Shell Busey
Encyclopedia
Shell Busey is a popular Canadian
radio and television personality and home improvement expert. he was the host of the Home Discovery Show until July 2011, a talk radio
show on the Corus Radio Network. He is also the creator of the HouseSmart Home Services Referral Network, a conglomerate of over 170 different trades, home services and home products available across Canada. In addition to being a guest on other radio shows, Busey makes numerous public appearances at home shows, seminars and charity events.
Busey and his wife currently live in Surrey, British Columbia
.
on November 25, 1942. He was the third of five children. Busey’s father Emerson worked for many years for the now-demolished Kennedy Foundry in Owen Sound, and was credited for inventing the “Shaper Plane”, a machine that would shave down large ship propellers to their desired final shapes. Emerson later became a tool and die maker for RCA Victor.
Shell Busey didn’t care much for schoolwork as a young man; his real passion was in carpentry and mechanics. As a youth Busey delivered The Globe and Mail
in the morning and The Toronto Star and Owen Sound’s local Sun Times in the evening on his bicycle. Busey moved on from paper delivery to delivering prescription drugs for Bill Murphy’s Drug Store in Owen Sound.
At the age of 13, Busey entered the Industrial Program at Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute
, where he took instruction in cabinetry, electrical, plumbing, motor mechanics and drafting. One of his teachers, Bill Graham, helped Busey get a job as a management trainee for Beaver Lumber
.
, attaining his management certificate in 1965, and later that year, at the age of 22, he assumed the role of assistant manager at Beaver Lumber in Barrie
, Ontario
.
After less than a year, Busey received another promotion and, with his wife Frankie, moved to Orangeville
, where he assumed the role of store manager—at age 23, the youngest in the entire Beaver Lumber chain. From 1968 to 1974, Busey transferred to several Beaver Lumber locations across the province from Sault Ste. Marie
to Windsor
to Oakville
, moving from manager to supervisor.
In 1974 Shell Busey and his young family moved to British Columbia
where Busey would manage the western Canada division of Saveway Stores. At the time, Saveway was a brand new cash-and-carry arm of the Beaver Lumber Group, and Busey was supervising the changeover of four locations: Ladner
, Langley
, Burnaby and Surrey
. In addition, Busey was responsible for the supervision of Beaver Lumber stores in Prince George
, Fort St. John
, Chetwynd
, Vanderhoof
, Whitehorse
and the Yukon
.
Busey left Beaver Lumber in 1975 to take on a position as merchandise manager for Independent Retail Lumber Yard Building Supplies. In 1976, upon the request of Beaver Lumber, Busey travelled to Whitehorse to set up the first Beaver Lumber franchise in the Yukon. Upon his return to Delta
, B.C., became a consultant to the Surrey Co-op in Cloverdale.
In 1977, Busey purchased a Windsor Plywood franchise in Delta, with his wife Frankie. Busey and his wife turned the once struggling franchise into an award-winning successful business. Less than two years later Busey opened a satellite location on Scott Road in Surrey, which he called Ye Olde Hardware Store. The business didn't do as well as he had hoped and he sold the store in 1980. Busey and Frankie expanded their original Windsor Plywood store and, in 1981, purchased a second franchise in Coquitlam, B.C. In the spring of 1983 the Buseys decided to leave the Windsor Plywood franchise and operate independently, first as Mr. Build Centre, and eventually changing the name to Build-it Centre.
, a talk radio station in Vancouver
. The radio program became more popular than he had imagined, and eventually CJOR set up a small studio in Busey’s office at the Build-It Centre in Delta. Busey would host the show and serve customers during the commercial breaks.
Busey sold the Coquitlam Build-It Centre in 1985, and the location in Delta in 1987. His career as a radio personality continued with CJOR, until he was approached by a Canadian FM network called CKO
, which would broadcast The Build-It Show right across Canada. However, the CKO station struggled to survive. Busey returned to CJOR until the station changed its format to rock radio.
asked Busey to become the spokesperson for their new PowerSmart program, requesting that he host a radio program encouraging the people of British Columbia to become more energy-conscious. Because they wanted province-wide exposure for the program, BC Hydro allied with CKNW in Vancouver, which had the means through their subsidiary Western Information Network (WIN) — the first privately owned satellite-based radio network in Canada. Busey made his first foray into network radio across B.C. with the BC Hydro Home Ideas Show, a call-in home renovation program.
