of Alberta’s Faculty Club to the nearly 500 Canadian business leaders, academics and students who are expected to attend this year’s edition at the Westin Hotel in downtown Edmonton.

“This award was established in 1992 to honour the memory of a remarkable individual, the late Henry Singer, founder of the Henry Singer Fashion Group,” said CIRAS executive director Paul McElhone.

“Steve Matyas certainly lives up to the standard of excellence the award demands.”

Those standards include recognizing an individual whose vision encompasses the blend of community service with business.

Singer is described as an individual who demonstrated that contributions to society go hand in hand with business.

Known as the Wizard of Mod, in 1938 he opened the first Henry Singer store in Edmonton, bringing dapper suits previously seen only in fashion magazines to the streets of Alberta. Today, the company operates four upscale menswear stores in the province.

Following in his footsteps, award recipients must possess the gifts of fairness, humour, empathy, respect for and acceptance of all persons, and show expressed commitment to family, friends, associates and the community.

“This is a very high-profile national event, recognized by the Retail Council of Canada as one of the premier retail award events,” said McElhone. “So we are gaining a lot of recognition even though we’re based in Western Canada. It was never intended to be a regional award.”

In addition to recognizing excellence in retailing, the award aims to enhance the profile of the retailing and services sector.

“It helps to demonstrate to business students the viability of career paths within the retailing industry,” said McElhone, whose institute was formed by the University of Alberta School of Business in 1991.

The award itself is a limited edition Peter Shostak print, which depicts an early door-to-door prairie salesman with his horse and buggy, typical of the early pioneer spirit of retailing in Canada, said McElhone.

As part of the award’s requirements, recipients make themselves available as an executive in residence at the U of A’s School of Business.

For two days, Feb. 24 and 25, Matyas will present lectures to business students at the undergraduate and MBA levels.