The Home Ideas Show gave Busey the opportunity to see just about every corner of B.C. when he hit the road with the PowerSmart Tour. Busey would broadcast his radio show via satellite from the small towns he visited, educating people to become more energy-conscious. After his 10-year contract with BC Hydro came to an end, Cloverdale Paint became the new sponsor for Busey's radio program, which was renamed the Home Discovery Show.
in Victoria. The first Home Check episode aired in September 1995. To date, 118 episodes have been taped and still air today on stations all over Canada, Japan, Holland, Germany and South Korea.
B.C. Provincial Court Judge David Stone (Port Coquitlam small claims registry) ordered Busey, personally, and his company, Shell Busey's Housesmart Roofing, to pay $14,639.84 damages for breach of contract and negligence in the roofing contract. The order, signed June 20, 2011 - shortly before Busey's program went off the air - held him and his company liable for damages and costs to the complainant. . Case #C10820 signed by Judge Stone is filed in Port Coquitlam Registry.
The HouseSmart group includes over 170 different trades, home services and home products available across Canada. Each company is put through an intense screening process to ensure that before it becomes “A Proud Member of Shell Busey’s HouseSmart Referral Network” and puts that HouseSmart decal on the side of its company vehicle, it has been approved by very stringent standards.
In 2008, Busey’s HouseSmart Referral Network, RONA and Envision Financial initiated the “Home Improvement Retail Training Program” in the Surrey School District in Surrey, B.C., a pilot project aimed at encouraging youth to enter the building supply industry.
from 2007 to 2009.
He contributes regular columns to newspaper and magazine publications across Canada, including the Vancouver Province Sunday Homes, the Winnipeg Canstar Weeklies, Homebase Media’s Renovations magazine throughout Western Canada, Canadian Homestead Magazine, Cottage Magazine, Green Home Magazine and Coastlines Magazine.
He also makes regular guest appearances on the Vancouver Studio 4 with Fanny Kiefer on Shaw TV and on CKNW’s Bill Good Show on the Corus Radio Network, and is also a featured guest speaker at major home shows across Western Canada.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
radio and television personality and home improvement expert. he was the host of the Home Discovery Show until July 2011, a talk radio
Talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio typically includes an element of listener participation, usually by broadcasting live...
show on the Corus Radio Network. He is also the creator of the HouseSmart Home Services Referral Network, a conglomerate of over 170 different trades, home services and home products available across Canada. In addition to being a guest on other radio shows, Busey makes numerous public appearances at home shows, seminars and charity events.
Busey and his wife currently live in Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
.
Early life
Shell Emerson Busey was born in Owen Sound, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
on November 25, 1942. He was the third of five children. Busey’s father Emerson worked for many years for the now-demolished Kennedy Foundry in Owen Sound, and was credited for inventing the “Shaper Plane”, a machine that would shave down large ship propellers to their desired final shapes. Emerson later became a tool and die maker for RCA Victor.
Shell Busey didn’t care much for schoolwork as a young man; his real passion was in carpentry and mechanics. As a youth Busey delivered The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
in the morning and The Toronto Star and Owen Sound’s local Sun Times in the evening on his bicycle. Busey moved on from paper delivery to delivering prescription drugs for Bill Murphy’s Drug Store in Owen Sound.
At the age of 13, Busey entered the Industrial Program at Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute
Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute
Owen Sound Collegiate and Vocational Institute , located in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada, is one of the oldest schools in Canada having been founded in 1856 and in the late 1880s and early 1890s was the most academically successful school in Ontario....
, where he took instruction in cabinetry, electrical, plumbing, motor mechanics and drafting. One of his teachers, Bill Graham, helped Busey get a job as a management trainee for Beaver Lumber
Beaver Lumber
Beaver Lumber was a Canadian building supply chain owned by Molson. It was once Canada's fourth largest building supply chain with 138 stores. In 2000 it was purchased by Home Hardware, a cooperative of over 1000 independent Canadian hardware stores...
.
Early career
In 1961, at age 18, Busey began work as a stock boy at Beaver Lumber in Owen Sound. He eventually earned himself a sales desk position. Beaver Lumber’s store manager, Roy Kennedy, recommended Busey for the Beaver Lumber Management Training program. Busey attended the program in OakvilleOakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
, attaining his management certificate in 1965, and later that year, at the age of 22, he assumed the role of assistant manager at Beaver Lumber in Barrie
Barrie
Barrie may refer to:* Barrie, city in Ontario, Canada* Barrie , Canadian federal electoral district* Barrie , provincial electoral district* Barrie—Simcoe—Bradford, former Canadian electoral district...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
After less than a year, Busey received another promotion and, with his wife Frankie, moved to Orangeville
Orangeville, Ontario
Orangeville is a town in south-central Ontario, Canada, and the seat of Dufferin County.-History:Before European settlers, Orangeville was thought to be a native hunting ground...
, where he assumed the role of store manager—at age 23, the youngest in the entire Beaver Lumber chain. From 1968 to 1974, Busey transferred to several Beaver Lumber locations across the province from Sault Ste. Marie
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
Sault Ste. Marie is a city on the St. Marys River in Algoma District, Ontario, Canada. It is the third largest city in Northern Ontario, after Sudbury and Thunder Bay, with a population of 74,948. The community was founded as a French religious mission: Sault either means "jump" or "rapids" in...
to Windsor
Windsor, Ontario
Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
to Oakville
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
, moving from manager to supervisor.
In 1974 Shell Busey and his young family moved to British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
where Busey would manage the western Canada division of Saveway Stores. At the time, Saveway was a brand new cash-and-carry arm of the Beaver Lumber Group, and Busey was supervising the changeover of four locations: Ladner
Ladner, British Columbia
Ladner was created as a fishing village on the banks of the Fraser River. It is a part of the Municipality of Delta, British Columbia, Canada, and a suburb of Vancouver....
, Langley
Langley, British Columbia (city)
The City of Langley is a municipality in Metro Vancouver. It lies directly east of the City of Surrey, adjacent to Cloverdale, and surrounded on the north, east and south by Township of Langley.-History:...
, Burnaby and Surrey
Surrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
. In addition, Busey was responsible for the supervision of Beaver Lumber stores in Prince George
Prince George, British Columbia
Prince George, with a population of 71,030 , is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is known as "BC's Northern Capital"...
, Fort St. John
Fort St. John, British Columbia
The City of Fort St. John is a city in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Peace River Regional District, the city covers an area of about 22 km² with 22,000 residents . Located at Mile 47, it is one of the largest cities along the Alaska Highway. Originally...
, Chetwynd
Chetwynd, British Columbia
The District of Chetwynd is a town located on the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Situated on an ancient floodplain, it is the first town eastbound travellers encounter after emerging from the Rockies along Highway 97 and acts as the gateway to the Peace...
, Vanderhoof
Vanderhoof, British Columbia
-External links:**...
, Whitehorse
Whitehorse, Yukon
Whitehorse is Yukon's capital and largest city . It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1476 on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas occupy both shores of the Yukon River, which originates in British Columbia and meets the Bering Sea in...
and the Yukon
Yukon
Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River. The word Yukon means "Great River" in Gwich’in....
.
Busey left Beaver Lumber in 1975 to take on a position as merchandise manager for Independent Retail Lumber Yard Building Supplies. In 1976, upon the request of Beaver Lumber, Busey travelled to Whitehorse to set up the first Beaver Lumber franchise in the Yukon. Upon his return to Delta
Delta, British Columbia
Delta is a district municipality in British Columbia, and forms part of Metro Vancouver. Located south of Richmond, it is bordered by the Fraser River to the north, the United States to the south and the city of Surrey to the east...
, B.C., became a consultant to the Surrey Co-op in Cloverdale.
In 1977, Busey purchased a Windsor Plywood franchise in Delta, with his wife Frankie. Busey and his wife turned the once struggling franchise into an award-winning successful business. Less than two years later Busey opened a satellite location on Scott Road in Surrey, which he called Ye Olde Hardware Store. The business didn't do as well as he had hoped and he sold the store in 1980. Busey and Frankie expanded their original Windsor Plywood store and, in 1981, purchased a second franchise in Coquitlam, B.C. In the spring of 1983 the Buseys decided to leave the Windsor Plywood franchise and operate independently, first as Mr. Build Centre, and eventually changing the name to Build-it Centre.
Radio and television career
In 1983 Busey also began hosting his own home improvement radio program called The Build-It Show on CJORCKBD (AM)
CKPK-FM is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It broadcasts at 100.5 MHz on the FM dial. As of 2008, the station is owned by the Jim Pattison Group and airs an adult album alternative format promoted as "100.5 The Peak"...
, a talk radio station in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
. The radio program became more popular than he had imagined, and eventually CJOR set up a small studio in Busey’s office at the Build-It Centre in Delta. Busey would host the show and serve customers during the commercial breaks.
Busey sold the Coquitlam Build-It Centre in 1985, and the location in Delta in 1987. His career as a radio personality continued with CJOR, until he was approached by a Canadian FM network called CKO
CKO
CKO was a Canadian radio news network which operated from 1977 to 1989. The CKO call sign was shared by twelve network-owned stations, as listed below....
, which would broadcast The Build-It Show right across Canada. However, the CKO station struggled to survive. Busey returned to CJOR until the station changed its format to rock radio.
BC Hydro PowerSmart/CKNW
By the late 1980s, Busey was well-known for his radio shows throughout most of western Canada. In 1988 BC HydroBC Hydro
The BC Hydro and Power Authority is a Canadian electric utility in the province of British Columbia generally known simply as BC Hydro. It is the main electric distributor, serving 1.8 million customers in most areas, with the exception of the Kootenay region, where FortisBC, a subsidiary of Fortis...
asked Busey to become the spokesperson for their new PowerSmart program, requesting that he host a radio program encouraging the people of British Columbia to become more energy-conscious. Because they wanted province-wide exposure for the program, BC Hydro allied with CKNW in Vancouver, which had the means through their subsidiary Western Information Network (WIN) — the first privately owned satellite-based radio network in Canada. Busey made his first foray into network radio across B.C. with the BC Hydro Home Ideas Show, a call-in home renovation program.
The Home Ideas Show gave Busey the opportunity to see just about every corner of B.C. when he hit the road with the PowerSmart Tour. Busey would broadcast his radio show via satellite from the small towns he visited, educating people to become more energy-conscious. After his 10-year contract with BC Hydro came to an end, Cloverdale Paint became the new sponsor for Busey's radio program, which was renamed the Home Discovery Show.
The Home Discovery Show
Shell Busey was replaced in early July 2011 by hosts Ian Power and Steve Seymour. The Home Discovery Show is more popular than ever, and is heard live on Saturday and Sunday mornings in nearly every major-market radio station in Canada between B.C. and Ontario. In the spring of 2008 Busey also created TheHouseSmart.com Show, which airs Saturday mornings at 5 a.m. (Pacific Standard Time), focusing on the questions posed via emails that he receives on a weekly basis.Home Check
In 1994 BCTV asked Busey to be a regular guest on the Saturday Morning News program. In early 1995 Busey was offered his own home improvement series through CHEK-TVCHEK-TV
CHEK-DT, channel 6.1, is a television station based in Victoria, British Columbia and broadcasting to all of southwestern BC...
in Victoria. The first Home Check episode aired in September 1995. To date, 118 episodes have been taped and still air today on stations all over Canada, Japan, Holland, Germany and South Korea.
B.C. Provincial Court Judge David Stone (Port Coquitlam small claims registry) ordered Busey, personally, and his company, Shell Busey's Housesmart Roofing, to pay $14,639.84 damages for breach of contract and negligence in the roofing contract. The order, signed June 20, 2011 - shortly before Busey's program went off the air - held him and his company liable for damages and costs to the complainant. . Case #C10820 signed by Judge Stone is filed in Port Coquitlam Registry.
Delta Councillor
In 1985 Busey was approached to run for council in Delta, where he and his family lived at the time. He was elected December 2, 1985 for a two-year term, and re-elected in December 1987 for another three years.The HouseSmart Referral Network
Through his years of hosting his radio programs and speaking to people at different home shows across Canada, Busey had heard just about every home horror story imaginable. People often come to Busey with problems affecting their home as a result of poor workmanship, unreasonably high quotes from questionable contractors, and sometimes disasters that could have been avoided entirely with a little preventative maintenance. To provide homeowners with assurance of quality workmanship and ethical work practices, Busey created the HouseSmart Home Services Referral Network.The HouseSmart group includes over 170 different trades, home services and home products available across Canada. Each company is put through an intense screening process to ensure that before it becomes “A Proud Member of Shell Busey’s HouseSmart Referral Network” and puts that HouseSmart decal on the side of its company vehicle, it has been approved by very stringent standards.
In 2008, Busey’s HouseSmart Referral Network, RONA and Envision Financial initiated the “Home Improvement Retail Training Program” in the Surrey School District in Surrey, B.C., a pilot project aimed at encouraging youth to enter the building supply industry.
Media and public appearances
Busey was a guest judge on the HGTV reality show Handyman Superstar ChallengeHandyman Superstar Challenge
Handyman Superstar Challenge is a television game show on HGTV Canada, hosted by Karen Bertelsen...
from 2007 to 2009.
He contributes regular columns to newspaper and magazine publications across Canada, including the Vancouver Province Sunday Homes, the Winnipeg Canstar Weeklies, Homebase Media’s Renovations magazine throughout Western Canada, Canadian Homestead Magazine, Cottage Magazine, Green Home Magazine and Coastlines Magazine.
He also makes regular guest appearances on the Vancouver Studio 4 with Fanny Kiefer on Shaw TV and on CKNW’s Bill Good Show on the Corus Radio Network, and is also a featured guest speaker at major home shows across Western Canada.